Welcome to our series highlighting the exceptional watches available through PERPETUAL, Phillips’ boutique service offering immediate access to the world’s rarest and most desirable timepieces. You can view all currently available watches by visiting our London headquarters at 30 Berkeley Square, our seasonal summer boutique inside Switzerland's Gstaad Palace, or by visiting Phillips PERPETUAL online. Our new "Buy Now" button makes acquiring the watch of your dreams easier than ever.
– By Logan Baker
Kari Voutilainen’s watchmaking workshop officially turned 20 years old last year, which feels rather young given the international prominence the Finnish-born watchmaker now holds in the world of high-end independent watchmaking. It sort of feels like Voutilainen has been with us forever.
Interestingly, the opposite holds true for Schwarz Etienne. This La Chaux-de-Fonds-based watchmaking outfit was originally founded more than a century ago, in 1902, more than a century ago. Despite its history, it’s only been in the past five years or so that Schwarz Etienne has reestablished a high level of name recognition, which they’ve achieved through creating custom movements for other watch brands (the influential Malaysia-based watch brand Ming is a major champion), but also through the development of new watch models and collections produced under the Schwarz Etienne name.
One of the more notable recent instances of the latter just arrived at Phillips PERPETUAL. It’s a limited-edition watch from Schwarz Etienne’s dressy Roma line-up that’s christened the “Roma Synergy” and was produced in partnership with Voutilainen and his team. Introduced in 2020 in a pair of dial color options, each limited to 50 examples, the Roma Synergy has turned into a bit of a sleeper hit for Schwarz Etienne over the past few years.
The initial Roma Synergy models sold out in short order, and Schwarz Etienne and Voutilainen have since followed the 2020 editions with several additional limited-production pieces, frequently in collaboration with the brand’s retail partners around the world (see here and here).
The present watch has a sand-grey dial (which was one of the two original dial color options, alongside dark blue), and Voutilainen's recognizable guilloché patterns are on full display, with multiple different rose-engine-turned designs coming together seamlessly and adding a great sense of depth to the entire dial display. There’s a soleil pattern in the hour track that frames an écaille de poisson design in the central portion of the dial. The small seconds display, meanwhile, features a wave-like pattern.
One of the most interesting aspects of this watch is that the names for both Schwarz Etienne and Kari Voutilainen appear on the dial, with the former’s branding taking precedence below the traditional 12 o’clock position, and Voutilainen’s name is placed on a silver plaque at the bottom of the small seconds display, at six o’clock.
Inside the 39mm × 11mm stainless-steel case is Schwarz Etienne's in-house caliber ASE 200, featuring a 4N gold plated micro-rotor that sits flush with the bridges and enables the impressive 86-hour power reserve.
The micro-rotor is decorated by Les Ateliers Kari Voutilainen, along with snailing and diamond drops on the ratchet wheel (the large visible wheel next to the micro-rotor). Additionally, the bridges are hand beveled. Black-polished steel parts tie everything together.
One of the original 50 examples of the 2020 Schwarz Etienne × Kari Voutilainen Roma Synergy Limited Edition with a sand-grey dial is available now for immediate purchase from Phillips PERPETUAL. The watch is in exceptional, unworn condition, comes complete with its original box, wallet, and warranty, and carries a price of £19,500.
About Phillips PERPETUAL
Phillips PERPETUAL offers a boutique experience to clients for both the sale and purchase of fine and rare watches, in London’s Berkeley Square and the Gstaad Palace, in Switzerland.
About Logan Baker
Logan has spent the past decade reporting on every aspect of the watch business. He joined Phillips in Association with Bacs & Russo at the start of 2023 as the department's Senior Editorial Manager. He splits his time between New York and Geneva.
Visit Phillips PERPETUAL /
30 Berkeley Square, London, United Kingdom, W1J 6EX (map)
Monday through Friday, 10:00 AM – 17:30 PM
Contact & Consignment Enquiries /
00 44 207 901 7916
perpetual@phillips.com
@phillipsperpetual
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