Independents
Gary G recounts a memorable lunch with independent watchmaker Kari Voutilainen and fellow collectors in San Francisco. This post offers an exclusive glimpse into new Voutilainen pieces, including the 37mm Vingt-8 with small seconds and a unique Masterpiece Chronograph, alongside other rare independent and high-horology watches.
Greetings! For this post, I have dispensed with my usual "So seven guys go into a restaurant..." title, even though that is exactly what happened here. This meeting really was all about the people, even though some watches were on display (photos below) -- the NorCal gang meeting with our good friend Kari Voutilainen.
Lunch was at the Parallel 37 restaurant at the Ritz Carlton hotel in San Francisco, later in the day the site of one of the big watch events of the year, Jeff Kingston's review of the Basel and Geneva shows (and more broadly this year, some fascinating films ranging from a visit to a watchmaking school to an inspiring day with Philippe Dufour).
Lots of fun conversation over a period of a couple of hours -- as always, the time went by way too fast. I missed out on photographing a number of the watches present (all of the Observatoires, the Duality, a Simplicity, etc.) but was fortunate to catch a couple of Kari's current pieces. First, the 37mm Vingt-8, now with a small seconds hand:
...and a lovely larger Vingt-8 in rose gold:
Here's the movement side of the latter watch -- for me, Kari's finishing keeps getting better over the years, and despite restaurant lighting conditions and the use of a point/shoot camera, some of that comes out here:
Next, a beautiful Masterpiece Chronograph: this one a unique piece with 45-minute register
Kari's in-house movement as seen from the rear -- a real feast for the senses
Among the other watches present, a few notable tourbillons. First, one of my favorites, the FPJ Subscription piece:
...and not one, but two ALS PLM Tourbillons! The third one owned by the group is still off at Lange for routine service -- I am salivating at the idea of getting all three of those watches in one place for a photo session...
Finally, a revelation from the master:
An upcoming piece, seen here for the first time! As many of you know, my wrist shot technique isn't very good, and I'm sorry that I seem to have blurred this one a bit -- guess we will all just have to wait for delivery of this watch to get a clearer view 
That's it for now! Hope you enjoyed -- more news anytime I have it...
All the best,
Gary G
Now where can I get the anti blurring program... cheers PAt
...that no such program exists! I did re-save the image so it's certainly not as simple as going into Photoshop and hitting "undo" a few times :-). Patiently waiting for the master to finish his work... Best, Gary
All of the pieces you photographed are spectacular, but I find the Masterpiece Chronograph to be most haunting of them all... ...although, I might just be tempted to choose the mystery watch. Don't leave us in suspense for too long! Thanks for the great write-up!
Great to have new folks participate in these threads -- welcome. I do wonder how many folks would choose the mystery watch, sight unseen, given their choice of any of the pieces in the post! I do agree with you that the Masterpiece Chrono is a lovely piece -- and in my opinion somewhat under-appreciated relative to some of Kari's other pieces. I'm hoping to convince its owner to allow me to take some more considered shots with my light tent and DSLR -- we'll see! Best, Gary G
That is, to seeing my example -- the one on view was a not quite completed version but still gave an excellent sense of what the finished piece will be like. Tough waiting out the final days! Best, Gary
This thread is active on the Independents forum with 29 replies. Share your knowledge with fellow collectors.
Join the Discussion →
