GoS Norrsken UA 1/1
The GoS Norrsken UA 1/1 is a unique piece that, along with a piece of art, forms a set that will be auctioned at Sotheby’s Important Watches: Part II on April 27th. Proceeds from the sale will be provided to Red Cross Ukraine.
Patrik Sjögren is a surprisingly modest man. I use the word ‘surprisingly’ because he is an incredibly talented watchmaker. After graduating from watchmaking School in his native Sweden, he attended the renowned WOSTEP in Switzerland. He also holds a Master’s degree in Computer Science and Engineering. However, Patrik’s talents are not restricted to the classroom, he is also very practical, repeatedly showcasing his time-served skills with the watches he makes.
One glance at any timepiece crafted by GoS, Patrik’s watch brand, and it is clear the Swede does not subscribe to plagiarism. Indeed, his watches have a unique character that’s very different from German, Japanese and Swiss watches. Patrik has a love of Damascus steel and employs ancient methods to create richly lined metal.
In 2021, GoS released the inaugural Norrsken, a watch inspired by the northern lights. True to form, the case was presented in Damascus steel. However, in this instance, Patrik approached some of his compatriots and non-Swedish contemporaries to help with some of the constituent parts. For example, Jochen Benzinger from Germany, the acclaimed master engraver and guilloché expert, created the dial for the Norrsken. James Thompson (aka Black Badger) was responsible for the luminescent display with its extraordinary nocturnal glow. Mikael Kenlind, a Swedish artisan who is known for blowing Swedish crystal, created a glass index ring. Lastly, GoS turned to the independent Swiss Manufacture, Schwarz Etienne, for a self-winding movement befitting this highly specified watch. The GoS Norrsken has received favourable coverage from the world’s watch press and has proved a huge commercial success. Moreover, it has shown Patrik’s wisdom in collaborating with other parties.
Now Patrik has collaborated again, this time with the artist Matthew Miller, also known as ‘Sunflowerman’. In this instance, Patrik and Matthew have created a special watch, the GoS Norrsken UA 1/1 and an accompanying piece of art in support of Red Cross Ukraine. The two-tone dial references the Ukrainian flag, while the design language shares much in common with the ‘standard’ Norrsken watch. The set will be auctioned at Sotheby’s Important Watches: Part II on April 27th in Geneva and hopefully it will raise lots of money for this worthy cause.
Patrik’s initiative represents a generous act and demonstrates that business can be compassionate in times of need.
The brand’s press release
The watch community quickly came together to arrange support for Ukraine in various ways and a blue-yellow Rolex work of art by the watch connoisseur and editor Balazs Ferenczi was an early and elegant example. The Northern lights for Ukraine project started in the first days of March 2022 after a discussion between Patrik Sjögren from GoS and the artist Sunflowerman (Matthew Miller).
The GoS Norrsken northern lights watch was selected as a basis for the project with the blue and yellow dial created by Balazs as the main inspiration. Matthew immediately began the demanding procedure of replicating the watch design by hand while Patrik worked out a method to create a two-tone guilloche dial. Patrik selected a special dial for the project – a guilloche dial that has been through a lot in the GoS workshop, with microscopic battle-scars as evidence. After many attempts, he was finally able to apply the northern-light blue tone with a clean and horizontal line across the irregular guilloche pattern. The yellow tone was then created by gold plating the other half of the dial. Mathew finished the art-piece with his trademark Sunflowerman color-wash technique in the colours of the Ukranian flag. The art-piece and watch were both finalized just three weeks after the project was started thanks to hard work and support by movement manufacturer Schwarz Etienne who provided the movement with its special engraving.
The set will be auctioned as a combined lot during Sotheby ́s “Important Watches: Part II” with bidding opening on April 27th in Geneva. We hope that the lot that we named Northern lights for Ukraine will generate great interest and a good result as all proceeds will be provided to Red Cross Ukraine.
Further reading