Horological Meandering

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[PuristS]
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Sarpaneva – An introduction to the Man and his Watches

Stepan Sarpaneva – An introduction to the Man and his Watches

Although Mr Sarpaneva and his watches have been discussed sporadically over the last 5 years on ThePuristS and PuristSPro websites, the community has been ambivalent in response. Particularly in the last 2 years, we have had both high praise and deepest condemnation from PuristS members and even the odd moderator or two. We talked about the grades of stainless steel used (martensitic vs. austenitic), finishing quality, gothic design, and whether Sarpaneva is about the Man or Machine.  click here

Our own watch creator, Don Corson, flashed a report from Baselworld 2008: click here

I once wrote that I was still puzzled by the underlying ethos of Sarpaneva watches. Are they timekeepers or art?  His early work was more 'industrial' and seemed an exploration of how and what to do with materials and processes e.g. "I want to make a watch out of the kickstart pinion of my Harley Davidson bike." or "Let's use martensitic steels with at least 12% Cr and low Ni content (Stavax ESR) instead of 316L steel". 

There was some hint of Art to come. Check out the names of the watch models so far:
Loiste =  shine.
Supernova =  stellar explosion.
Korona =  'crown' or plasma atmosphere of a star or Sun.

Do we see some astronomical influence from the far northern realm of the Midnight Sun?

Of course, I am now speculating the future models are the Aurora and Dark Eclipse  – you read it here first!

Other PuristS have suggested that topics for future consideration could be:

* What does Sarpaneva Watches stand for?

* Watchmaking Art or Art of Watchmaking?

* Form or Function?

* Man or Machine?

This missive, my dear PuristS, is an attempt at understanding the man – Stepan Sarpaneva – and his roots.

Even Mr Sarpaneva says that, "Finland is a kind of unusual place". So, let us start our exploration there. I believe that geography, climate, history, politics, culture and economics have forged a unique attitude to Life in Finland. They have always teetered between the Devil and the Deep Blue Sea ; Russia and the West ; Feast and Famine ; War and Peace; Words and Action ....

FINLAND

Finland is a Nordic country that has borders with Sweden on the west, Russia on the east, and Norway on the north, while Estonia lies to the south across the Gulf of Finland. The capital city is Helsinki that held the 1952 Summer Olympiad. With a low population of 5.3 million people, mostly concentrated in south, it is the 8th largest country in Europe by area but the most sparsely populated in the European Union. One million people live in Greater Helsinki (including Helsinki, Espoo and Vantaa) and a third of the GDP is produced there.

History, Politics and Economics
Finland was historically a part of Sweden and from 1809 an autonomous Grand Duchy within the Russian Empire. Finland suffered a severe famine in 1696-1697 and almost one third of the population died. In the 18th century, wars between Sweden and Russia led to the occupation of Finland twice by Russian forces, known to the Finns as the Greater Wrath (1714–1721) and the Lesser Wrath (1742–1743). Finland's declaration of independence in 1917 from Russia was followed by a civil war (Reds vs. Whites ), wars against the Soviet Union and Nazi Germany, and a period of "official neutrality" during the Cold War.

In politics, there was a tendency of avoiding any policies and statements that could be interpreted as anti-Soviet. This phenomenon was given the name "Finlandisation" by the German press (fi. suomettuminen). Self-censorship of anything negative associated with the Soviet Union was prevalent in the media. Public libraries pulled from circulation thousands of books that were considered anti-Soviet, and the law made it possible for the authorities to directly censor movies with supposedly anti-Soviet content. Asylum-seeking Soviet citizens were frequently returned to the Soviet Union by the Finnish authorities. 

Despite close relations with the Soviet Union, Finland remained a Western European market economy. Miscalculated macroeconomic decisions, a banking crisis, the collapse of a primary trading partner (U.S.S.R.) and a global economic downturn caused a deep recession in Finland in the early 1990s. The depression bottomed out in 1993, and Finland has seen steady economic growth ever since.

Finland joined the United Nations in 1955 and the European Union in 1995 and participates in the Eurozone. Finland has been ranked the 2nd most stable country in the world, in a survey based on social, economic, political, and military indicators. Finland has good results in many international comparisons of national performance such as the share of high-technology manufacturing, public education, health care, the rate of gross domestic product growth, and the protection of civil liberties. Nokia is a dominant force and industry leader, hence the appelation 'Nokialand ' to the country   .

Character Building
Finland suffered a severe famine in 1696-1697 and almost one third of the population died. Another Finnish famine of 1866–1868 (one the largest in European history) killed 15% of the population.

Most Finns are members of the Evangelical Lutheran Church of Finland (82%). A minority belong to the Finnish Orthodox Church (1%) and other Christian denominations. The main Lutheran and Orthodox churches are constitutional national churches of Finland with special roles such as in state ceremonies and schools. Finnish family life is centred on the nuclear family.

One of the most traditional activities characterised by the Finnish culture is 'cottage life by a lake', often combined with going to sauna, swimming and barbecues. Many Finns are emotionally connected to the countryside and nature, as urbanisation is a relatively recent phenomenon. The Finnish mentality is often characterised by less small talk and more candid and straight forward types of communication.

The life expectancy is 82 years for women and 75 years for men. After having one of the highest death rates from heart disease in the world in the 1970s, improvements in the Finnish diet and exercise have paid off. Finland has exceptionally low smoking rates: 26% for males and 19% for females. Finland's health problems are similar to other developed countries: circulatory diseases make up about half of all causes of death and cancer is the second most common cause of death.

The total annual consumption of pure alcohol by residents is lower than other European countries, but heavy binge drinking is common at the weekend. Becoming intoxicated has remained the central characteristic of Finnish drinking habits. We hear rumour of strange Finnish rites of celebrating the longest day by praising Dionysus with vast amounts of alcohol.  In the working-age population, diseases or accidents caused by alcohol consumption have recently surpassed coronary artery disease as the biggest single cause of death. National Public Health Institute claims 54% male obesity and 38% female obesity, while other estimates put those obesity rates at 70% and 50%. Finland has the world's highest rate of Type I diabetes.

Suicide mortality in Finland was the highest in the world but it finally shed a bleak record as the world’s suicide capital after the number of people taking their own lives dropped by 40 percent in the past 15 years. It is still one of the highest in Europe, especially significant among male adults under 35 years.

Nowadays around 18/100,000 people commit suicide each year in Finland, about the same level as in France and Austria. In 1990, the number was 30/100,000. The decline is attributed largely to better treatment for depression, but even experts cannot really explain why the drop has been so dramatic. Finland’s dire reputation as a nation of suicidals dates back to the 25-year period from 1965 to 1990 when Finland experienced an economic and urban boom. During that period, the suicide rate tripled. By 1991, Finland was the world leader in teen suicides, and among the top three in overall suicides alongside New Zealand and Iceland. The lack of daylight hours in Winter months was thought to be contributory.  Why, otherwise, would there be the big, drunken celebration of the longest day in Finland? 

But, other Nordic countries at the same latitude do not have the same suicide rates as Finland.

Perhaps, Mr Sarpaneva was right after all – "Finland is a kind of unusual place".

It is not where one expects to find watchmaking and yet Finland has produced many watchmakers who work around the world, including the current two independent makers  Kari Voutilainen and Stepan Sarpaneva – only Sarpaneva is based in Finland.

FINNISH WATCHMAKING

The city of Espoo is of interest to PuristS because the Kelloseppäkoulu (Finnish School of Watchmaking) is located in Leppävaara district of that city. It is a private vocational school, which is owned by Kellosepäntaidon Edistämissäätiö (Trust Fund for Promoting Watchmaking Skills). The location has good transport as both the Rantarata rail line and Kehä I (busiest road in Finland), cross in Leppävaara. The School has courses in watchmaking and micromechanics. The watchmaker degree aims at repair and sales duties in the watch business. The micromechanic degree aims at preparing the student for working in design, maintenance and production duties in the electronics and instrument industries.

The School was founded in 1944; with the country still at war, the Finnish Watchmakers' Association was offered the power plant premises in Lahti for education purposes. In 1959, the Trust Fund bought a site in Tapiola, and backed by government aid, built a school and a hall of residence. Until the 1970's, the school operated as a compulsory boarding school. In 1979, residence "in-house" was made voluntary, and in 1997, the student dormitory was closed. After moving from Tapiola to Leppävaara to a bigger and fully renovated building in 2007 the school has better facilities; the former main library of Espoo was totally renovated to serve the needs of the Finnish School of Watchmaking.

To date, over 700 watchmakers have graduated from the school. They have primarily settled in different duties in watch and jewellery retail. Over half of those remaining in the field have at some point in their lives set up a watch shop. The rest of the graduates have settled in parallel fields which demand great precision skills. Graduates can continue their education at the Watchmakers of Switzerland Training and Educational Program (WOSTEP) in Neuchâtel, Switzerland.

An excellent report on the Kelloseppäkoulu by Jean-Jacques Subrenat can be found on ThePuristS website: click here

Sarpaneva – the Man

"As far as my friends are concerned, I am doing really useless stuff..." – Stepan Sarpaneva.

Visually, the first thing that one notices is the distinctly different Finnish design of the timepieces he creates, that are absolutely unique. When you discover that Stepan harks from a family of well-known artists and designers, famous both inside and outside of Finland, it all begins to fall in place.

His father – Pentti, was well known for his unusual jewelry, bronze and glass pieces and the business is still running. His uncle Timo, who passed away two years ago, gained international fame with astounding glass creations (both sculptural and utilitarian items) as well as textiles and interior design. Timo Sarpaneva’s work was the recipient of several major prizes such as the Grand Prix at the X Triennale di Milano 1954 and the subject of several studies and books. His works can be seen in more than 31 permanent museum collections across the globe from New York to Tokyo. Glass collectors who also know the Iittala glassworks will have seen the Iittala logo many times – it was in fact designed by Timo Sarpaneva.

As he was undecided with what to do with his future, Sarpaneva enrolled at a jewellery school and at the watchmaking school in Tapiola, Finland. Soon, he decided that watchmaking was the way to go. "Even at that time, watchmaking seemed like a better bet. Watchmaking is a very precise art. I liked the technicality of it. You have to follow the rules when you make a watch or it won't work. Mechanical watches are the last thing from history that we are still using. It still functions the same. Not much has changed. Watches still use hours, minutes and seconds." – Stepan Sarpaneva.

Sarpaneva – the Watches

Sarpaneva Watches is Finland’s only mechanical watchmaking company, solely dedicated to the design and production of mechanical wristwatches. Located in the country’s capital Helsinki, the workshop was started in 2003 by Stepan Sarpaneva after years of training in both Finland and Switzerland that covered watchmaking in all its varieties, including hands on experience at several of Switzerland’s major houses with highly specialized work on complications. The Sarpaneva workshop’s philosophy towards watchmaking is firmly anchored within Stepan Sarpaneva’s deep desire to express himself in more ways then solely through the purely mechanical side of watchmaking. For this reason his firm’s foundation is to unite a long-term and timeless visual design together with that of high quality mechanical watchmaking. Unlike the majority of brands on the market today, this is a fundamental aspect that sets Sarpaneva Watches apart from the rest; here is one man with the ability to create novel wristwatch designs as well as unite them with the mechanical know-how of a master watchmaker.

SS: “The SOPROD movement is very robust and stable, which sounds simple, but is actually not easy to achieve. It also lends itself to ideas I also have for the future to create other kinds of indications and possibilities for my watches, so I am really happy with this potential. The movement is a starting point for me, and each caliber is treated separately and finished accordingly with a number of changes for each model I produce. Since I can change and adjust almost every detail I want right here in the workshop, it means I am very flexible and able to react quickly to any ideas I want to implement.”

PPro=  PuristSPro
SS=  Stepan Sarpaneva

PPro: Is there a game plan for your product pipeline and existing lines?
SS: Sure there is, and very long term as well. Come to Baselworld and I’ll gladly show you the first steps of those plans!

CONCLUSION

I hope this little vignette gives PuristS a starting chance to understand Sarpaneva the Man first, and then maybe the watches later.

Collectors and watch lovers are going to be seeing a number of different watches being created in the future, perhaps with matching jewelry or separate jewelry designed for men and women. New shapes and types of watches are already in pre-production. So the only thing to do for those who are really interested is to stay tuned for the next episode of this ongoing story......PuristS will be there.........

Acknowledgements

I would like to thank Mr Stepan Sarpaneva as the primary source of information and acknowledge sources about Finland from various sites:

CIA World Factbook
Wikipedia
Finnish Diabetes Association
Finnish National Institute for Health and Welfare
Encyclopedia Britannica

Copyright Dr Melvyn Teillol-Foo, PuristSPro, 2009

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