Torsti Laine × Revolution “One Love”

Independent watchmaker Torsti Laine and Revolution create 12 unique timepieces celebrating the power of horology to unite people.

We are pleased to present Revolution's first collaboration with Finnish independent rising star Torsti Laine. Produced in a limited and numbered edition of 12 pieces, each Torsti Laine × Revolution “One Love” watch is housed in a steel 40.5mm case with an open caseback that showcases Laine’s exquisitely micro-engraved LA18.1.

Priced from CHF 11,000, excluding taxes, there are four executions of the dials rendered in Torsti’s absolutely stunning shade of purple. Each version is available with white rhodium Breguet numerals, Chinese numerals or Eastern Arabic numerals, which means our One Love project comprises a series of 12 pièce unique timepieces.

Laine's rising star

The moment I held my first Torsti Laine watch, I fell in love with it. In some ways, I feel that the understated and under-the-radar Finnish watchmaker has been creating the type of watches that the collector world loves — vintage inspired designs with incredible attention to detail, like the works of Kikuchi Nakagawa in Japan and Atelier de Chronométrie in Spain — but with more exuberantly expressed dials and at a far more accessible price point.

That is to say, Laine’s watches are wonderful 1940s and ’50s-inspired chronometers with stunning handmade dials and calibers that hark back to the golden age of watchmaking with their massive slow-beating balance wheels and beautiful movement architecture.

So who exactly is Torsti Laine? After a brief stint writing and even teaching code programming, he became enamored with watches and enrolled in the famed Kelloseppäkoulu watchmaking school where Kari Voutilainen, too, had received his education. In 2014, he won a competition held by A. Lange & Söhne. Fascinated by how the moon appears in different positions around the globe, he submitted an innovative design of a watch with a single pusher that could be used to correct the moonphase so that it was accurate in any position on earth. The project also featured an indicator of the earth’s position as viewed from the moon. Following his success at the competition, Laine relocated to Le Locle to live in the epicenter of watchmaking and has operated his own brand since 2016.

Torsti’s initial work focused on chronographs using movements like the Valjoux 22, 23 and 72. Today, Torsti focuses less on chronographs and more on his time-only watches which are offered in two sizes: a 38mm version powered by a Vaucher micro-rotor movement; and a 40.5mm version with a manual wind, largely proprietary movement based on a Unitas gear train. These are known respectively as the V38 and the GG3. Incidentally, GG stands for “Gelidus,” a frosted finish reminiscent of the snow in Laine’s native Finland, and “Guilloché,” the engraved decorative pattern he has become famous for.

The Torsti Laine GG3

One of the things I’ve always loved best about horology is that it transcends, age, race, religion, gender and nationality. I’ve always thought of watches as the great unifier. When I first suggested our collaboration to Torsti, he said, “I like the fact that Revolution is present in three major parts of the watch collecting world, the United States/Europe, Asia and the Middle East. Maybe we could make a watch that expresses the unity and solidarity that is created by our love for watchmaking.”

But what if we were to create four watches — all united by the same color dial and micro-engraved movement, but each with a unique dial featuring a decorative pattern showcasing Laine’s mastery in guilloché à main? Then we would make these same four watches with Breguet, Chinese and Eastern Arabic numerals to pay tribute to the three languages that we at Revolution create our content. Meaning that we will have a total of 12 pièce unique timepieces that are meant to be symbols of unity and solidarity, watches that remind collectors of the international appeal of horology and its capacity to bring people together.

But why the 40.5mm watch, you might ask. I get it that prevailing tastes have shifted to smaller sizes. But it all has to do with the movement. The V38 is a spectacular watch from a size perspective, but the movement is a relatively straightforward execution of the Vaucher micro-rotor movement used by several brands. With the V38 watch, the customization is limited to the micro-rotor which Laine reworks to fantastic effect.

The GG3 is a different story. While Laine might start with a relatively pedestrian Unitas 6498 ébauche, to say that he works some serious transubstantiation worthy of King Midas would be an understatement. Says Laine, “When it comes to a vintage-style chronometer, the Unitas offers all the characteristics that you would expect from the movement architecture. It features a large oversized balance wheel that vibrates at the classical speed of 18,000 vibrations per hour, like the old chronometers of the ’40s and ’50s, a single large barrel with an extremely stable performance, and a three-quarter-plate construction.” But looking at a standard Unitas ébauche versus Laine’s GG3 movement is like looking at Eliza Doolittle before and after she meets Professor Higgins in My Fair Lady.

To begin with, the entire architecture of the movement is different. Instead of a straightforward three quarter plate, Laine has created a magnificent, sensually curved baseplate which snakes around the ratchet and barrel wheels with the litheness of a belly dancer, and features razor-sharp spear points that are hand bevelled and polished to perfection just to showcase his extraordinary ability at finishing. This plate is made by Laine with his
own miniature computer numerical control (CNC) machine. Then a custom finish is applied, combining frosting and the best miniature engraving in relief that I’ve seen, using Laine’s own laser-engraving machine in his atelier, next to where he applies the rose gold galvanic treatment to the plate himself.

All the parts of the baseplate’s complex engraving at the highest level are mirror polished by hand. The incredible beveling around the entire plate forms one of the most complex shapes I’ve come across. Look at the stunning snailing on both his ratchet and barrel wheels. The contrast in reflection between light and dark on these wheels is truly magnificent. Every one of its countersinks holding either a screw or a ruby are polished to stunning effect. Look at the head of each screw and the way it reflects light because it is black polished, the pinnacle of polishing. This technique is also known as “spéculaire” in French, which means polishing a steel part to such perfection that it only diffuses light in one direction, producing a "black" effect when the light strikes the surface at a right angle. Not content with this, Torsti also black polishes the click for the barrel as well as the two screw heads that you see underneath the balance wheel.

My favorite part of Laine’s movement, however, are the two bridges — the bridge that retains the escapement wheel and the complementary bridge that retains the balance. There exists a tradition for beautifully finished steel bridges in independent watchmaking. Christian Klings made some very beautiful ones on my friend Mark Cho’s pièce unique, while the Grönefeld Brothers and Petermann Bédat have also used them to ravishing effect. But you don’t normally find this element in an accessibly priced watch like Laine’s. I also love the beautiful and elegant shape of these bridges which feature slim Constantin Brâncuși-like elements. Being positioned close to the rubies retaining the balance staff and escape wheel staff, the bridges feature pointed wing-like shoulders, which to me makes them look like birds in flight.

A Paean for Peace

When it came time to design the relief engraving, Laine and I decided to push his laser-engraving machine to the outer edges of its capability. He explained to me, “Since our watch is about unity and respecting different cultures, why don’t we try engraving the word ‘Peace’ in as many languages as we can fit on the baseplate?”

After a lengthy design process arranging each of these words to the best aesthetic effect, we managed to fit “Peace” in 70 different languages on the movement’s baseplate. It was only when I saw the final effect that I realized it reminded me a little bit of the secret engraving used on the Greubel Forsey Invention Piece watches, though I suppose that association can only be a positive one. As a surprise, Laine also added a tiny peace symbol and a dove of peace tucked into a roof-shaped section of the baseplate beside the barrel and ratchet wheels.

What was truly impressive was that once this spectacle of micro-engraving was completed and we were satisfied with the sharpness and clarity of each word under magnification with a watchmaker’s loupe, Laine set about the process of linear graining each “Peace” so that it stood out in fantastic shimmering contrast to the baseplate’s frosted finish. The end result is something that to me resonates with positivity and unity.

Each Torsti Laine × Revolution “One Love” watch has the same steel 40.5mm × 11.3mm case, and features a domed sapphire crystal as well as a lug width of 20mm. All four executions of the dials will be rendered in Torsti’s absolutely stunning shade of purple. Why purple? Because it represents strength, power, positivity and love. It is also the color of transformation. The four different watches offered are as follows:

"One Love" with Triple Guilloché À Main Dial: The outer section is decorated with horizontal Panier (a basketweave pattern) guilloché. The center section is decorated with Flamme (a twisting sunray pattern) guilloché. The seconds section is decorated with Clous de Paris guilloché. MSRP: CHF 11'000 (excl. taxes)

"One Love" with Double Guilloché À Main Dial: Both the outer and center sections are decorated with Flamme guilloché. The seconds section is decorated with Clous de Paris guilloché. MSRP: CHF 11'000 (excl. taxes)

"One Love" with Two-Tone Meteorite and Frosted Dial: The outer section has a frosted finish. Both the center and seconds sections are in meteorite, rhodium plated for colour. MSRP: CHF 11'800 (excl. taxes)

"One Love" with Guilloche and Frosted Dial: The center section is decorated with panier guilloché and paired with Chinese numerals, flamme guilloche paired Eastern Arabic numerals or grain de ritz guilloche paired with Breguet numerals; the outer section has a frosted finish. MSRP: CHF 11'800 (excl. taxes)

The first three dial executions are available with white rhodium Breguet numerals, Chinese numerals or Eastern Arabic numerals. Together with the three one-of-a-kind guilloche-and-frosted dial execution, our One Love project comprises a series of 12 pièce unique timepieces.

Technical specifications

Torsti Laine x Revolution "One Love"

12 unique one-off pieces with Breguet, Chinese and Eastern Arabic numerals, and 4 different dial patterns

Case

• Material: Stainless steel
• Diameter: 40.5mm
• Lug-to-lug 49.5mm
• Thickness: 11.3mm
• Double domed sapphire glass with anti-reflective coating inside on both front crystal and caseback crystal
• Water-resistant to 30 meters
• Lug width: 20 mm

Dial and hands

• Panier Guilloche outer ring
• Flamme Guilloche center dial
• Clous de Paris Guilloche seconds subdial
• Breguet indices
• Rhodium plated steel hands

Movement

• Caliber LA18.1
• Manually wound movement
• Frequency: 2,5Hz (18,000 vph)
• Power reserve of 46 hours
• German silver barrel bridge
• Escapement bridge and balance bridge in black polished steel
• Peace sign and dove engravings
• "Peace" laser-engraved in 70 different languages on movement baseplate
• Black polished screw heads

Functions/Indications

• Hours, minutes, seconds

Strap and buckle

• Black leather strap with purple stitching

MSRP

• CHF 11'000 (excl. taxes) (guilloche dials)
• CHF 11'800 (excl. taxes) (frosted dials)

For more information, please visit revolutionwatch.com