When Chinese & French Meet - Atelier Wen

Porcelain Odyssey - the Hao and Ji is east meets west. French friends (Robin and Wilfried) having studied in China got together to promote Chinese art and culture and the way they went about it came to developing their first timepiece, the Porcelain Odyssey. Together with Chinese designers (Li Mingliang and Liu Yuguan), they created the first porcelain dial - the Hao (White) and Ji (Blue).

Atelier Wen started off their project using Kickstarter and the collaboration was a huge success. The first version seen here is a white porcelain dial with blue markings which I received in June 2019. "Hao" (皓), denotes a white that is pure and without blemish - that is what their website says and I have to say, I am impressed with the actual product.

The automatic timepiece comes with a Chinese made 32-jewel Peacock SL-3006 hacking movement. But what is important is not the movement but the dial. The dial is made in a factory in Shenzhen but the movement is made by the Dandong Watch Factory.

As promised, the dial is pure white and the blue markers bring out the dial colour which in turn brings out the blued hands. According to the folks at Atelier Wen, the dial is made of high-tech zirconium oxide porcelain fired at 1,400ºC on top of a copper base.

The imprints are well done as can be seen on photo below. Numerals and motif are pad-printed. The character 酉 (You) and 卯 (Mao) represents the hours between 5pm and 7pm. In ancient Chinese time measurement, there are 12 segments in a day, each segment representing 2 hours. Each character also corresponds to a different zodiac animal, a direction/cardinal point, a season and a month. That's Chinese culture in a dial.

The timepiece comes encased in a 39mm 316L steel case and is rated to 5ATM for water resistance.

Lots of details on the timepiece too... for one, the signed crown (below)

And a signed buckle too...

And true to their Chinese heritage, the strap is also scribed (hot-stamped) with the words 乘风破浪 which translates to "Ride the winds and break the waves" to reflect their attempt to re-interpret modern Chinese heritage.

A another little detail was the use of a quick release mechanism for their timepiece...

I would have preferred an exhibition caseback to showcase the movement but the folks at Atelier Wen decided otherwise.

On the caseback, what I thought was an engraving of a Phoenix turned out to be the Kun (鯤) Peng (鵬).

Instead of having an exhibition caseback, the folks at Atelier Wen decided to complete the Chinese theme with Kun Peng, a mythical creature representing the concept of Yin and Yang.

The customised SL3006 movement is made in a factory in Dandong Watch Factory after which it is shipped to the Fiyta factor in Shenzhen for final assembly.

The movement is adjusted in 5 positions to ensure proper chronometry after assembly and I can say mine tells time pretty well.

What Atelier Wen did when they launched the Porcelain Odyssey was to showcase the "Made In China" possibilities. I do not believe any other (non-Chinese) brands can do a better job than what the folks at Atelier Wen achieved. At (list price) US$720 for the Hao, it is a steal. It is not only affordable, but the overall Quality Price Ratio is unbeatable. Since then, they have launched another few more Porcelain Odyssey and of late, the new Perception range which is also sold out. Good luck to the folks of Aterlier Wen on their journey.

What's In A Name? The 1967 Dead Beat Seconds

What's in a name? In this case, the folks at Petermann Bédat named their first creation The 1967... Why 1967? Well, that was the year the quartz protoype was developed and to honour that year, 1967 was chosen as their first reference since their first creation comes with a dead beat seconds complication.

The dead beat seconds complication is a mechanical watch that "runs" like a "quartz" watch. Unlike traditional mechanical timepieces where the second hands sweeps across the dial, a dead beat seconds (also known as seconde morte, true beat or true seconds) timepiece behaves like a quartz watch where the seconds hand ticks from one second to the next rather than sweep across.

The year was 2019 when the duo Gaël Petermann and Florian Bédat debut the Reference 1967, two years after having started the company together in 2017. Both founders have impressive resumes having worked in top manufactures in Switzerland and Germany prior to setting up Petermann Bédat. Both gentlemen met at the Watchmaking School of Geneva but after graduation, went separate ways till they reunited to form Petermann Bédat.

Their atelier is based in Renens, next to Dominique Renaud (one of the founders of Renaud & Papi). In exchange for their restoration work, Dominic Renaud helped them developed the Calibre 171 dead beat seconds mechanism. The first commercial versions were in Rose Gold and White Gold cases - limited to 10 pieces per variant. Above the rose gold version and below the white gold.

The White Gold version comes with blue hands (above) while the Rose Gold version comes with rose gold hands.

The case is a classic sized 39mm. While the movement is in-house, the sand-blasted dial is made by dial specialist Comblémine.

In 2021, Petermann and Bédat released a Titanium version (above) with a two toned dial. Limited to 25 pieces, the grade 5 Titanium version is super light and has a very attractive dial. Not only is the case made of Titanium the dial is too.

Now for the pièce de résistance - the movement...

Made from German Silver (both the main plate and bridges), the Calibre 171 has Côtes de Genève decoration. The entire movement is hand finished to the highest quality and this is what you can expect from Petermann Bèdat.

Right in focus is the dead beat seconds mechanism... (see below) built on top of the three quarter main plate.

The anchor for the dead beat seconds escapement is clearly in focus (devil's tail) and that is the mechanism that regulates the ticking of the seconds hand.

I am no techie but I can say that the dead beat seconds complication is not an easy one. A few brands come to mind but one of the most famous (and affordable) comes from Habring. Back to the movement at hand, the Calibre 171 is in-house designed and manufactured and hand finished. Beating at 18,000 vph, the manual winding movement has a power reserve of about 36 hours.

For a first debut, the 1967 featuring the Calibre 171 is amazing. Not only is the movement designed and manufactured in-house, the finishing of the movement and the dial is top notch. I am certainly looking forward to their next project.

Wearing at 39mm, this is a great timepiece with a very appropriate complication. If I only could afford the 1967. But we can dream right? What's your favourite variant? Mine is the Rose Gold.

Parmigiani Hebdomadaire - From the Ionica to Kalpa

I would love a trip to Manufacture Parmigiani just to see the amount of insane timepieces they have plus those they have restored over the years. It was said that Michel Parmigiani spent his earlier years restoring sophisticated and complicated timepieces and automata before starting the eponymous brand.

Based in Fleurier, brands Parmigiani together with Chopard and Bovet (and movement maker Vaucher) share a common certification body - the Qualite Fleurier (QF). They had established and founded the body to certify timepieces - accuracy as well as level of finishing. To have a timepiece that is certified QF is not only rare but also a guarantee of quality. But I digress...

Manufacture Parmigiani Fleurier began in 1996. One of the first development was the Ionica series with their in-house developed Calibre PF 110 movement. Made in precious metal, the Ionica remains one of the icons of the brand with their form shaped movement and coin stepped bezel.

The Kalpa range that replaces the Ionica is a much bigger proposition. While the Ionica is classic sized (34x45mm), the Kalpa XL as the name suggest, is larger at 37x45mm. One things about the Ionica is the stepped coin bezel which makes it look smaller. The Kalpa XL looks and wears big.

But both comes with the in-house Calibre PF 110 which boasts 8 days power reserve - hence the name Hebdomadaire. The words Hebdomadaire has their origins in Latin but in French, it refers to a weekly event. With a fully wound movement, the timepiece runs for 8 (not 7) days which means the owner only winds it once fully and it will last the week.

The two toned dial of this Kalpa XL Hebdomadaire displays all the requisite information - power reserve at the 12, the date and seconds at the 6. The dial is also nicely decorated with guilloche and highly polished applied numerals.

I am in awe of the total package the folks at Parmigiani Fluerier put together in the Kalpa XL - I'm just wondering how much of that timepiece is manufactered in-house and perhaps which parts are coming from 3rd party suppliers. But I would not be surprised if everything was made in-house.

Back when Parmigiani developed the Ionica with their in-house movement, it was not uncommon for high end watch brands the likes of Franck Muller to be using ETA based (round) movements in tonneau cases. But Parmigiani developed his own Calibre PF 110 manual winding movement with a whopping 8 days of power reserve.

The movement is a sight to behold - form shaped to fit the tonneau case shape and fully developed in-house. Many brands choose the easier way out by slapping on a round movement to a non-circular case but Parmigiani was not just another manufacture. The stainless steel case for my Kalpa XL Hebdomadaire came highly polished and as you can see, the words "Edition Acier" is found on the caseback.

Love the scallop patterns on the movement and of course the Geneva stripes. The movement finishing is very good.

I would say that the movement finishing quality-price-ratio is excellent. Nicely polished edges.

Calibre PF 110 clearly crafted on the movement.

Even the bracelet is excellent with their satin brush finishing. You can see that this is a well worn timepiece - I do wear it quite a bit.

For all the positives, my only gripe about the Kalpa XL is the lack of a hacking seconds for time setting. In my opinion, hacking seconds is always important for accurate time setting and all watches should have that feature. But all considered, the Kalpa XL (or the Ionica) is a compelling proposition. Unique in many ways and a great timepiece with the movement manufactured in-house.

Finding back what you let go - The IWC Portuguese 7 Days

Back when I first started that slippery road down watch collecting, my first "expensive" watch was the IWC Portuguese 7 Days reference 5001 introduced in 2004.

When it was first released, the success of the Portuguese was so good that there was a shortage in the market and as luck would have it, I found one in a very unlikely place - Penang Airport in 2005. I have not been back to Penang but there was a watch counter there (past immigration on the left) where I picked this up. Was looking for it in Singapore and Hong Kong but they were all taken then. So, lucky me.

Fast forward two years and I managed to get my hands on the Portuguese 2000 - the original Portugieser reference 5000. So foolishly enough, I sold my 5001... But the good thing was that I sold it to a good friend who, to this day, still owns it and refuses to sell it back to me! The Portuguese 2000 as you might have guessed was released in the year 2000 as an automatic timepiece with a movement built from scratch.

What's the difference between the reference 5000 and 5001? Similarities first - they both come with 7 days power reserve.