Pre Baselworld 2016: Introducing the Sarpaneva K0 Seasons (Live photos, Specs & Price)

Finnish watchmaker Stepan Sarpaneva has always used his direct environment as a source of inspiration for the watches he designs. We’ve seen one of his first designs that were inspired by the kickstart pinion of his Harley Davidson, the Moon Shine that was heavily inspired by the moon (the dark side of Finland) and a host of Korona models like the stunning Black Moon. Last year Stepan took that design a step further, and joined forces with non-other than Black Badger. The result of this collaboration was the almost instantly sold-out Korona K0 Northern Lights. Now we’re up for another iteration of this Scandinavian collaboration between Black Badger and Stepan Sarpaneva; here’s the Sarpaneva Korona K0 Seasons. 

When looking at the new Korona K0 Seasons we have to take into account that, as Sarpaneva puts it himself, Finland is a country of brutal honesty. The seasons they have are probably a tad (or a few tads) more intense then what we experience in the rest of Europe. Winter is really winter, meaning everything freezes over, snow everywhere, and the sun shows itself maybe a few hours around noon. The rest of the day, and night, is dark. Summer is exactly the opposite, and the sun actually doesn’t set. OK, maybe it’s dusk for a few hours during the night. The colours of Finland’s nature have inspired Sarpaneva to create a very colourful collection of four watches, one for every season.

From left to right we see Spring, Summer, Autumn and Winter. The top row shows all four models as they are in day light, the bottom row show them at night, when the Black Badger composite dial kicks in and shows its true colours!

James Thompson a.k.a. Black Badger uses “advanced composites” for creating colourful rings and last year he joined forces with Stepan Sarpaneva to create the Korona K0 Northern Lights, which was his first collaboration in the world of watches. Today we see the second collaboration, and that’s based on Sarpaneva’s Korona K0.

A few days before the official launch Stepan send the Autumn edition, and I had the chance to photograph this one together with its ancient ancestor, my own Korona K1 of the first generation. It really shows the consistency in Sarpaneva’s design very well, and you’ll see some of the most important design features appear in all of Sarpaneva’s work.

There’s the scalloped bezel that morphed from only a scalloped bezel, to a scalloped case design. There’s the three layer dial with double layer radial grid. All openings have been de-burred by hand, and slightly angled by hand as well. This has to be done with great care, as all angles must have exactly the same degree of angle. Otherwise the light will reflect rather uneven.

And yes, the iconic moon phase is also present, now as a large steel relief in the case back. And there’s one thing that you would not notice at first sight: the case’s (relatively) slim profile. The Korona K0 Seasons measures 11.2 mm thick and 46 mm in diameter. While the diameter of 46 mm sounds huge, it actually wears much smaller than it sounds! For comparison, my Korona K1 is 44 mm in diameter and looks bigger on the wrist than the 46 mm Korona K0 Seasons.

Sarpaneva Korona K1 – 1st generation

Sarpaneva Korona K0 Seasons – Autumn

The stainless steel cases of the ‘Autumn’ version has been coated with TiN, which gives a yellow colour (almost yellow gold.) The scalloped bezel is black DLC coated, which gives a very good and sporty contrast with the yellow case. The case back is in plain stainless steel, and features Sarpaneva’s iconic angry/mysterious/curious (choice what you feel is most appropriate) moon phase. Sarpaneva’s name is engraved on one side around the moon, and the Black Badger sign is engraved on the other side, while “Korona K0 Seasons – Autumn No.00 of 20” below the moon.

Cases of other models are untreated stainless steel and sport the same case-back. Well, that is without “Autumn” and with the correct season engraved. Each season is limited to only 20 made-to-order pieces, and each version has the same retail price of € 10.000 Euro before tax. For reservations and enquiries, please contact the Sarpaneva Watches workshop.

Specifications – Sarpaneva Korona K0 Seasons