Gary G
3734
A new Independent watch from Finland!
Greetings to all! Over the past few months, I have had the pleasure of corresponding with a gifted Finnish watchmaker -- but perhaps not either of the ones you might think...
Antti Ronkko is a passionate watchmaker who began developing his first commercial product in 2007 -- and it is now ready for the market. Shall we look at a few photos, provided by Antti himself?
First, a view that juxtaposes the dial side against the escapement portion of the movement:
Antti's in-house movement itself, with the Labyrinth dial in the background. To my fairly undeducated eye this movement reminds me a bit of the Peseux 260, which is by no means a bad thing. I particularly like the use of peaks and inward angles -- reminiscent a bit of the design styles of Voutilainen and Dufour, but (at least to me) not an imitation of either.
The front of the watch on its own. In my opinion, lots to like here -- from the open hands to the bold hour markers on the dial, not to mention the lug shape and that very masculine hornback strap. Pretty easy for me to imagine strapping this baby on for a weekend dinner with jeans, white dress shirt, and sportcoat. At 41mm x 11.5mm not too gigantic, either -- I am eager to see the watch in person to check out the 11.5mm thickness on the wrist, which I think could be quite nice.
Here's the movement out of the case. You will draw your own conclusions on the finishing, but for me the words "clean" and "honest" come to mind. Interesting choice of straight graining for the main bridges -- will be interested in others' views of how this finishing approach strikes you.
Finally, a couple of candid shots taken by Antti. First, the watch sitting flat on a table. Can't tell you how much I love that hornback -- for me the perfect choice to complement the labyrinth dial. By the way, Antti tells me that if you try to solve the maze on the dial, there are both dead ends and passages from "12" to the Ronkko logo at 6 o'clock. I do think that there is a nice coherence to how Antti has put this piece together -- a look that is not in any way a copy of Sarpaneva's design-based work, but at the same time can easily be imagined in the same "Finnish Manly" genre. I do like the depth of the appearance of the dial and hands when seen from this angle -- quite nice elevation of the hands above the dial and 3D look of the ring with the hour markers and Ronkko name.
Finally, a "reflective" shot of the watchmaker himself, as seen in the crystal!
I am eager to learn more about Antti and his work, and will be very interested to hear your views. It has been great fun to correspond with a "new" watchmaker on the Indie scene, and I am really pleased to be able to introduce his first watch here. Antti tells me that he will make this watch as a limited production (not LE) piece, and expects to be able to make approximately 8 per year.
Finally, the "press release" description of the watch from Antti:
RÖNKKÖ STEEL LABYRINTH
" I wanted to create watch with no compromises and with my own
movement, using the best materials and a very unique design"
RÖNKKÖ STEEL LABYRINTH is a hand made stainless steel watch with my own
designed movement, it takes hundreds of hours to complete one watch.
Designing and producing my first commercial watch has been a very long
journey. It has taken several years from the idea to the final product. The
reason for that is my desire to make almost everything myself. I have made
sketches, 3D CAD parts/assemblies, tool paths with CAM, machining parts
with CNC, finishing/adjusting movement etc. Control of the process gives me
complete Design freedom.
Technical Specification
Movement
AR1 self designed movement
Mechanical manually wound
Hours, minutes, small second at 7 o´clock
36h power reserve
18000 vibrations per hour (2.5Hz)
17 jewels
Diameter 35mm and height 3.5mm
Plates are made of non plated German Silver, except pallet lever bridge and escape wheel
bridge which are made from stainless steel
Finishing of the movement: bottom side circular graining (perlage), top side straight line
grinding, edges are hand bevelled and polished with many interior and external angles
Movement is connected to case without movement ring with two screws
Case
Dragon foot Design
Diameter 41mm and height 11.5mm
Hand finished, Stavax ESR hardened stainless steel case with satin finished surfaces and
polished edges, completely nickel free
Dial side curved sapphire crystal with anti-reflection coating inside
Back side flat sapphire crystal with anti-reflection coating inside
Stainless steel crown with AR logo
Water-resistant to 3 ATM
RÖNKKÖ WATCHES OY
Kalakontintie 1 f 56
02230 Espoo Finland
Phone: +358504836628
Email: [Email address suppressed for privacy]
Website: www.ronkkowatches.fi i
Dial
Complex labyrinth textured dial with black DLC coating
Stainless steel index ring with 4 screws
Hands
Hands made from stainless steel
Strap
Hand finished, Stavax ESR hardened stainless steel buckle with satin finished surfaces and
polished edges, completely nickel free
Genuine horn back crocodile strap
_________________________________________
Hope you enjoyed! In the spirit of full disclosure: I am not an investor in Antti's business, nor have I received any sort of inducement, gift, or discount offer for any purchase of his watches. I'll have to talk with him about that 
All the best,
Gary G
A new Independent watch from Finland!
I remember(and thought) that he is/was a case maker?
I like Asaoka-San and his new watch as well
Agree about writing on the dial, Gary
This is what i thought to my self when i first saw it
This rendering/photo is better/ Asaoka
Asaoka
