Industry renowned dial workshop
The Vingt-8 is likely the most well known Voutilainen timepiece and has been a part of the watchmaker’s catalog since 2011. When it was introduced eight years ago, it was the first Voutilainen watch to be fully designed, developed and produced in-house. For the 28ti, rather than feature a dial produced at Comblémine, Voutilainen’s industry-renowned dial workshop, the watch subverts your expectations by showcasing the movement architecture on the front. Despite the movement having literally been flipped from the inside out, the watch is still fairly legible at a glance. Running along the periphery of the watch is an hour and minute track, and the watch’s Breguet-style hands are consistent with previous Vingt-8 iterations. On the watch’s caseback, Voutilainen has shifted expectations once again due to the presence of a running seconds display and a power reserve indicator that shows off the model’s 65 hours of running autonomy. This arrangement is, again, entirely new for Voutilainen; for collectors, it offers some additional hidden functionality while letting the core timekeeping functions remain in focus on the dial side.
The aforementioned extra-large balance wheel allows for precise regulation of the watch to within a strict set of tolerances. When Voutilainen unveiled the Vingt-8 movement construction in 2011, he was the first to use a unique type of balance spring that features a Phillips overcoil on the exterior of the spring and the less common internal Grossmann curve. While the caliber inside the Vingt-8 is used as a base, it had to be slightly reconstructed for usage in the 28ti. Additionally, Voutilainen and his team have applied a unique escapement wheel configuration that provides a direct impulse to the balance through an impulse roller/jewel. The consequence of this construction is increased energy efficiency when compared to a traditional Swiss Lever Escapement. According to Voutilainen, the Vingt-8 and its subsequent iterations were the first timepieces to use such a configuration.
One of the immediate positives of this dial orientation is that it allows for the depth of the movement architecture and, more importantly, Voutilainen’s superlative hand finishing to be on full display. The surfaces of the pinions and wheels are completely flat and highly polished to within exceptionally uniform tolerances. All finishing work on the main plate and bridges, both made of German Silver, are by hand to achieve the highest possible levels of surface finish. The screws and all steel parts are finished and polished by hand. The titanium case is made by the workshop that Voutilainen helped establish, Voutilainen & Cattin.
The Voutilainen 28ti is limited to eight total pieces in titanium. Pricing available upon request.
See the Voutilainen 28ti at WatchTime New York 2019 on October 25 – 26 — get your tickets now!
