When exceptional craftsmanship meets profound personal sentiment, the result can transcend traditional watchmaking boundaries.
The Voutilainen 28 “Kohan” Unique Piece represents exactly this convergence—a breathtaking collaboration between master watchmaker Kari Voutilainen and renowned artist Tatsuo Kitamura that transforms a client’s love for his wife and Finnish heritage into what may be the most artistically ambitious timepiece ever created.
Meticulous Artistry
The “Kohan” begins its story with an extraordinary dial depicting an autumn view of Lake Saimaa in southeastern Finland, executed through techniques that blur the line between watchmaking and fine art.
Kitamura Studio’s involvement brought specialized expertise in engraving and enameling that required over a thousand hours of painstaking work, with each stage demanding near-perfection before components could travel between Finland and Japan.
The dial construction defies conventional approaches through hundreds of hand-cut shell pieces, including carefully selected green turban and abalone fragments sorted by color, gleam, and individual shape characteristics.
These organic materials combine with hand-cut fine gold, platinum, and colored lacquer elements, all densely inlaid across multiple urushi lacquer layers. Each application receives individual hand-polishing between coats, creating an lustrous depth that captures and reflects light with mesmerizing intensity.
Perhaps most remarkable is the transformative sky treatment that shifts dramatically between lighting conditions. Under direct sunlight, viewers see vivid blue heavens dotted with white clouds, while shadowed conditions reveal a deep, star-filled night sky. This optical illusion represents closely guarded studio secrets that Kitamura refuses to share, adding mystique to an already extraordinary creation.
The movement decoration extends this artistic philosophy beyond the dial, featuring bridges and plates crafted from German silver and titanium adorned with hand-applied urushi lacquer using the traditional saiei maki-e technique. The mainspring ratchet showcases Finland’s national silver birch tree leaves rendered in autumn gold through cut gold sheets, shells, deep blue urushi lacquer, and gold powder applications.
Finnish National Symbols Meet Horological Excellence
Every surface tells part of the client’s story through carefully chosen Finnish cultural references. The white gold case features a finely engraved map of Finland alongside the wife’s birthday, a bear paw print representing Finland’s national animal, and a crown set with authentic Finnish granite displaying distinctive black and red hues. Even the power reserve indicator takes an unexpectedly personal form—shaped and marked like a Vichy water bottle, presumably holding special significance for the couple.
The officer’s caseback interior reveals lily of the valley flowers (Finland’s national flower) accompanied by two Holly Blue butterflies (Finland’s national butterfly) with wings positioned as if seeking nectar. These elements were specifically designed to shift and shimmer when the caseback opens, creating a dynamic viewing experience that rewards intimate examination.
The exterior caseback completes this national tribute with a hand-engraved and enameled seven-spot ladybird resting on a silver birch tree, demonstrating how every visible surface contributes to the overall narrative.
Beneath this artistic showcase lies Voutilainen’s signature horological expertise in the form of a unique in-house movement featuring double-direct impulse construction. The 30mm Caliber 218RSV incorporates Voutilainen’s characteristic 13.5mm diameter balance wheel with Phillips terminal curve and Grossman interior curve balance spring, operating at 2.5Hz within a free-sprung configuration that delivers 65 hours of power reserve.
At 37mm in white gold, this timepiece proves that exceptional artistry need not require oversized proportions, instead relying on intimate details and personal significance to create lasting impact. The “Kohan” stands as testament to what becomes possible when traditional Swiss precision meets Japanese artistic mastery in service of deeply personal expression.
