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Theodore
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A SARPANEVA K0 review

When my Korona “Moonshine” in red gold had to go in for a servicing to Stepan, it formed the perfect  excuse for me to have a test run with his new K0 Diver’s Watch that I had seen presented at Baselworld 2012.  Since I now live on an island and have almost no real watches for everyday use that can also go into seawater due to our dog’s penchant for losing her toys in the fjord, (although not in wintertime!), a carefree waterproof watch is on my horological want list. This forms the excuse for a mini review of the K0 during some weeks of daily use during the wait for my moonphase with the grumpy face to be sent back.

THE INTERNAL TIMING RING IS SET TO 40 MINUTES IN ALL PICTURES

General impressions: The K0 is a tough looking watch that for me still remains classy and high end without reverting to the usual mechanical and visual language of diver’s watches you will come across in the mainstream. I think if you are looking for an everyday, rough and tumble, waterproof watch (300 meters) that has real character, this one worth taking a closer look at. In my view, a really excellently thought out twist is the internal timing ring which clicks by 1 minute steps, as opposed to the typical exterior bezel designs of standard diving watches. It is really easy to set (but it did take me few repetitions to find the click spot quickly the first time) via the crown, and according to ISO norms, only turns counterclockwise to avoid possible miscalculations.

A SIDE VIEW  

Movement (and a bit of watchmaking history included): The movement is an automatic, modified Soprod A10 caliber, beating at 28,800 vph, 25 jewels and 42-hour power reserve; a good, healthy caliber. But it has a checkered history. Many people don’t realize that this movement is an independently manufactured movement, not an ETA or such. It was originally called the Alternance, and was designed in Biel about 15 years ago, long before the SWATCH group had threatened to stop delivering their movements to third parties. A man named Viktor Bruzzo was responsible for the design, and it was, at that time, one of the big things in the Swiss movement industry, being the first attempt of anyone to become independent of the SWATCH group. However, the powers of that time felt threatened and forced him into bankruptcy, by blackmailing any company that used his movement, telling them that they would not deliver any more parts to whomever used his movement (you know who I am talking about). It was by chance that during my time as journalist I interviewed the people involved in designing this movement. Through various developments in the course of time, the movement design ended up in the capable hands of Soprod and now offers an alternative to standard movements on offer, many of which were designed more than 45 years ago.

Case dial, hands : The dial of the K0 continues in the same stylistic vein of Stepan’s other designs and here is has been given a dark blue anodized finish.  Nice touch is that it looks almost black under certain lights, only glowing up blue-ish at certain angles (like I said: discreet and low key). The white hour markers are large and round luminescent dots, with the one movable dot for the timing ring being the only one populating the outer ring. Rare among independents, I have always found Stepan’s cases to be instantly recognizable, distinctive and most of all different from the mainstream – which is logical since he is working far to the north from Switzerland, in Helsinki. The trademark scalloped case edges and bezels of Stepan’s design also apply to the K0 in every way, although the DLC covering of this watchcase makes it very laid back in appearance compared to the red gold case of the Korona Moonphase. The diameter of 46mm fits even my very small wrist perfectly, which astounds me… I normally greatly dislike watches of this size, however, due to the scallops and lines, it does not look bigger than 42mm to my eye (It still amazes me how subtle watch case design really is in the flesh).

 THE K0 IN A DARKENED ROOM

When you consider his family background in which nearly everyone was artistic, (one example: you will find works of his uncle in all the major museums as well as any Ittala store), it perhaps explains Stepan’s innate sensitivity and attention to design details. whether it be cases, hands, dials or moonphase representations for that matter.

The DLC treatment of the 300 meter water resistant case needs some explaining: it has been done by DIARC in Espoo Finland, who are pioneers and current world leaders of such coatings, even going so far as to develop and build their own machines and processes for DLC and nanocoating techniques.  A visit to their factory would be worth a whole separate commentary, but suffice to say that the DLC method used on Stepan’s watches by DIARC differs from the usual one on two levels: before the actual DLC plasma treatment starts, the watch cases are bombarded with loose ions to prepare the surface for the coating process. This prepatory step insures that during the next phase, the actual plasma treatment, the surface is optimized to receive the carbon atoms being bombarded at it. Another approach at DIARC is the fact that they create their own carbon plasma directly from graphite blocks themselves, and are therefore able to control all aspects of achievable hardness and dissipation in creating an optimized DLC surface. DIARC is not used by many high-end Swiss watch companies because they are of course EU based and outside Switzerland, which would require a lot of import/export hassles. As luck will have it, they are located not far from Stepan’s Helsinki workshop, and they are quite proud to be working with him. I had no plans to take a screwdriver to the watch to test the coating’s scratch resistance, but for what it is worth the watch survived a bump into a concrete wall, 2 zippers and metal clasp without a single ding or apparent surface discoloration, so I will leave well enough alone for now. It may be my imagination, but I fid that the DLC they produce looks more ‘velvety’ and deep; look at the side views of the case to see what I mean).

THE DLC AS CREATED BY DIARC BASED IN ESPOO, FINLAND, HAS AN ALMOST 'VELVETY' APPEARANCE ON THE BEZEL OF THE K0

The hands are extremely legible for me; I find the seconds hand gives a wonderful twist to the whole thing. Stepan has inverted the tip of the seconds, so that it points inwards to the minutes ring. It is different from everything else, yet subtle and visually perfect like this.

Strap: The strap is a high end Hirsch strap in real rubber; it is very comfortable and extremely well made. You can order replacements at any good jewelers and I really like that part too; recently I got stuck having to find replacement straps for 2 watches with weird lug sizes and having to scour dealers to find replacements. I doubt this strap will ever need replacement very soon, but I enjoy the fact that it is high quality and yet easy to replace if needed. Like I said this is beautiful watch that can really be used without hassles. (Speaking of hassle-free: I wore this watch now a dozen times through airport metal detectors and haven’t been beeped yet. Maybe Stepan has some magic in the case?)

THE K0 LAYING ON A PICTURE OF A GLASS PLATE BY TIMO SARPANEVA -GRAND PRIX MILAN TRIENNALE 1957 (from the book: SARPANEVA by Kaj Kalin ISBN951-1-08897-1)

Crown: The crown at 4 o’clock, for me anyway as a kind of classical collector, takes some getting used to. However, this position means your wrist never scrapes against it under any conditions, seaworthy or otherwise, which is perfect, and makes the case diameter look a tad smaller too. I found the incised profile of the crown’s edge a little too sharp for my fingers, but I understand this will be changed in later models. That being said, the crown can easily be turned while wearing gloves this way, and the watch was meant to be used for diving, even though most of us will only be doing laps in the pool with it.

Conclusion: I think it is clear; the K0 offers a fantastic alternative to the usual diving watch fare found everywhere in the marketplace, and must be counted as one of the most stylish and useful diving watches of its class. If you are looking for a tough, every day watch with style that also is a conversation starter, then the K0 is worth a close look.

Thanks to all for reading this; I hope you have enjoyed it!

Ciao tutti, 

Theodore