A 10-time winner at the Grand Prix d’Horlogerie de Genève, the annual industry event often called the “Oscars of watchmaking,” Kari Voutilainen is among the most prestigious figures in independent horology.
And in March, his work actually went to the Academy Awards: Cillian Murphy, who won best actor for “Oppenheimer,” wore a yellow gold brooch by the Hong Kong design house Sauvereign that Mr. Voutilainen had finished in guilloché, the decorative patterning that has become his signature.
But Mr. Voutilainen, who has lived and worked in Switzerland for more than 30 years, has not forgotten his roots. In late April, he visited his native Finland to open a small but comprehensive exhibition showcasing his career.
“Voutilainen: The Art of Watchmaking” is scheduled to run through Sept. 29 at the Finnish Museum of Horology and Jewellery Kruunu in Espoo, a city just outside the capital, Helsinki. The exhibition features 31 watches by Mr. Voutilainen as well as sketches, photographs and videos connected with his work.
Despite a spring snowstorm on the opening day that disabled Helsinki’s network of street trams and temporarily halted its light rail system, about 130 people turned out to greet Mr. Voutilainen, who grew up in the northern port city of Kemi and attended the Finnish School of Watchmaking, headquartered in Espoo.
“It’s been really interesting,” Mr. Voutilainen, 61, said in a phone interview a few days later. “The exhibition has made me really stop and think about what we have been doing for the past 35 years. And I start to realize that we really have been doing a lot of things.”
