Sarpaneva Korona K2 Customization & Design

Gaz unveils his personalized Sarpaneva Korona K2, an "otherworldly creation" that showcases the extensive customization options offered by Stepan Sarpaneva. He details his design choices, including the skeletonized dial, rose gold plating, and specific movement modifications, to achieve a unique aesthetic.

When I first placed my order back in February, I was pleasantly surprised by the myriad of possible variations offered by Stepan.  Not only could one chose from three different themes, the K1, K2 and K3, but there were also other modifications that he could accommodate, such as diamond black coating and plating of the movement.  With these variations in mind and working within his production parameters, Stepan began to advise me on the creation of a personalised Korona.

As you can gather, I am rather pleased with the results.

I chose the K2 for two simple reasons.  Firstly, I liked the complexity of the skeletonised dial and did not want to "clutter" it with the moonphase. Secondly, I did not see any practical use for a moonphase without the date. 

As for the movement and case colours, I always liked the combination of black and rose gold.  With the Korona's raw industrial design, I felt that the copper tone of rose gold would give it an aged or steampunk look while blooming in contrast to the black finish of the case.  In the beginning of the process, while I liked the idea of this contrast, I was a little skeptical with the approach.  However, Stepan's patience in prototyping this design combination really helped with the decision.  Overall, I think the combination looks great and it achieved exactly the look I was after.

To achieve the skeletonised look of the K2, there were a number of enhancements made by Stepan to the SOPROD A12 movement.

Firstly the mainplate has been modified in order to accommodate the larger skeletonised date wheel.  This was achieved by cutting into the mainplate itself and shortening the centre second axel. 

Secondly, a brass movement ring was added to support the date disc.  Thirdly, additional decorations were made to the mainplate for the skeletonised dial (this is not done for the K1).  In the case of this specimen, the movement was plated with 5N rose gold with perlage finish applied to the movement ring, the main plate and the calendar plate and bridge.

The dial itself is constructed from three separate pieces.  The lowest layer is a non-visible plate to raise the dial above the movement to create depth.  In the K1, this is the lower base plate of the dial which is sand blasted. The second layer consists of the distinctive stainless steel lattice that is coated with what Stepan calls “diamond coated black”.  The third layer tops off the minute markers, which is in stainless steel.

These two layers are hand finished by Stepan.

Stepan has always had an interesting approach to hands.  For the Korona, he extended the needle hand concept of the Supernova and added arrow tips.  The stems are matte finished while the arrow heads are black polished.  The hands are also hand finished by Stepan.

The Korona case is made from stainless steel.  Stepan offers the option of coating the stainless steel case with black diamond coating.   The crown is also diamond coated stainless steel but it is polished, giving it a nice contrast to the matte finish of the case.

All the modifications to the movement as well as the decorations and finishing are performed by Stepan. 

As a final touch, the Korona's box is hand made in Finland from deep dyed birch plywood and designed by Stepan.  It also nicely doubles as a watch stand.  Good thinking Ninety-Nine!

In summary, Stepan's Korona is a wonderful breath of fresh air in today's saturated watch market.  As an independent, I admire his courage in not only going out on his own but hanging his reputation on this design.  Furthermore, he has be a real joy to deal with.  It is a deep personalise experience that one does not receive with the larger watch manufacturers.  I am proud to own such a wonderful piece and I wish Stepan all the success with the Korona series.

Cheers
Gaz