Finnish Indie Watchmaker Pietari Kupias On The Launch Of His Atelier, And His Katedraali Watch

Voutilainen, Sarpaneva, Laine… Just three names coming from Finland that have made an impact on independent watchmaking the world over. But it doesn’t end there, as recently we’ve uncovered young and exciting Finnish watchmakers like Kortela Valta and Reima Koivukoski. And there seems to be something special in the water in the “Land of a Thousand Lakes” as we have the next one lined up for you: Kupias, founded by Pietari Kupias not too long ago. Talking to Pietari, we learn of his path to watchmaking, his passion and inspiration, and of course, his first watch, the Katedraali. 

Robin, MONOCHROME Watches – Pietari, you’re a watchmaker from Finland, can you introduce yourself briefly?

Sure! I’m Pietari, 39 years and I love all things mechanical. My background is in design, I studied industrial design in the UK, USA and finally at the Aalto University here in Helsinki, Finland. After graduating, I was involved in a wearable tech startup for a number of years, specialising in product development and CAD. My passion is in old cars and vintage watches, both of which have been dear hobbies for the past two decades.

You founded your own brand, Kupias, in 2022 and work with several other indie watchmakers. Can you tell us a bit about that?

While I was working primarily on the computer, designing parts in 3D, I always had the yearning to design my own watches. When a dear friend of mine, who is also a part of the watch community here in Finland, got accepted to the Finnish School of Watchmaking it didn’t take long for him to persuade me to also take the steps towards materializing my long-term plan to actually be able to turn my watch ideas from vision to reality.

One of the great things about the school is the variety in demographics of the students. There are all kinds of people, ranging from teenagers who just graduated from upper secondary all the way to people in their 50s or 60s who decided to pursue watchmaking after a long career in something completely different. I was slap bang in the middle, early 30s with a master’s degree under my belt and a clear aim to start my company after accumulating the much-needed practical knowledge on how to actually put my ideas to fruition.

The first order I received was based on the prototype for my first watch I created during the last year of my studies. After graduating, I started accumulating tools and machinery to establish a workshop and start my journey to become an independent watchmaker. During my time in school, I met up with other entrepreneurial independent watchmakers, such as Roope Kortela, Rene Valta and Juha Eskola. The former two I now work closely with, and the latter just lately moved in to share an atelier with us.

The watchmaking industry and community are quite close in Finland. Can you tell us a bit about the culture?

You are correct. The industry is small, and the community around it is quite active and close-knit. You quickly meet up with someone who introduces you to someone else, and it does not take long before you are at least familiar with pretty much everyone involved in independent watchmaking here in Finland. Of course, we have the celebrated masters, the likes of Voutilainen and Sarpaneva, who have done a great job at making Finnish watchmaking known amongst watch enthusiasts abroad. I think what really differentiates the next generation is the co-operation and sharing of knowledge amongst each other. I think seeing the level of work others are doing and sharing techniques is a self-feeding force that is driving each other to achieve better quality and innovation in watches.

Lastly, investing in all the specialised equipment required in making a high percentage of parts in-house can be challenging for an up-and-coming watchmaker, so it makes sense to specialise in a certain area and offer services to other independent watchmakers. As my background is in design with lots of experience in CAD, it was natural for me to expand into CAM and invest in a CNC machine. I have delivered movement parts to other independent watchmakers in Finland. As an example, I machine the German silver bridges for Kortela Valta and also just delivered a batch of 20 three-quarter bridge sets for the students of the Finnish School of Watchmaking to use as a basis for their graduation work.

How would you describe your watchmaking style under your eponymous Kupias brand?

My aim is to create distinctive and sculptural timepieces with lots of interesting detail to draw the eye to. The intention is to make watches that will invite the observer to study the watch from more than one angle. Of course, while honouring the attention to detail required while utilising the traditional hand finishing techniques of the craft.

You do a lot of machining work yourself, in the atelier you set up with Reima. How much of your watches are done in-house?

Yes, I currently have a separate machine workshop 20 minutes away from central Helsinki for parts manufacturing. The rough parts are machined there, and then finishing and assembly steps happen in the Helsinki atelier. At the moment, we manufacture watch cases, dials, hands, movement bridges and other mechanism parts such as click springs in-house.

You’re watch is called Katedraali. Can you explain to us how you came to the design of the case and dial?

Katedraali – Cathedral in English was inspired by my trip to Paris and experiencing the glorious Gothic architecture of the Notre Dame Cathedral. As a designer, I love the negative space and the airiness of the flying buttresses, the Gothic rib vaulted archways and the magnificent colored glass rose windows.

For me, the watch case feels like an often-overlooked area in watchmaking, so I wanted to bring the intrigue to the case when looked at from the side view. The current case presents exceptionally well in a combination of materials and finishes. So far, I have used stainless steel, bronze, silver, titanium, yellow gold, red gold and platinum as case material with a number of different finishes. The dial is an approximation of a rose window. I am now offering lots of different dial colour options in the form of semiprecious stones and in-house made enamel.

And what about the movement?

The movement used for Katedraali is based on a modified Unitas 6498 that features a bespoke bridge layout and a new click spring design. My initial movement was a traditional three-quarter layout with hand-matted and hand-bevelled German silver bridges. We now offer an alternative option where the German silver bridges are open-worked following the dial design but still featuring the same level of hand finishing. We also feature black polishing, snailing, perlage and straight graining among other finishing techniques on the movement.

Is everything made bespoke, or do you offer serial production?

For Katedraali, we offer a limited, numbered production run of 13 watches, each of which is bespoke and unique in terms of material and dial configuration. We intend to keep this kind of bespoke feature available in our next series of watches. It is one of the perks of making a high number of parts in-house.

What’s on the horizon for you? Is there anything you’re working on that you can share with us?

I am currently working with Kortela Valta to create our own free sprung balance. My share of that is to design and manufacture the balance wheel blanks, while Roope & Rene will take charge of the hand production of Breguet overcoiled hairsprings. My intention is to release a new watch model towards the end of this year, which will feature this new balance assembly. After this, we aim to start designing our own main plate for a watch movement and build from there on.

If you look ahead, say five or ten years, what do you hope to have achieved by then?

My hope and dream is to develop the atelier further towards being self-sufficient in design and manufacture, and to create small numbers of distinctive timepieces. The aim is to develop a basis for our own movement and then build from there on towards more complicated mechanisms, while doing everything in our own way and at our own pace. For me, the enjoyment is in designing something special, seeing it all come together and then sharing it with someone who will cherish the watch for years to come.

How can people stay up to date or get in touch?

The best way to stay up to date is through our website or through our Instagram. I am more than willing to answer questions regarding the watches, so anyone interested can also directly contact me through email.

For more information, please visit Kupias.com.