St. Petersburg precision: watchmaker Anton Sukhanov became the winner of the Swiss competition
It would seem that there is nothing to surprise the experts of the country where the tourbillon and perpetual calendar were invented. However, our compatriot succeeded. Alexey Zhukov will continue.
Carefully, even with trepidation, designer Anton Sukhanov takes out from an ordinary sideboard a work that has already brought him real fame in the world of watchmakers. At the competition of young talents of “fine watchmaking” in Switzerland, the St. Petersburg master presented a handmade chronometer and won. For the first time in the history of an international competition, the dial did not feature the logos of Patek Philippe, Vaucheron-Constantin or the hackneyed Rolex, but a modest inscription: “Anton Sukhanov. St. Petersburg".
Anton Sukhanov, watchmaker: “The idea of a watch did not appear right away, and I did not make it specifically for this competition, but at some point I came to the conclusion that there was a need to do something myself.”
It took two years to create the masterpiece. I made some of the parts myself, some were extracted from old Soviet models, and friends in the workshop helped me make some elements. A special pride is that there is not a single imported gear. But it was not the appearance and originality that impressed the experts. Inside Sukhanov's chronometer there is a special tourbillon — a device for leveling gravity, preventing the mechanism from stopping. In ordinary watches it is single, in good ones it is double. This black jade case is triple.
Not from Tula, as in the famous fairy tale, but from St. Petersburg, Lefty beat 47 masters from 14 countries. In principle, there were no other Russians at the competition. The highlight of the work is the five windows through which the magic of this unique mechanism is visible.
Anton Sukhanov, watchmaker: “I set the maximum task for myself, again, perhaps, because no one in Russia has ever made a three-axis tourbillon. The main difficulty was, in fact, in assembly and adjustment, because the three-axis tourbillon complication is considered one of the most complex in the world at the moment, but with something simpler it was difficult to expect success at the competition.”
Success, as they say, is complete. The St. Petersburg resident has already been offered a job abroad. Refused. There is a wife and two daughters in the Northern capital. And while the humble master plunges back into work, they tell what lies behind the victory.
Faina Sukhanova, wife of Anton Sukhanov: “Of course, he worked at night for the last two years, almost every night. He could stay awake for up to 4 to 5 hours. And sometimes during the day he appears, looks at us, smiles. I think the inspiration was having children. Because after his eldest daughter Lisa was born, Anton began to work much more intensively, then Lena was born, and I noticed that he had new inspiration.”
Anton received 3 thousand euros as a prize, but they can only spend it on equipment. The best hours of the year will help you feed your family. In Switzerland, these will cost from 60 thousand euros. I took it and did it. The master plans to hone his skills. In a couple of years, and maybe even earlier, St. Petersburg Lefty Anton Sukhanov will switch to making hand-held chronometers.