Tärnan - October Rerun

TÄRNAN

I just received this from  - Tärnan

The genesis of Techné (and revived brand Tärnan) dates back to 1991, when Franck J. became a watch collector. He kept searching through boutiques and vintages stores while undertaking studies in design and gold smithing. In 2001 he was awarded first prize for a watch design, which encouraged him to pursue a career within the horological industry. Eventually, the young man ended up in the product department of a watch company that patented and produced one of his own case designs.

Franck J. has always enjoyed developing and designing for other brands, but he was also longing to launch a "homebrew" signature that would offer watches with a great fun factor. The business model comes from entrepreneurs like Messrs Ken Sato, Eddie Platts and Bill Yao who succeeded with "word of mouth" marketing and have inspired a generation of watch enthusiasts.

In 2007, Franck J. decided to register the brand Techné and 2.5 years later the very first watch designed with complete "carte blanche" was released - the Sparrow Hawk. The design of the Sparrow Hawk was 100% original and played with visuals codes from avionics to evoke vintage aviation chronographs. After one year, sales radically soared. One explanation to this recent popularity might be the resemblance to a big name watch that was released 6 months after the Sparrow Hawk.


Techné will keep expanding their model range and it will remain an "utilitarian" brand. The Sparrow Hawk collection is currently sold out, but an upgraded version is under way.

In 2010, Franck J. and his wife applied for the right to use the defunct trade mark TÄRNAN. Being herself from Sweden, Mrs. J. is an essential advisor on budgeting and aesthetic matters.

Little information is available on the brand TÄRNAN, but the trade mark was signed on watches imported in Scandinavia during the 50’s and the 60’s. There are earlier silver pocket watches but vintage classical, military, sports and diving TÄRNAN watches often appear in auctions or vintage stores throughout Sweden and neighboring countries.

The identity of the revived TÄRNAN is yet to be defined, but the duet decided to launch the brand with a model inspired by experimental diver’s watches from the 1950's.

The first timepiece, Oceanographer, is Swiss Made and celebrates the technological breakthroughs of the 1950’s in underwater exploration. The history of diving watches is tied to the invention of the revolutionary Self-Contained Breathing Apparatus and the breakthroughs they both allowed in Oceanography. Rolex was one of the few manufactures that tried to build reliable timepieces for assisting scientists in their exploration of the underwater world.

Photo courtesy of Tarnan