Made in China are words that most of us read on a daily basis, whether it’s on the back of your child’s toy, a kitchen appliance, some clothes or even a watch. Mostly it carries with it the stereotype of cheap construction built to shift units rather than beautifully crafted artisanship. However, while you can find hundreds of cheap Chinese watches on Aliexpress, there are also a lot of Chinese watch brands rightfully fighting against unfair stereotypes by stepping up and proving that China and Hong Kong can produce high quality watches that are as interesting and exciting as any western independent.
CIGA Design
CIGA Design have one of the most significant distinctions of any Chinese watch brand because they were the first to be recognised for an award by the prestigious Grand Prix d’Horlogerie de Genève (GPHG). In the watch world that’s equivalent to winning an Oscar. Their win came in 2021 with their flagship Blue Planet watch, an entertaining and mechanically complex reimagining of the single hand watch.
In addition to the Blue Planet they are known for producing a sporty array of watches with urban designs and detailed skeleton movements. Including the Edge, Energy, Magician and Tourbillon. It’s a combination of good value and innovative design that makes them stand out even against Swiss competitors.
More details at CIGA Design.
Atelier Wen
The name Atelier Wen is a combination of the French and Chinese languages, meaning Workshop of Culture. It’s this philosophy that fuels the brand, combining styles and techniques from France and traditional horology and crafting them in a way that feels authentically Chinese. A huge part of that comes from their adoption of guilloché dials that express oriental geometries through one of the most well established forms of Metiers d’Art.
Leading the charge is the Perception model with its integrated bracelet design inspired by 1980s sports watches. Watches from that period are known for their textured dials and so the combination of the broad shapes of the case pair beautifully with the guilloché, creating a cool juxtaposition between the bold and the refined.
More details at Atelier Wen.
Celedon
Celedon aim to promote China as a country capable of producing high end watches with as much elegance and refinement as any Patek Philippe Rare Handcraft or Vacheron Constantin Metiers d’Art. They’ve mastered the use of cloisonne enamel to depict scenes and figures from Chinese mythology such dragons, phoenixes and peacocks. However, their focus is more than on aesthetics because their movements are produced by AHCI master watchmaker Lin Yong Hua.
The calibre CH5 features meticulous finishing including black polish, hand-bevelling and Chines scroll stripes. It also makes use of a Breguet overcoil, allowing for improved energy distribution and accuracy. Similar to British brand Garrick, because each piece is produced to the customers specification, there’s a huge amount of customisation available too.
More details at Celedon.
Behrens
Behrens takes an approach to watchmaking that exemplifies modern, young China. Less concerned with watchmaking history, tradition or fine art, they aim to innovate and grow in an entirely modern and futuristic fashion. Dynamic, urban styles with Avant Garde shapes that push boundaries. For example, the Ultra-Light, a trapezoid wristwatch with an in-house BM02 movement and which weighs just 11g without strap.
While Behrens are not what you’d call traditional, they do still pay tribute to their Chinese heritage by incorporating culturally significant elements – a hand tip shaped like an ancient Chinese crossbow bolt, a dial shaped like an antique coin and so on.
More details at Behrens.
Seagull
Seagull is a brand that should be familiar to a lot of watch enthusiasts because they’re one of the most prominent third-party movement manufactures from China. Their calibres make their way into a huge number of watches from microbrands and independents in the same manner as a Japanese Miyota or Swiss Sellita. Most prominently they produce a bespoke movement for the latest generation of Studio Underd0g watches.
In addition to producing movements for other brands, they also produce a series of watches themselves. Watches like the 1963 Panda Pilot pay tribute to culturally significant moments in China, such as the first manned Chinese space flight. A stylish, retro style chronograph with classic pump pushers and a bicompax display.
More details at Seagull.
Atowak
Atowak was founded in 2019 in Hong Kong with a name derived from a cipher of the word Unique, referring to their goal of creating dynamic and stylistically impactful watches. For that reason, they avoid conventional time displays, instead specialising in wandering hour complications that use a rotating wheel of hour numerals that pass by a fixed 60-minute scale to display the time.
The Manta-X takes that concept even further by introducing a stylised minute track that features rotating numerals that only reveal the current time. It’s made possible by the calibre AK-07BA, a modified version of the Sellita SW00-2 with 38-hour power reserve.
More details at Atowak.
Eoniq
One of the major challenges for any country trying to make a place for itself in the watch industry is improving horological infrastructure. It’s all well and good to import movements and fabricated parts but actually producing them yourself is a whole other kettle of fish. Enter Eoniq, a Hong Kong based brand that are on a mission to produce movements themselves in Hong Kong, earning the title Hong Kong-Made and proving their mettle as a Chinese watch brand.
Their signature movement is the manual Calibre 852, which can be found in the sleek integrated bracelet sports watch Eoniq Signature Cornwall. It measures 40mm in steel with a skeletonised display showing the inner workings of the movement. The skeletonization has a lovely fluidity to its lines.
More details at Eoniq.
Selten
Selten was founded by Leonardo Tsai in 2017. Coming from a watch dial-making family, he grew up around watches, but it was in London that his passion really grew, discovering the wealth of vintage watches in the city. As with his family, a lot of the focus is on interesting and stylish dials, leaning more in an artisanal direction. Grand Feu enamel, patinaed bronze and more can be found in the collection.
The Grand Feu series is particularly stand out. The dial is hand engraved with a spiral pattern consisting of 700 individually engraved lines produced by Selten’s master artisan Qin. On top of that engraved base is then a layer of grand feu enamel, itself consisting of eight layers of enamel to create a rich colour and baked at 800°C. The enamel surface is then polished by hand to give it a high shine finish.
More details at Selten.
Agelocer
Bringing modern design to the fore, Agelocer produce a variety of exclusive movements in dramatic shapes with various levels of skeletonization. The headline grabber though is the Sapphire Flying Tourbillon for £2,460. The case is made from sapphire crystal, the incredibly tough, scratch resistant material typically reserved for a watch’s glass over the dial and it houses the Cal.A9001 manual winding movement that appears as if suspended in the air.
The movement is also a flying tourbillon, a mechanism typically reserved for haute horology from traditional maisons. Yet through an intense R&D process Agelocer have created a tourbillon movement with an 80-hour power reserve and dramatic skeletonised architecture for a fraction of the cost, showing the power of Chinese watch brands.
More details at Agelocer.
I have 2 Swiss watches and I get 5 China watch in last 2 years. Agelocer, Ciga desin, Sugess those are great watches, quality look similar to Swiss. Why I have to pay 50times more when I get get similar quality for much much less.
Absolutely nothing but junk. Im a collector of over 50 years , these Chinese designs are obscene . I cant believe you give them the time of day not to make a pun.
Strong disagree with the ‘junk’ comment. Their manufacturing abilities have forced Swiss manufacturers to innovate to after decades of stale and borrowed design, and while not all of the watches may be to everyone’s taste, there are plenty such as the Seagull 1963 that are becoming icons in their own right. A £500 tourbillon may not be the finest, but the fact it exists should be music to the ears of anyone interested in horology rather than brand cachet.
This. I could not agree more. Labelling these as “junk” based purely on the fact they are junk is wholly unfair. I enjoy watches, not because of their pedigree, name, or marker position, I enjoy and collect watches that I like, I know that sounds crazy to many watch collectors that seem to purchase watches based on the aforementioned, but there is true joy in innovation, new design direction, and buying a watch because it’s fun.
Could not disagree more. I’ve been a watch lover and buyer for over 30 years and have had the privilege and ability to own many of the top Swiss brand watches. Not as an investor, but during that time have bought watches for anniversaries, birthdays etc. The Chinese watch industry has evolved massively particularly over the last 5 to 10 years and now the quality for value is unprecedented. It has opened up, particularly the mechanical and automatic watch market to everyone. seagull is a great example and my 1963 is currently one of my favorite mechanical watches. Is there still poor quality in the China market? Of course, so you have to do your research and look at products carefully but that is no different to the apparent ‘Swiss’ luxury market and to be honest some of my 5k HKD watches are better made then my 50k HKD watches.
I think u never saw good china watch dude:) when u knew the price than u can be shocked about quality u can get for 10-100times cheaper watch