An independent you don't know but need to know : Reima Koivukoski

[unknown]

Some time ago I learned to know an independent watchmaker ' Reima Koivukoski ' a bit better. I saw pictures of the things he made and we started to discuss quite a lot about watches.
And in the near future we will have lunch together to talk even more about his work.
Now I want you guys to 'discover' Mr Reima Koivukoski cause I was really amazed by his work. And I'm probably even more surprised this guy is still under the radar.
And I mean A LOT under the radar.

About Reima Koivukoski ( some info from our chats, LinkedIn, ... )

- Went to the Finish school of watchmaking (Micromechanic and Watchmaker/Watchmaking and Jewelrymaking), this during 4 years.
- In 2015 a few months internship at Christian Klings (Precision partmaking and finishing, for example a 3/4 plate with geneva stripes).
- 2016 a couple of months internships Voutilainen (Precision partmaking with Schaubling 70 and Hauser H1. Finishing training in beveling).
- 2016-2017 worked for 1 year as a watchmaker at Habring2.
- Meanwhile he worked for a few clients/companies to service and restore watches ( some big complications included).
- In 2020 he started his own company and wanted to make his own pieces.

As I said, completely under the radar and I bet as good as nobody knows him. When I do a search on this and other watch related sites ... zero results
And this surprised me a lot!

In 2015 he won the F. A. Lange Watchmaking Excellence Award 2015.
I mean, this should be the start of a fantastic journey. Being selected to enter this contest is one thing, winning it is another thing.

https://en.worldtempus.com/article/i...015-20671.html

His track record and winning that A.Lange & Söhne price was already a trigger for me to look closer with a lot of interest.
When looking at a watch he made and knowing how he made it ... I was blown away.

So as I said earlier, he started his own business and had the idea to create his own watches in 2020.
But as we all know... that was that stupid time when Covid decided to mess up the entire world.
You can imagine it was terrible to start during that time, even servicing watches was as good as impossible cause a lot of shops had to close.
Thats probably the reason Reima made only a handful of watches until today.

Now let's take a closer look at his pieces.

The movement.

Like many others he starts from an existing movement, upgrades it, finishes it perfectly and gives his own 'touch' to it.
In this case he starts starts with a vintage Omega 266 or a Unitas. The choice is yours and depends on the case size you wish.
Basically the end product being the Omega or Unitas will look the same.
If you want a 38 till 40mm Reima suggests to take the Omega, if you prefer a 41 and bigger the Unitas is the way to go.


This is an Omega 266







And this is how it will look like after he did his magic






Screws are black polished, snailing on the ratchet wheels, ...
Not visible on this picture but I asked him to do some perlage on the base plate. So the part that is not covered with the 3/4 plate which is decorated with Geneva stripes.
The 3/4 plate will have some nice bevelling but difficult to see on this picture
Also I asked him to bevel the spokes on the wheels of the gear train.
The bridge that holds the balance and that other piece next to the balance ( no idea how to call it ) will be black polished
On the movement it will say 'Handmade in Finland' , of course hand engraved

the dial

And yes this is in-house and hand made.
Since he makes his own dial you have the possibility to go for your own design.
One of the first watches he made had this dial.
tbh not a fan of this one but ofcourse that is personal opinion. not enough contrast between case and dial .. and too simple
This dial leaves me cold

At the end of this post I will include some 3D renderings he made.
We had some chats and I tried to explain what I prefer.
Can tell you already... I'm very happy with the result





The hands

Also in-house and handmade !
The hands you see on the picture above are nice but I prefer another style.
Picture below shows an amazing set of hands he had to make for 1 client
I love these and will have the same.






If you think you see spots on the yellow inner circle, that is just some annoying reflection


The crown on the watch (again pic above) look a bit big. But since he also makes the crown in-house ... We will design another (smaller) crown.


The case

Which is probably the most special/ important thing

Also handmade and in-house.
And not the easy way , using a CNC machine and polishing a bit :-)
This is one of the messages he sent me:



So 3 rings, put together and afterwards attaching the 4 lugs.

some examples

Left how it started, right the result after a lot of work








( not completely finished, work in progress)

I think I'll go for teardrop lugs. (Again, he makes everything himself so you can choose the lugs you like the most)

Cases are available in steel but if you want to pay for it red, yellow and white gold are possible.
Want platinum ? no problem !

A metal I love but almost nobody offers is tantalum.... we know the reason
Not crazy expensive but a pain in the ass to work with cause it's so damn hard.
FPJ does it for the chronometre blue and in the past AP, Panerai and Hublot did it but I don't think we can name much more.

So I asked if Tantalum was an option.

Got this reply





So let's give it a try !

Now the best part ... He is not fully booked so ordering is a thing you might want to consider.

And the price is imo a bargain, I'm sure that won't last forever :-)
The watch I want with all the upgrades like some extra black polishing, some extra perlage, hand engraving on the back, handmade hands and dials, hand made case
(that specific method) .... find me another watchmaker that does all of this .... for a price around 10 K + tax (in steel),
A handmade case in Tantalum will cost about 5K extra, Gold 8 K I believe and platinum close to the price of gold.... but to be sure you'd better contact him (at least if you consider buying one)


Too many 'small independents' buy
-cases ( from a standard cheap 100 euro case to the more expensive made by Cattin ( Voutilainen), Las Artisans Boitier ( Sandoz-Parmigiani group)...) ,
-hands,
-dials ( Metalem, Comblémine, Cadrans Donze, ...),
-movements ( Vaucher, Agenor, Soprod ...,) Most of the times they don't do anything with the movement they bought, they just put it in the case

So in fact most of the parts are not made in-house but from third parties and they put all the things together. I won't mention all the brands I think of cause that would not be nice :-)
But I bet you also can name a few dozen. They order a movement, they order a case and with a bit of luck they make their own dial.

Unless you want to pay an INSANE amount it's imo not possible to find 1 GUY that makes all of this himself.


All I can say is that I ordered mine !!!!
And before I wrote this post I did inform some close friends with the same watch passion, Let's say most of them ordered one too.

So it's up to you ... I don't gain anything here, just want to share something imo very special.
And don't blame me if rather soon then late he will not accept anymore orders cause he will have big waitinglist.
This is imo a fantastic option to get a real, entire handmade piece for a very, VERY good price
(Prices I mentioned are an indication and without VAT)

If you have questions, or want to order just like me and a few others already did:
[email protected]
or check his Instagram @reimakoivukoski

As said I was not a fan of the dial (a few pics up) but the last days we changed some thoughts and I tried to explain what I do like…. Couple of days later I got this 3D drawing.





Polished indents for the minute and seconds markers, polished , applied numbers.

The movement in one of the pics is yellow but since my dial will be 2 shades of grey and my case will be tantalum I prefer to have a silver colour.
He gave me these options: “can show 3 samples when the bridges are ready. Rhodium (bright) silver (whiter) platinum (warmer)”

Some extra 3D scans of the entire watch











( lugs look a bit out of proportion here, but that's just the drawing)


Personal conclusion:
1 guy watchmaker that makes all of this himself, that listens to his clients and does it for that price ... IT'S A NO-BRAINER

[djnick]

looks very interesting be sure to update when you get your watch!

[llngoc]

The case looks very Voutilainen to me. And with a tantalum case, the watch is $15000?

[unknown]

Originally Posted by djnick

looks very interesting be sure to update when you get your watch!

will do it with pleasure but it will take 6 to 10 months

[unknown]

Originally Posted by llngoc

The case looks very Voutilainen to me. And with a tantalum case, the watch is $15000?

Agree that it has voutilainen similarities but that's mainly because of the teardrop lugs. It's my choice to take this elugs, you can also choose for straight lugs or whatever you want/

Yes with a tantalum case it's 15K and I call that a bargain. I know 2 others that ask 10-15K ONLY for a tantalum case.
And they even don't make the case themselves, they order it.


In-house made hands, dial, case, heavily modified vintage movement ... ( maybe you have to read again how the case and dial are made ) ... Please name me a few guys that deliver that kind of finishing and that amount of work for 10 k ( steel or 15 K ( Tantalum)

[Moondoggy]

Thanks I enjoy discovering other brands.

[GreenRust]

Love it and glad you do too. Thanks for bringing this small maker to my attention. I see some strong Voutilainen and Urban Jurgensen vibes in the asthetic...and I mean that as a complement, they're some of my favorite designs. Can't wait to see this.when it's done.

[Ichiran]

Thanks for sharing. The watch looks great from the pics, and the price very reasonable.

[Yobrooks]

Thanks for the information and introduction to this brand. I look forward to the pix of the final product. Looks like he pays attention to the finer details.

Sent from my SM-N986U using Tapatalk

[enjoythemusic]

Yes indeed, thanks for sharing. Love all these independent / custom releases now available. Thx for posting OP

[unknown]

and what about these dials?

A friend collector wanted blue and is in doubt between these 2

[joli160]

Many thanks, very interesting

[ChaseATX]

When I consider an independent, I think of what happens when the inevitable service/issue comes up.

A one person shop creates concern for me on that moment.

Happy to see hand precision mixed with affordability though. I’d check with a local watchmaker about your long term service needs first.

[unknown]

Originally Posted by ChaseATX

When I consider an independent, I think of what happens when the inevitable service/issue comes up.

A one person shop creates concern for me on that moment.

Happy to see hand precision mixed with affordability though. I’d check with a local watchmaker about your long term service needs first.

I understand your concern
But this is only important when you would buy something very exotic like a Ressence or HYT
Most watches will not be able to help you in that case

But watchmakers that make their watches the way every watchmaker does it since 200 years….. well every good watchmaker can work on these watches and will always be able to service it.

[llngoc]

Originally Posted by unknown

Some time ago I learned to know an independent watchmaker ' Reima Koivukoski ' a bit better. I saw pictures of the things he made and we started to discuss quite a lot about watches.
And in the near future we will have lunch together to talk even more about his work.
Now I want you guys to 'discover' Mr Reima Koivukoski cause I was really amazed by his work. And I'm probably even more surprised this guy is still under the radar.
And I mean A LOT under the radar.

About Reima Koivukoski ( some info from our chats, LinkedIn, ... )

- Went to the Finish school of watchmaking (Micromechanic and Watchmaker/Watchmaking and Jewelrymaking), this during 4 years.
- In 2015 a few months internship at Christian Klings (Precision partmaking and finishing, for example a 3/4 plate with geneva stripes).
- 2016 a couple of months internships Voutilainen (Precision partmaking with Schaubling 70 and Hauser H1. Finishing training in beveling).
- 2016-2017 worked for 1 year as a watchmaker at Habring2.
- Meanwhile he worked for a few clients/companies to service and restore watches ( some big complications included).
- In 2020 he started his own company and wanted to make his own pieces.

As I said, completely under the radar and I bet as good as nobody knows him. When I do a search on this and other watch related sites ... zero results
And this surprised me a lot!

In 2015 he won the F. A. Lange Watchmaking Excellence Award 2015.
I mean, this should be the start of a fantastic journey. Being selected to enter this contest is one thing, winning it is another thing.

https://en.worldtempus.com/article/i...015-20671.html

His track record and winning that A.Lange & Söhne price was already a trigger for me to look closer with a lot of interest.
When looking at a watch he made and knowing how he made it ... I was blown away.

So as I said earlier, he started his own business and had the idea to create his own watches in 2020.
But as we all know... that was that stupid time when Covid decided to mess up the entire world.
You can imagine it was terrible to start during that time, even servicing watches was as good as impossible cause a lot of shops had to close.
Thats probably the reason Reima made only a handful of watches until today.

Now let's take a closer look at his pieces.

The movement.

Like many others he starts from an existing movement, upgrades it, finishes it perfectly and gives his own 'touch' to it.
In this case he starts starts with a vintage Omega 266 or a Unitas. The choice is yours and depends on the case size you wish.
Basically the end product being the Omega or Unitas will look the same.
If you want a 38 till 40mm Reima suggests to take the Omega, if you prefer a 41 and bigger the Unitas is the way to go.


This is an Omega 266







And this is how it will look like after he did his magic






Screws are black polished, snailing on the ratchet wheels, ...
Not visible on this picture but I asked him to do some perlage on the base plate. So the part that is not covered with the 3/4 plate which is decorated with Geneva stripes.
The 3/4 plate will have some nice bevelling but difficult to see on this picture
Also I asked him to bevel the spokes on the wheels of the gear train.
The bridge that holds the balance and that other piece next to the balance ( no idea how to call it ) will be black polished
On the movement it will say 'Handmade in Finland' , of course hand engraved

the dial

And yes this is in-house and hand made.
Since he makes his own dial you have the possibility to go for your own design.
One of the first watches he made had this dial.
tbh not a fan of this one but ofcourse that is personal opinion. not enough contrast between case and dial .. and too simple
This dial leaves me cold

At the end of this post I will include some 3D renderings he made.
We had some chats and I tried to explain what I prefer.
Can tell you already... I'm very happy with the result





The hands

Also in-house and handmade !
The hands you see on the picture above are nice but I prefer another style.
Picture below shows an amazing set of hands he had to make for 1 client
I love these and will have the same.






If you think you see spots on the yellow inner circle, that is just some annoying reflection


The crown on the watch (again pic above) look a bit big. But since he also makes the crown in-house ... We will design another (smaller) crown.


The case

Which is probably the most special/ important thing

Also handmade and in-house.
And not the easy way , using a CNC machine and polishing a bit :-)
This is one of the messages he sent me:



So 3 rings, put together and afterwards attaching the 4 lugs.

some examples

Left how it started, right the result after a lot of work








( not completely finished, work in progress)

I think I'll go for teardrop lugs. (Again, he makes everything himself so you can choose the lugs you like the most)

Cases are available in steel but if you want to pay for it red, yellow and white gold are possible.
Want platinum ? no problem !

A metal I love but almost nobody offers is tantalum.... we know the reason
Not crazy expensive but a pain in the ass to work with cause it's so damn hard.
FPJ does it for the chronometre blue and in the past AP, Panerai and Hublot did it but I don't think we can name much more.

So I asked if Tantalum was an option.

Got this reply





So let's give it a try !

Now the best part ... He is not fully booked so ordering is a thing you might want to consider.

And the price is imo a bargain, I'm sure that won't last forever :-)
The watch I want with all the upgrades like some extra black polishing, some extra perlage, hand engraving on the back, handmade hands and dials, hand made case
(that specific method) .... find me another watchmaker that does all of this .... for a price around 10 K + tax (in steel),
A handmade case in Tantalum will cost about 5K extra, Gold 8 K I believe and platinum close to the price of gold.... but to be sure you'd better contact him (at least if you consider buying one)


Too many 'small independents' buy
-cases ( from a standard cheap 100 euro case to the more expensive made by Cattin ( Voutilainen), Las Artisans Boitier ( Sandoz-Parmigiani group)...) ,
-hands,
-dials ( Metalem, Comblémine, Cadrans Donze, ...),
-movements ( Vaucher, Agenor, Soprod ...,) Most of the times they don't do anything with the movement they bought, they just put it in the case

So in fact most of the parts are not made in-house but from third parties and they put all the things together. I won't mention all the brands I think of cause that would not be nice :-)
But I bet you also can name a few dozen. They order a movement, they order a case and with a bit of luck they make their own dial.

Unless you want to pay an INSANE amount it's imo not possible to find 1 GUY that makes all of this himself.


All I can say is that I ordered mine !!!!
And before I wrote this post I did inform some close friends with the same watch passion, Let's say most of them ordered one too.

So it's up to you ... I don't gain anything here, just want to share something imo very special.
And don't blame me if rather soon then late he will not accept anymore orders cause he will have big waitinglist.
This is imo a fantastic option to get a real, entire handmade piece for a very, VERY good price
(Prices I mentioned are an indication and without VAT)

If you have questions, or want to order just like me and a few others already did:
[email protected]
or check his Instagram @reimakoivukoski

As said I was not a fan of the dial (a few pics up) but the last days we changed some thoughts and I tried to explain what I do like…. Couple of days later I got this 3D drawing.





Polished indents for the minute and seconds markers, polished , applied numbers.

The movement in one of the pics is yellow but since my dial will be 2 shades of grey and my case will be tantalum I prefer to have a silver colour.
He gave me these options: “can show 3 samples when the bridges are ready. Rhodium (bright) silver (whiter) platinum (warmer)”

Some extra 3D scans of the entire watch











( lugs look a bit out of proportion here, but that's just the drawing)


Personal conclusion:
1 guy watchmaker that makes all of this himself, that listens to his clients and does it for that price ... IT'S A NO-BRAINER

I wonder what is the best way to contact him? I sent an email a few days ago but have yet to hear from him but it seems like you are using a messaging app? Will I have better luck with messages?

TIA

[unknown]

Originally Posted by llngoc

I wonder what is the best way to contact him? I sent an email a few days ago but have yet to hear from him but it seems like you are using a messaging app? Will I have better luck with messages?

TIA

Try his Instagram
Friend of mine also had email issues (spam)
If that doesn’t work, sent me a private message with your email
I’ll forward it to his WhatsApp nr and ask him to contact you

[llngoc]

Originally Posted by unknown

Try his Instagram
Friend of mine also had email issues (spam)
If that doesn’t work, sent me a private message with your email
I’ll forward it to his WhatsApp nr and ask him to contact you

I just DM him on IG. Will send you PM if I do not hear back in a few days.

[btwistround]

whoah! thanks for this dude.

will check him out now.

[Willyjo]

Thanks for intro to this. I like him and his story. About to pull the trigger on one.

Will post when I do.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[llngoc]

Originally Posted by llngoc

I just DM him on IG. Will send you PM if I do not hear back in a few days.

Update: He finally replied and we are working on our design. Apparently summer is crazy busy for him so in case anyone else here is waiting, there is hope. He will respond.

[huydoan]

Originally Posted by llngoc

Update: He finally replied and we are working on our design. Apparently summer is crazy busy for him so in case anyone else here is waiting, there is hope. He will respond.

Same for me. What model are you working on? I consider timeonly, moonphase or chronograph. By the way, I just notice that he had apprenticeship in Christian Klings, the watchmaker I really like


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[llngoc]

Originally Posted by huydoan

Same for me. What model are you working on? I consider timeonly, moonphase or chronograph. By the way, I just notice that he had apprenticeship in Christian Klings, the watchmaker I really like


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

I am trying to get a 38mm Timeonly Classic in tantalum. Waiting for his feedback on dial choices now.

[huydoan]

Originally Posted by llngoc

I am trying to get a 38mm Timeonly Classic in tantalum. Waiting for his feedback on dial choices now.

wow please share with us what you choose

[llngoc]

Originally Posted by huydoan

wow please share with us what you choose

Definitively will once it is finalized.

[unknown]

Meanwhile I can tell you the movement will get a serious upgrade. Much better than what I showed in my original post. The bridges will be thicker which makes better angle / bevelling possible. Als one or more sharp inward angles will be added.

The tantalum for the case should arrive this month. Really looking forward how he will make this case

[llngoc]

Originally Posted by unknown

Meanwhile I can tell you the movement will get a serious upgrade. Much better than what I showed in my original post. The bridges will be thicker which makes better angle / bevelling possible. Als one or more sharp inward angles will be added.

The tantalum for the case should arrive this month. Really looking forward how he will make this case

I have also just placed my order and added the “top finish” option. Please post pics once you get yours and thanks for bringing this new watchmaker to my attention.

Now I just have to decide on the dial.

[huydoan]

Originally Posted by unknown

Meanwhile I can tell you the movement will get a serious upgrade. Much better than what I showed in my original post. The bridges will be thicker which makes better angle / bevelling possible. Als one or more sharp inward angles will be added.

The tantalum for the case should arrive this month. Really looking forward how he will make this case

Originally Posted by unknown

Meanwhile I can tell you the movement will get a serious upgrade. Much better than what I showed in my original post. The bridges will be thicker which makes better angle / bevelling possible. Als one or more sharp inward angles will be added.

The tantalum for the case should arrive this month. Really looking forward how he will make this case

Thanks for updating us. Are you Bxxxx on wxxxxxxxxxx? I saw your consideration of changing from teardrop lugs to straight ones. May I ask do you have any concern about teardrop lugs like their fragility. I do not have teardrop lugs in my collection so I’d love to know more.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[unknown]

Originally Posted by huydoan

Thanks for updating us. Are you Bxxxx on wxxxxxxxxxx? I saw your consideration of changing from teardrop lugs to straight ones. May I ask do you have any concern about teardrop lugs like their fragility. I do not have teardrop lugs in my collection so I’d love to know more.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Yes, Bruno is my name and I do post on WatchProSite.
I’m not sure yet about the lugs.
It’s just a matter of taste, I see no reason why teardrop lugs would be more fragile. I do t have watches with teardrops in my collection

Like said, right now I’m hesitating
But when I receive my watch I might decide to order a second one and in that case one of both will have teardrops

[huydoan]

Originally Posted by unknown

Yes, Bruno is my name and I do post on WatchProSite.
I’m not sure yet about the lugs.
It’s just a matter of taste, I see no reason why teardrop lugs would be more fragile. I do t have watches with teardrops in my collection

Like said, right now I’m hesitating
But when I receive my watch I might decide to order a second one and in that case one of both will have teardrops

Thank you. Look forward to seeing your new watch post soon.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[llngoc]

Originally Posted by unknown

Meanwhile I can tell you the movement will get a serious upgrade. Much better than what I showed in my original post. The bridges will be thicker which makes better angle / bevelling possible. Als one or more sharp inward angles will be added.

The tantalum for the case should arrive this month. Really looking forward how he will make this case

I got a render for the movement and for the price, I am getting quite a few interior angles. It seems like he also has opened up the bridges so he can fit more interior angles.

I am excited but now has to decide on the dial which is the hard part.