Yes, we love a new watch brand here at the Northern Watch Co magazine, so say hello to Mustonen and their debut watches. Definitely different and available at pre-order prices.
So what’s the story behind the launchpad? Martin Mustonen, the founder and designer of Finland based Mustonen watches was inspired by Mars exploration for the company’s debut timepiece.
IS THERE LIFE ON MARS? ELON MUSK IS GOING TO FIND OUT
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 eighteen months of investment and effort, the first Mustonen watch was born. The 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.
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.
There is the option of having a true one-off model produced, by an in-house designer too.
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.
TOURBILLON
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.
PRICES
The introductory pricing structure for M-1 pre-orders is 595 EUR for Launch Edition (-60% off future MSRP) , 765 EUR (-55%) for the Bespoke Edition (for bespoke options cost extra) and 9850 EUR for Apex Edition (-40%) The delivery of the timepieces will be in January.
More info at; www.mustonenwatches.com