Not all images were able to load for printing. Please close the print window and try again. The Sarpaneva Midnight Sun, Revealing Itself at Night
The Finnish indie watchmaker pays tribute to the relentless summer sun when a 24h complication comes in handy!
The most Scandinavian of independent watchmakers, Stepan Sarpaneva, is in a category all his own … His complex and ultra-detailed watches have always been deeply personal and unique; some even featured his face on the so-called Sarpaneva Moonface. While remaining faithful to the original design cues of Sarpaneva, his recent pieces reveal his desire to reconnect with his roots in the country where he practices his craft. The new Sarpaneva Midnight Sun, a watch that pays tribute to the endless summer days of Nothern Finland, only reveals its true nature during a night that barely exists…
“In the mystical North, the ceaseless summer sun bathes the land in everlasting glare. The boundaries between day and night melt away, leaving the inhabitants forever entangled in the riddle of time. Is it day or night, reality or a dream?” This is how Sarpaneva presents his new watch, the Midnight Sun, which pays tribute to this phenomenon only known by people close to the Arctic Circle when the Sun doesn’t set in the summer months. Stepan’s latest watch not only draws inspiration from this moment in the year but also addresses the issue of day-and-night differentiation with an additional complication.
The case of the Midnight Sun is a classic for the brand, with an architectural, scalloped design for the 42mm case made from Outokumpu stainless steel from Finland. The crown is, as often, positioned at 4 o’clock and screws down for a comfortable 100m water-resistance. The all-metal look continues with the Moonbridge bracelet, recently introduced by Stepan. A sort of natural extension of the classic Korona case, closed by a triple-folding clasp and finished with great attention to detail.
The dial is, once again, where the magic happens. The Sarpaneva Midnight Sun has two distinct personalities. During the day, its multi-layered steel dial feels typically Sarpaneva, with a succession of layers and openworked plates, complex shapes and multiple references to the Moon, stars and cosmos. The central two-tone hands, finished beautifully, display the hours, minutes and seconds. And, because of the need to differentiate night from day, Stepan has added an in-house 24-hour complication at 11 o’clock, next to a Moonface. At night, the expansive use of Super-LumiNova reveals a warm and poetic look in orange, blue and white (8 different hand-applied SLN colours).
The Sarpaneva Midnight Sun is powered by a modified Chronode automatic movement with a 60h power reserve and wound by a Sarpaneva Moonface rotor. It is a limited edition of 20 pieces, priced at EUR 19,000 before taxes. For more details, please visit studiosarpaneva.com.
