[Ernie Romers]

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Four years after the release of 100 numbered pieces, Techné Instruments is proud to announce a re-edition of the 2009 SparrowHawk original (Ref. 373). Inspired by cockpit instruments, the SparrowHawk is powered by an authorized Chinese reproduction of the legendary Swiss Vénus 175 chronograph.

The new edition features a scratch-resistant sapphire crystal on the front, and a total of 100 pieces have been produced in brushed 316L steel while another 100 pieces received a matte surface finishing complemented with a black coating. Numerous collectors ordered the watch ahead of time and contributed to the design by asking to have an aged-looking luminous coating on the hands and indexes.

Re-edition of the 2009 original SparrowHawk by Techné,
shown with a cockpit timer from Franck J.'s personal collection

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In the early 1960's, China's biggest watch factory purchased rights and blueprints of a Swiss chronograph from the Venus Watch Company, Switzerland. Until that transaction the Vénus 175 had been used by prestigious Swiss brands such as Breitling, Candino,Cortébert, Cyma, Minerva, Rodania or Tavannes.

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Similar to high-end mechanical chronographs, the ST1901/Vénus 175 construction uses a column-wheel to synchronize the start, stop and reset functions. To this day, the column-wheel is viewed by connoisseur as a sign of good design and fine craftsmanship.

The modern reproduction from Tianjin Seagull receives the finest balance springs of the country, which allows Techné to fine-tune the watch in their Swiss workshop to run within Chronometer rates (-4 to +6 seconds per day). High-end mechanical watches from Breitling, Omega and Rolex are required to perform within these margins.

To reflect the high precision of this timepiece, the dial and the case back feature Techné's Opus Manufactum label, which is Latin for "hand worked".

All Techné watches are assembled and inspected by hand in the factory, and all mechanical watches are individually inspected and fine-tuned by one-man-band Franck J., who handles the design, marketing, logistics, correspondence and after-sales service of the brand.
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Re-edition of the 2009 original SparrowHawk by Techné,
shown with a cockpit timer from Franck J.'s personal collection

Home | Techné Instruments​

 

[cwik]

Just received mine! Here's a few pictures. I'll post more information after wearing it for a few days, but it's very comfortable and lighter than I expected. Absolutely stunning!

 

[chirs1211]

Had mine last week fantastic and well worth the wait, pre ordered in April. Not gotten round to taking any pics yet, but doubt i could do better than cwik, good job on those photo's.
Nod to Franck too fantasic guy to deal with.

Chris

 

[johnee]

how would you rate the lum? Can you give a comparison to seiko (my understanding is seiko is king of lum wrt/ to longevity for non-tritium illumination)

thanks.

 

[chirs1211]

I can do a quick test vs my mini monster if you like

Chris

 

[Dave Van den Eynde]

how would you rate the lum? Can you give a comparison to seiko (my understanding is seiko is king of lum wrt/ to longevity for non-tritium illumination)

thanks.

Not that great, in my opinion, but I didn't buy it for the lume.

Is anyone else's crown as stiff as mine? It's as if the seal is really putting a lot of friction on the stem.

Also, I can't get the NATO on. There's not enough clearance. In pictures of the original I see that the case is slightly tapered, but mine isn't.

 

[blurrycloud]

Not that great, in my opinion, but I didn't buy it for the lume.

Is anyone else's crown as stiff as mine? It's as if the seal is really putting a lot of friction on the stem.

Also, I can't get the NATO on. There's not enough clearance. In pictures of the original I see that the case is slightly tapered, but mine isn't.

You can always take out the spring bars, place the nato at the back, then squeeze in the spring bars against the nato

 

[Dave Van den Eynde]

You can always take out the spring bars, place the nato at the back, then squeeze in the spring bars against the nato

True, but that sort of defeats one of the advantages of a NATO, no? Quick strap changes?

 

[blurrycloud]

True, but that sort of defeats one of the advantages of a NATO, no? Quick strap changes?

It takes longer I guess, but not much more
Remember that with a nato, you can just use your fingers to slide the bars out, as they are exposed
Unlike a normal strap where the bar is hidden within the strap

 

[janetboye]

thank you,Not gotten round to taking any pics yet, but doubt i could do better than cwik, good job on those photo's.

 

[x2800m]

Not that great, in my opinion, but I didn't buy it for the lume.

Is anyone else's crown as stiff as mine? It's as if the seal is really putting a lot of friction on the stem.

Also, I can't get the NATO on. There's not enough clearance. In pictures of the original I see that the case is slightly tapered, but mine isn't.

I recieved my watch on Jan 3rd and a I can confirm that the crown feels a bit stiff. It seems this way both when winding and trying to pull the stem out to set the time. Once the stem is in the setting position, rotation in the forward direction is smooth.

I ordered the watch with both the black and grey NATO straps. The grey NATO is slightly thicker than the black one and requires more effort to install. A minor machining operation on the case would go a long way to solve this problem.

The lume on the watch is not as bright as the lume on my seikos, but this is not really a big deal. I love the design of the dial and the proportion of the various dial features.

The two issues I have with is watch are as follows:
1. The reset hammer spring is weak. This is most noticable when trying to reset the chronograph when the chronograph seconds hand reads 25 seconds. Activating the reset function at this point only pushes the chronograph second hand back to the 18 seconds position. I'm not sure if this is an issue isolated to my watch or a systemic problem affecting the ST-19 movement line.

2. The reset pusher on my watch has a problem wherein the button itself travels further than it should and occasionally becomes stuck in the depressed position. Examining the start/stop pusher through the caseback indicates that the section of the button contacting the start/stop lever has a small diameter. The application of a small lateral force shows an interesting amount of side to side backlash in the button itself. If the reset pusher has the same design then this would explain the problem. It feels as if when the reset pusher fails, it slips off the movment's reset lever.

Is anyone else having this problem?

 

[chirs1211]

I am having none of these issues mentioned above, i strongly suggest you contact Franck about these as i'm afraid they do seem to be a fault of your particular watch.

Chris

 

[x2800m]

I am having none of these issues mentioned above, i strongly suggest you contact Franck about these as i'm afraid they do seem to be a fault of your particular watch.

Chris

I have contacted Frank and he has offered to replace the watch. I'm currently waiting for him to send me instructions on how he would like it done.

 

[chirs1211]

That's good news, i have found him to be very pleasant to deal with so hopefully all will be sorted soon

Chris

 

[Dave Van den Eynde]

Those two issues I don't have either. Unfortunetaly, I don't think machining a PVD case is an option. Good luck with the exchange of your watch!

 

[Bluefrenzy]

Great looking watch. It's definitely on the short-list.

 

[chirs1211]

I wouldn't wait too long, only 100 were made of each (steel & PVD) and while they won't sell out overnight, they won't be around forever

Chris

 

[chirs1211]

Just been doing a bit of strap swapping, and i can see how the Nato would be difficult to fit. The lug holes are drilled a touch too far in.
I bought a couple of C&B strap prior to my watch arriving, these are quite thick, fortunately they do squeeze on and look great.
But i think this could all have been avoided by the holes being drilled a tiny bit further out. Granted it's nowhere near as bad as my Perpetual watch ( i can't fit any but the skinniest on there) and is helped a little with using slightly slimmer spring bars too, maybe worth trying for those fitting the Nato.


Chris

 

[x2800m]

Thank you for all the good wishes. I'll let you know how it turns out.

As for the tight strap clearances, how does everybody feel about curved springbars?
potential solution, or an easy way to loose a watch?

 

[chirs1211]

I have used curved spring bars before and to good effect and on a much larger and heavier watch, it was a 47mm Parnis pilot auto, much weightier than the Sparrowhawk, and had no problems at all, i think it does depend on the strap (needs to be a little flexible at the lugs), natos would benefit i'm sure, so definately worth a go
May well invest in a 20mm pair now

Chris

Just checked the bay, £2 a pair from a UK seller or approx £3.30 ($5.20) FOR 10 from twente(o) in Aus who i have ordered from before and is great