Smoking Room
Timekeepers Club / September 24, 2021

Mustonen M-1

After considering various options for the theme of the first Mustonen timepiece, Martin Mustonen, the founder and designer of Mustonen watches set his choice on Mars exploration. This theme was chosen due to his passion of studuying the space and the opportunity to commemorate with the first Mustonen timepiece the achievements reached by people working in mars mission of the present and the past. Most recent major achievement was the successful landing of Perseverance rover in Jezro crater on Feb. 18, 2021.

After over a decade of working in jewelry industry, in 2016 Martin Mustonen began studying watchmaking independently so he could eventually realize his dream of starting his own watch brand. After accumulating experience in watchmaking, design, finishing processes and making connections with craftsmen and suppliers in Europe, Martin was ready to start working on the first timepiece under Mustonen brand and after eighteen months of invested efforts the first Mustonen watch was born, M-1

M-1 collection features three Made in Finland Limited editions with Swiss movements: Launch edition, Bespoke edition and Apex edition (Tourbillon) each limited to 999, 500 and 15 timepieces respectively.

Inspiration for the design Martin Mustonen found from spacecraft of various NASA missions and fighter jets. Precision machined from 316L stainless steel with 3-5 microns of tolerance, the case measures 39mm in width, 10mm in thickness and has a 52mm lug-to-lug distance. The mirror polished finish of the case is treated with plasma coating process resulting in 700HV surface hardness which is highly scratch resistant. Thickness of the coating is 0.1 microns. For the bespoke edition Mustonen also offers Brushed finish and Black DLC coating for the case and clasp.

M-1 features exceptionally rare martian meteorite (NWA 6963 Basaltic Shergottite) on the side of the case covered by sapphire glass that is set on 18k gold sheet. A Martian meteorite is a rock that formed on Mars, was ejected from the planet by an impact event, traversed interplanetary space and finally landed on the Earth as a meteorite and is one of the rarest materials on earth.

The movements for each edition were chosen with care, the most impressive of the movements being the Tourbillon movement by Concepto manufacture installed in the M-1 Apex edition. For the M-1 Bespoke edition the customer can choose either Soprod A-10 with exceptional precision of +/- 4 seconds per day or the classic 2824-2 movement by ETA.

For the movements of Bespoke and Apex Editions Mustonen offers a bespoke service for unique rotor design. STP Calibre 1-11 was chosen as the movement to be fitted to the M-1 Launch Edition.

Martin Mustonen being second generation watch aficionado himself, knows that for the watch to represent truly the style of the wearer, it needs to be bespoke. Therefore he was determined to bring to his clients a true bespoke timepiece service in the form of M-1 Bespoke Edition which has been made possible by his extensive network of master craftsmen and hiring an in-house designer for bespoke features with over two decades of experience in various areas of watchmaking and design.

Martin Mustonen elaborates "the concept for M-1 Bespoke edition is to offer customers a truly bespoke timepiece with no-limits approach on bespoke options and on the Mustonen website the bespoke options are only partially listed. For one-off requests I recommend to consult our in-house designer, he's available to consult regarding even the most demanding of design requests". The M-1 Bespoke Edition is limited to 500 timepieces.

As for the concept of M-1 Launch Edition Martin Mustonen explains: "The concept for M-1 Launch Edition is to offer the M-1 with a reliable Swiss automatic movement for under 600 euros , without compromising the impeccable craftsmanship that goes into each M-1 timepiece so that as many watch aficionados as possible would be able able to afford and therefore enjoy the first Mustonen timepiece" This was made possible with a steep 60% discount off the future MSRP for pre-orders and producing larger amount of timepieces for the Launch Edition totaling 999 watches.

The M-1 Launch edition has abundance of features:

Aventurine or Onyx dial with rhodium plated hands and indices, polished or brushed finishing on the 316L stainless steel case which is intricately machined with 3-5 microns of tolerance in execution, premium nylon or crocodile leather strap with material and stitching color of choice, Swiss made STP 1-11 automatic movement, Double AR sapphire glass, deployant clasp, BGW9 Superluminova, Scratch resistant coating of 700HV hardness and more... For the fans of NASA Mustonen offers NASA insignia pad printed on the dial below the cannon pinion with official permission by NASA to implement the insignia on the dial.

The M-1 Apex edition is a true haute horlogie timepiece that features exceptional Tourbillon movement by a well-known manufacture Concepto, located in La Chaux-de-Fonds. Concepto caliber 8950-A has 27 jewels, beats at 28,800vph (4Hz) with a 60-hour power reserve. Apex edition will be limited to only fifteen watches and each timepiece's bespoke design specified by the customer is processed by our in-house designer and includes bespoke features such as hand engraving on the caseback, custom rotor design and more without additional charges.

To discover more about the bespoke services that Mustonen offers Martin Mustonen recommends to visit the Mustonen website or contact his customer service team directly to receive further information.

According to Martin Mustonen, the design process for his next timepiece has already begun and in Q1 2022, Mustonen will launch a limited edition which will feature a unique movement developed in collaboration with a well-known manufacture.

Mustonen's philosophy is to provide the customers with timepieces that are crafted with impeccable quality and last from generation to generation.

The introductory pricing structure for M-1 pre-orders is EUR 595 for Launch Edition (-60% off future MSRP) , EUR 765 (-55%) for the Bespoke Edition (for bespoke options cost extra) and EUR 9'850 for Apex Edition (-40%) The delivery of the timepieces will be in January.

For more information, please visit mustonenwatches.com

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