A hero's name

The founder of Techné grew up hearing the stories of his two great-grandfathers, who were individually honoured for their bravery during WWI. One of them, a soldier, received a medal for his service on the battlefield.

«This great-grandfather was a nobleman and his name meant sparrow hawk. I decided to name the very first collection of Techné watches after him to honour his legacy and the spirit of adventure passed down from generation to generation.»

A watch designed for adventure

The founder came up with the idea for the Sparrow Hawk on an expedition to Mount Blanc, 4,810 m (15,781 ft). While suffering from physical strain and altitude sickness, he was trying to keep track of his teammates and his own heart pace. He noticed that a simple chronograph with central second hand might have come in handy.

He was able to source a supplier of the Seagull ST1901, a hand-wound mechanical chronograph using the column-wheel, a command gear design sought by vintage watch collectors. Even though mechanical watches are only accurate within ± 5 seconds per day, they are better fit for cold temperatures than quartz watches, which offer an accuracy of ± 0.5 seconds per day but have an unpredictable life span and can stop running below -10 °C (14 °F).

The ST-1901 is built by the Tianjin Sea-Gull Corporation in Tianjin, China, but both the design and the tooling originate from Switzerland, where it was known as the Venus 175. Designed by André Frey and produced between 1940 and 1964 at the Fabrique d'Ébauches Vénus S.A. in Moutier, Switzerland, the Venus 175 is found in many Swiss chronographs of the post-WWII decade.

The Chinese engineers decided to raise the frequency from 18,000 alternances per hour (2.5 Hz) to 21,600 A/h (3Hz) to improve stability and accuracy.

Roped parties often depart before dawn, so an extremely readable timepiece is a must in early half-light. The Sparrow Hawk is the first Techné watch featuring the Altitude dial, a design based on the principles of ergonomics and avionics to allow reading under all cirumstances. Indexes and hands are coated with NewLite, a non-radioactive and non-toxic strontium aluminate-based photo-luminescent compound from industry leader Tritec.

Mountain gear must be sturdy enough to undergo ascensions and sufficiently waterproof to withstand fog, snow and frost, so it was decided to house the ST-1901 caliber in a stainless steel case waterproof to 5 BAR. All gear must allow manipulation with or without gloves, and any form of attachment must allow for quick adjustment; this is why half of the Sparrow Hawk catalogue features extendable wristbands inspired by military straps, such as the riveted Overcoat or the G10 NATO.

For all practical questions regarding your watch, we now have a FAQ page.
If you need to swap bands, we invite you to use the illustrated manuals 1 and 2.