By Carl Scutt
In a short time Kari Voutilainen has ascended the ranks of luxury matchmaking to reside in the rarified heights that others can only dream of. From the humble beginnings in 1962 to the launch of an independent watchmaking business in 2002, to becoming a member of AHCI in 2012, Voutilainen has now début the 217QRS.
SIHH & Baselworld Unveiling
Last month at SIHH 2018 in Geneva, Kari Voutilainen debuted the new 217QRS, inspired by their in-house Vingt-8 movement, which also will be presented at Baselworld 2018. For those who appreciate this particular caliber it represents for many Voutilainen at his finest.
All new, the Voutilainen 217QRS does, of course, stick with family values to feature many family traits when it comes to stylized elements of its movement and exterior design, for example, the retrograde date.
The retrograde date that is integrated into the main plate, setting the date is made easy by simply pressing the crown down, moving the date hand a day. Come the last day of the month the Voutilainen designed mechanism moves the date hand back to day one, with no bouncing out of sync.
The oversized balance wheel has a balance spring attached using a Phillips overcoil on the exterior while utilizing a Grossmann curve on the interior. The fun doesn’t stop there because the escapement is the first to use two escapement wheels in its configuration. Using two wheels provides a direct impulse to the balance which in turn uses less energy than a traditional set up, and results in longer service intervals.
Under the double anti-reflective sapphire crystal the heart has a total of 21 jewels, running at 18,000 vib/h, the movement is a proprietary direct-impulse escapement German silver mainplate and bridges, gold wheels, and 65-hours power reserve.
Hand Finished
One of the most luxurious feeling in the world is knowing that your boat, car, watch, is hand finished to the highest standards and with a Voutilainen timepiece you know you’re getting the best. All the pieces are finished by hand to unparallel quality giving the wearer a real sense of prestige.
Final Word
This piece will be available in a 39mm case in Platinum, White Gold, and Rose Gold. It will be a limited run and when we say limited we really mean limited. Not limited to a couple of thousand, or even a couple of hundred, no… This limited run is a total of 30 pieces, 10 in Platinum, 10 in White Gold, and 10 in Rose Gold.
It doesn’t get much more exclusive than this! For more info, visit Voutilainen online.
