The Vuollé Kurimus, the First Watch of an Indie Watchmaking Duo

In May of this year, we introduced a young indie watchmaking duo from Finland – Jere-Juuso Vuorela and Nuutti Helala – and their inaugural timepiece, the Kurimus. Described by the creators as “a blend of different watch styles, a little bit of a dress watch, a touch of a field watch and even elements of a tool watch”, the Kurimus is an all-purpose urban leisure timepiece that combines local sentiments with an intriguing style. Vuollé concocted an original design with a narrative; we were happy to give the duo’s first timepiece a test in daily life, and here’s what we think.

What is immediately clear, is that the Vuollé Kurimus has excellent proportions and feels very comfortable on the wrist. The stainless steel case measures 38mm in diameter, with a 45.8mm lug-to-lug distance, and is just over 9mm thick. Very pleasant proportions I’d say, and making it suitable even for smaller wrists. Water-resistance up to 50 meters, and features a sapphire crystal on both the front and back.

The case design is straightforward, characterized by a wide, sloping bezel and the all-matte sandblasted finish, reflecting the predominantly grey skies of the duo’s home country. There is a certain roughness to the appearance, perhaps intentional, as it adds character to the timepiece. The fluted push-pull crown with a slightly rounded top is engraved with the brand’s logo – waves image and a letter V for Vuollé, a Finnish word for the strongest current of the river.

The dial of the Kurimus, meaning whirlpool in Finnish, features an intriguing pattern that indeed looks like a whirlpool, drawing you in with the intensity of Poe’s Maelström. At first glance you think it’s a classic guilloche dial, however, it is made entirely using CNC milling (and not a stamped process). Surrounding the dial is a rather original applied indices ring – with tiny bumps facing the centre for the hour indication – and the brand’s name at 12. The grey-coloured handset only underlines the monochromatic colour scheme and doesn’t offer enough contrast at all times, to make reading the time at a glance very easy. I could imagine highly polished or two-tone hands would make an easier read of time. The only shiny part is actually the polished pin holding the hands. 

Turn the Vuollé Kurimus over and be greeted by the exhibition caseback held in place by six screws. The movement on display is vintage Zenith 40T (introduced in 1955), a classic, 17-jewel hand-wound calibre with a mobile balance spring stud holder operating at 18,000 vibrations/hour, “hand finished and overhauled in Tampere, Finland”. For the time-only Kurimus, the small seconds feature from the original base calibre has been removed. 

The bridges are sandblasted and nickel-plated, with visible anglage applied by hand! This is all nicely done, and although it’s certainly not the same level of hand finishing as you can find on Kari Voutilainen’s watches, the price is also in an entirely different range! Altogether pretty nice for a first watch.

What I liked less are the small rust spots on the ratchet and crown wheels and some discolouration around the screw holes, and a balance wheel that looks like it hasn’t been cleaned since its inception. Mind you, the 40T was last produced in 1963, so it’s over 60 years old. But still, I would have preferred to see a cleaner balance and no tiny rust spots on the wheels. It somehow degrades the otherwise impressive (especially for the price point) hand finishing.

The Vuollé Kurimus is offered on a brown vegetable-tanned cow leather strap made in Finland. It is closed with a stainless steel pin buckle bearing the Vuollé logo.

Thoughts

The duo of watchmakers at Vuollé describes their first opus as a blend of “something new, something old.” While their effort to revive such an old movement is commendable, the result is not flawless. However, it’s important to remember that this is Vuollé’s debut creation, and future timepieces will likely show improvement. Despite the imperfections, the overall impression is very positive, the watch exudes character and appeal. It is priced at EUR 2,990 including local taxes, and according to the watchmakers’ site, there is a 10-week waiting time.

The Kurimus is currently listed as “out of stock” perhaps due to high demand, exceeding the limited quantities Vuollé can produce. For more, visit vuollewatches.com.