Leijona presents the Försti Diver, made with Kari Voutilainen

Finland shouldn’t be the primary place individuals with an curiosity in watches have a tendency to think about, however there’s legit watchmaking being completed within the Scandinavian nation. In fact, us being MONOCHROME, we primarily concentrate on unbiased watchmakers comparable to Stepan Sarpaneva or Kari Voutilainen, however there’s extra to it than that. It’s simply not on daily basis we hear one thing new and thrilling coming from Finland. However low and behold, Finnish watchmaking firm Leijona simply introduced a model new collection of watches involving, you’ve guessed it; Kari Voutilainen! Right here’s the Leijona Försti Diver.

Leijona in all probability doesn’t ring too many bells, however the firm’s historical past dates again to 1907 when Johan Werner Lindroos began importing watches into Finland. The identify Leijona is Finnish for Lion, which is smart given the corporate’s emblem. Owned by the Perkko household since 1919, the Leijona model has endured hardships like WWII and the quartz disaster, and remains to be operational immediately. With watches produced in Switzerland, Leijona has introduced the Heritage 1907 undertaking, which introduces a number of watch collections developed in shut collaboration with fellow-Finn Kari Voutilainen. In response to Leijona, all watches are assembled, examined and controlled below the scrutiny of Voutilainen & Catin SA, primarily based in Switzerland earlier than being despatched to Finland for remaining checks and distributed to retailers and shoppers.

One such mannequin to emerge from the Heritage 1907 undertaking, is the Leijona Försti Diver, which is available in two variations. The Försti Diver has a refined retro barrel-shaped case, measuring 41mm in diameter and 12.75mm in peak. The design is predicated on a quartz-powered diving watch made by Leijona within the Nineteen Seventies. It options alternating brushed and polished finishes, with a screw-down crown protected by crown guards. The bezel rotates a technique solely and is fitted with a colored bezel insert and a domed sapphire crystal. The stable caseback has a laser-engraved Leijona emblem (full with snorkel and goggles).

The Leijona Försti Diver is accessible as a non-limited model with a black dial, and a black and crimson bezel insert. The opposite mannequin, with a white dial and a blue bezel insert, is restricted to 50 items solely. Each dials, made by Kari Voutilianen’s dial manufacturing firm Comblemine, characteristic a mixture of spherical, rectangular and triangular indices. All indices are completed with Tremendous-LumiNova.

The hour and minute palms are straight, with a luminous insert, and paired with a lollipop seconds hand (additionally luminous). At three you will discover a date window revealing the white disc with black digits beneath. Leijona provides every mannequin with a alternative bezel insert, to vary the look if desired (see beneath).

Energy comes from the Sellita SW200 computerized motion. This dependable different to the ETA 2824 has confirmed its value by now and is a good choice, as it may be simply serviced. It runs at a frequency of 28,800vph and gives 38 hours of energy reserve when totally wound.

The Leijona Försti Diver comes on a chrome steel five-link bracelet with a fine-adjustment clasp. Relying on which reference, you additionally get a secondary rubber strap in both black or blue. The watch retails for EUR 4,490 for each fashions, which took us without warning contemplating the competitors it’s up towards. For that sort of cash, there are quite a lot of sturdy options available on the market.

The Leijona Försti Diver is accessible by means of chosen retailers throughout Finland or by means of the model’s eCommerce platform. For extra info, please go to LeijonaHeritage.com.