Behrens has made major steps forward in promoting Chinese horology as a serious craft thanks to their tireless pursuit of quality and collaborations with Swiss watchmakers like Vianney Halter. However, while earning a reputation in the west is important for international growth, they’re also aware that it’s important to pay earnest tribute to their roots. That’s what they’ve done with the new Inventor Collection “Pupil Ultralight”, which features references to ancient Shu civilization (located in what is modern day Sichuan province).
There are six watches in the new collection, split between two models made from Lightweight Monolayer Graphene Composite (LMGPH) and four in Grade 5 titanium. All six measure 34mm x 39.6mm in Behrens’ signature asymmetric shape used across the Ultra-Light series – although the orientation of the asymmetry has been flipped so that the longer edge is now on the crown side.
Focussing in on the case materials, titanium is a widely used material in modern watchmaking so we’re familiar with its lightweight properties and great strength to density ratio, but LMGPH is much, much rarer. It’s an ultra-thin material that thanks to its composite structure is incredibly strong at the same time. It gives the watch case (excluding strap) a weight of just 8g, in comparison the titanium version is 14g. For the two LMGPH editions, they’ve created a visual difference between them by using gold leaf to decorate one and platinum leaf on the other.
Talking about the dial of the watch feels like a misnomer because it’s an openworked display revealing the mechanics of the BM09 manufacture movement – a new in-house calibre with manual winding and a 45-hour power reserve. The movement is integrated into the case rather than a mainplate to achieve the ultra-thin 5.15mm case thickness. It has a power reserve indicator in the top left, an hour and minute subdial in the bottom right, and then a day/night indicator in the bottom left. The hands on the power reserve indicator and time display are sharp triangles, inspired by the shape of eyes on bronze Shu artefacts.
A second link to Shu civilisation is the design of the day/night indicator, which has a super stylised depiction of the sun inspired by the fact that Shu people worshipped the sun. The colours of the power reserve indicator, day/night display and central wheel are also key differences between each of the models. The LMGPH is blue for the platinum flecked model and red for the gold while the titanium is either teal, pink, grey/blue or black/fuchsia.
The LMGPH models are both priced at $33,800 (approx. £29,375) in limited editions of 9 pieces globally. The non-limited titanium versions are then $9,200 (approx. £8,000). It’s really cool to see modern watchmaking go hand in hand with iconography from ancient Chinese kingdoms. A fusion of the past with modern horology – a theme that is also expressed by the new Tudor Monarch, although the Tudor uses a time scale of a century rather than millennia.
Price and Specs:
More details at Behrens.
