Sarpaneva Korona K0 Northern Lights, Steel

The Watchmaker

As the son of jewellery designer Pentti Sarpaneva, and nephew of the internationally acclaimed designer and artist Timo Sarpaneva, it was always the case that Stepan’s career would take a creative direction. Educated at the Finnish School of Watchmaking and then WOSTEP, his path to independant watchmaking was composed of various, rich learning experiences. 

As many others had done before him, Sarpaneva spent some time restoring antique and vintage watches, including at Parmigiani, alongside Kari Voutilainen. As he put it himself, "I had to really learn the history of watchmaking with Kari, because we were working on things like minute repeaters and perpetual calendars, making parts for them." Following his experience there, he also spent some time with Vianney Halter and Christophe Claret, which helped shape his skills and vision. 

Despite these wide ranging experience, Sarpaneva had been designing his own watches as far back as 1999, when he was at Parmigiani. These were mainly one-off pieces, which he created for himself. However, a Japanese retailer once spotted one of these on his wrist, and asked if he could possibly order one. As he remembers, "I made something for him and then a few pieces here and there for my friends. It grew very organically like that." In 2003, the watchmaker eventually formed his own brand in Helsinki, Finland. 

The Korona K0

The Korona K0 has become the most recognisable execution of Sarpaneva's watchmaking vision. The model as undergone several iterations throughout its lifetime, with this Northern Lights Limited Edition piece being inspired by the naturally occurring lights found at high altitude regions, in the northern hemisphere. The Northern Lights K0 is based on Sarpaneva’s K0 sports watch, featuring the same angular 46mm case - handcrafted in Stepan’s Helsinki-based workshop - and screw down crown, placed at 4 o’clock. This example boasts an eye-catching luminous green dial, limited to only eight pieces.

The luminous material is a hardened composite, developed by Black Badger Advanced Composites and Canada-based Ambient Glow Technology, for Sarpaneva. A luminous plate sits beneath the open-worked, scalloped portion of the dial, ensuring strong visibility in low light. Large, highly-legible, dot hour indices and hands are filled with generous amounts of Superluminova, which also glows green.

The Movement 

Sarpaneva favours the use of Soprod’s self-winding A10 in his watches, extensively modified to suit his requirements for each piece, beating at a rate of 28,800 A/h. The movement is rhodium-plated and carries perlage-finishing throughout, with a power-reserve of 42 hours. At 6 o’clock, Sarpaneva’s familiar stylised moonphase complication can be seen.

The Set

This Korona K0 Northern Light Edition is accompanied by its outer box, wooden inner box, polishing cloth and Certificate of Authenticity (confirming sale in May 2016). It comes with both a black rubber and black alligator strap, both from Sarpaneva. 

If sold within the United Kingdom, this Korona K0 Northern Lights will be subject to 20% VAT. Viewings are currently suspended for the time being.

Closer look