Kari Voutilainen introduces the Vingt-8R

It has been a roughly two years since Kari Voutilainen introduced his first in-house developed and manufactured movement and timepiece, called Vingt-8 (or twenty-8 in English). That’s quite something some a watchmaker who made name and fame with his Observatoire, which uses a fully reworked Peseux chronometer movement. Kari Voutilainen’s newest timepiece, the Vingt-8R, features an additional power reserve indicator, and is limited to just 25 pieces. 

A watchmaker like Kari Voutilainen doesn’t have to sent a press release to the media, nor does he have to explain much on social media or other channels. No, Kari Voutilainen is one of the very few watchmakers (I can think of just two others, namely Philippe Dufour and Vianney Halter) who have the luxury of being sold out for at least a year (or two, or maybe even three). So when Kari mailed these photo the excitement started…

On the dial we see a power reserve indicator, which is connected to the main spring barrel through a visible mechanism with conical system. Of course the entire movement is fully in-house developed and manufactured! It comprises of 228 components, which is an additional of 70 components compared to the Vingt-8.

The main plate is made of German silver and gilded with 4N18 gold plating. Another addition compared to the previous Vingt-8, is a hacking system, to stop the balance when the crown is pulled. It features a Maltese cross system on the barrel that limits the power reserve of the new Vingt-8R  to 49 hours, making sure the power will be very constant during the entire 49 hours.

When looking at the movement photo, the different position of the balance bridge immediately catches my attention. Not sure why Kari Voutlainen chose to this off-center construction, but I’ll come back on this for sure. Another things that becomes clear, when zooming in, is that we’re dealing with a limitation of 25 pieces, this being number 00/25.

As soon as I know more about the reason for this off-center construction, I will immediately share that here on Monochrome!