CIGA Design is one of the most prominent and popular brands to come from China thanks to their blend of accessibility, unique horological stylings and award winning creations. The Blue Planet was the first Chinese watch to ever win a prize at the prestigious Grand Prix d’Horlogerie de Genève. As the name of the watch implies, the Blue Planet has always been thematically linked to Earth but now with the launch of a collaboration between CIGA Design and Swiss watch customisation brand Label Noir, it’s heading off into space. Meet the Blue Planet II Black Star.
Cutting straight to the chase, it features a black hole dial in place of the rotating globe of previous editions. Immediately I love it. Call me a nerd all you want but there’s something so evocative and cool about the immensity and impact of a black hole. It’s been created on the dial using a material called Super Black, which similar to Musuo paint or Vanta Black can absorb the vast majority of light that touches it – up to 99% in this instance. Around the central disc of the black hole is a swirling vortex of stars and celestial dust being sucked in by its inescapable gravitational pull.
Well, not entirely inescapable as it turns out. At the peripheral edge of the vortex display is a single lume-coated star resisting the pull of the black hole. Thematically it represents the fight against the inevitable entropy of the universe, a single shining hope for the future. On a practical level it’s just the time indicator, serving as the watch’s single hand. That’s because as the vortex rotates, the star points to the hour and minute tracks along the outer edge to display the time.
What makes the Blue Planet II Black Star, stand out in comparison to other single hand watches is that the minute track rotates along with the central vortex using what CIGA Design call “Asynchronous Follow Technology”. Where a standard single hand watch crams 60 minutes between each marker, the CIGA Design presents the minutes on a separate track that rotate so that the current minute is positioned in line with hand.
What that means is that as the vortex rotates 30 degrees (the distance between each hour marker), the minute track rotates through 390 degrees – a full rotation plus an additional 30. In turn this means that the minute track can keep up with the movement of the single hand so that when it points directly at an hour marker, the minute track will always read 00.
This unique style of single hand display is held within a UFO-like case that measures a broad 46mm in diameter. Though with the lugs integrated beneath the case in the style of a Disco Volante watch, it actually wears much smaller than that may sound. Though the thickness of 15.6mm is still substantial, giving it that UFO style silhouette in profile thanks to the domed crystal. The case itself is made from titanium with a black diamond-like carbon (DLC) coating to complete the astral aesthetic of the piece.
It’s powered by the Swiss-Made calibre CD-04-S, operating with a 41-hour power reserve and automatic winding. It’s not the highest spec movement in existence with an accuracy of -15/+30 seconds per day but that’s fairly standard and helps to ensure the Blue Planet II Black Star isn’t exorbitantly priced. Specifically, it’s $1,980 (approx. £1,450). If you attended Hands On Horology last month you’ll know just how popular that price point is because CIGA sold out of stock incredibly quickly.
Price and Specs:
More details at CIGA Design.
