Press releases for wristwatches often offer “lofty” statements and rarely understate the facts, but when the official blurb states that the Sarpaneva Korona K0 is “an executive class sports watch” it does not even come close to describing this striking, emotive and extraordinarily beautiful watch.
Stepan Sarpaneva launched this piece two years ago as a prototype, and details of the now-perfected model have just been released. It is still a superbly handcrafted and ultimately limited edition watch, but it marks a departure for the Finnish watchmaker – it is a diver’s watch capable of safely indicating dive time and is built to withstand depths of up to 300m.
Despite the utilitarian nature of the watch, the dramatic Korona case shape remains unaffected, in a stroke of ingenious design the main plate and diver’s bezel merge and move as one, so the profile does not need to be changed at all. All the functions are operated using one crown, atypically located at 4 o’clock, tucked-in neatly in a silhouette-preserving position. At a glance this must be one of the most un-diver-like diver’s watches – ever.
The bold labyrinth of the dial is made from steel, which has been DLC coated and readability is ensured with superlume coated indices. The case measures 46mm across and is also constructed from steel. Inside is a modified and decorated Soprod A10 Caliber with 42 hours of power reserve featuring a main plate which is integrated with the divers timing ring.
The Sarpaneva Korona K0 will be available in three editions – stainless steel case, two toned steel case or a black DLC case, each presented on a rubber strap.
The Sarpaneva Korona K0 is also named by the watchmaker as the “Ruler of the Water” – many of Stepan’s watches have in their names and indeed in their creation powerful themes relating to Finnish traditions, folklore and legends, and like the tales told over many generations here in Ireland, the boundary where fact ends and myth begins is often opaque and rarely defined. You can read the “Ruler of the Water” tale at Monochrome who feature the story and sketches in full.
