Oz in Watch Wonderland

Very rarely does one get the opportunity to actually meet the craftsmen and women that create the watches that we buy. The large brands are increasingly shrouded behind the marketing veil of secrecy and mystique. There is more and more corporate speak about getting close to the customer, whilst in truth the era of political correctness has made this an even greater challenge.

Well in this case things are different. As soon as I got my Observatoire, I emailed Kari Voutilainen that we would like to visit as part of our global trip. He seemed more than happy for us to come and visit him and his Atelier.

The previous day was spent at Greubel Forsey so it was going to be even more interesting to freshly compare and contrast the philosophy driving both independent watch makers. Fully rested from our previous night at the Beau Rivage we were not quite as blessed by the weather gods the next day.  The 40 minute train ride up to Motiers however still managed to showcase the best country lifestyle Switzerland has to offer.

Arriving at Môtiers, we were met at the station by Kari and walked to his house a short distance from the station.

 

We passed an amazing school which reminded me of my youth growing up near Bern.

Finally, we arrive at the gates of Watch Wonderland.

This was an old doctor’s mansion that Kari converted. The Atelier portion of the building was originally a set of apartments with its own side entrance. Machining is done in the basement whilst the watch workshop is in the attic. The family lives in the middle of the house.  It is simply a stunning restoration.

The tour (which quite a few of my collector friends have also been privileged to partake in) starts in the basement. Here is Kari showing me his new milling machine from Haas.

 

This table is full of small machines for particular operations like gear tooth polishing and other finishing operations.

Kari now makes all his dials in-house, this is a rotary guillochage machine.

We also saw machines for linear guillochage.

 

It is obvious Kari has some very talented people within his team.

 

An example of one of Kari's finished dials.

 

Ever the gentleman, Kari allowed me to photograph the dials for his Masterpiece Chronographs (series is finished I asked for one more but to no avail lol).

 

Upstairs in the attic where all the true magic happens.

 

The Vingt-8 movement with direct impulse system with two escapement wheels: this system allows for better accuracy and can even do without lubrication.

An actual Vingt-8 movement in German silver. You can see the traditional Geneva stripes, perlage and anglage.

Kari’s prototype Masterpiece Chronograph amongst a couple of Vingt-8’s. I tried to convince him that I was the ideal person to keep testing the chrono for him but that trick didn’t work. He did mention some future projects which sparked my interest.

It is obvious that Kari is a rare watchmaker who can integrate mechanics and aesthetics with great panache and refinement. Always humble, his watches are understated but full of innovation and the Atelier reflects his philosophy of making everything in-house and maintaining quality by producing a maximum of 40-50 pieces per year.

After a leisurely tour through Kari’s Atelier looking at his watches and production, he took us to lunch in the local cafe/hall/beer house. Unfortunately no photos, but we had the special of the day which was Chilli con carne( I know you, go all the way to Switzerland to have chilli con carne, but it was GOOD), followed by creme brulee. Seriously good, must be all that fabulous Swiss cream and free range eggs.

Not knowing much about Môtiers, we were surprised to find it was (and still is) a town with a history of Absinthe production, apart from watch production. Kari’s facial expressions hinted  at some interesting stories and experiences with this devilish nectar. We suspect the green fairy is alive and well lol.

 

Saying good bye to Môtiers and Kari,  we headed back to Neuchâtel under clearing skies to catch our train to Zurich.