Thirty years ago, in 1994, Kari Voutilainen crafted his first timepiece, a one-minute tourbillon pocket watch that took 2,000 hours to achieve, working at nighttime. During the day, Kari Voutilainen was busy in Michel Parmigiani’s workshop, making one-off or very limited series complication watches.

This pocket watch got him noticed. Presented at an exhibition La Chaux-de-Fonds in 1996, it earned Kari orders for several unique pieces and paved the way for him to strike out on his own. A few years later, in 2002, he established his own workshop in Val de-Travers, marking his independence in horology.