CIGA Design may not yet have the brand recognition on the horological landscape as other established luxury tier watchmakers, but the industry and those passionate about timepieces certainly took note after the relative upstart took home a Grand Prix prize at the “the Oscars of watchmaking” with their 46-millimeter titanium Blue Planet automatic wristwatch.
Naoto Fukasawa’s J Zen to the left and Michael Young’s MY watch are two other CIGA Design collaborative creations.
Founded by Zhang Jianmin and guided by Bauhaus design principles to bring good design to Gen Z fashionistas on a global scale, CIGA Design have taken a foothold as an interesting upstart in the realm of timepieces. They’ve accelerated their presence by partnering with numerous designers of note over the last several years, co-creating signature mechanical watches that include Naoto Fukasawa’s stunningly spoked J Zen, Michael Young’s namesake timepiece the MY, and the 2021 iF Design Award winning Black Hole by Paul Cohen.
Their latest watch, the Eye of Horus from X Series is more bare bones in the designer name association department, but showcases CIGA Design’s intricate eye for details and precise self-winding engineering at an attainable price.
In spite of the complex transparent design, the back-to-front skeleton-style automatic mechanical watch keeps the design unfussy in the hours, minutes, and seconds complications department. Instead, the watchmaker’s newest creation centers around the Eye of Horus, iconography representative of ancient Egyptian mythology’s belief of energy, power, healing, and luck.
Housed within a lightweight bioceramic case, the watch invites admiration of its movement with a 360-degree view of the watch’s inner mechanics. Newbies to the horological collection game will benefit from the watch’s self-winding movement, subtracting the responsibility to regularly manual wind the watch.
An obsidian crown is a small additional touch tying together the ancient Egyptian themed motif. Only the watch’s noticeably flaccid silicone strap comes up a bit short, but it’s easily replaced with something more befitting of the original design.
The CIGA Design Eye of Horus is being offered in Black, Rose Gold, and Silver, available via Indiegogo for $199 before retailing for $270 in February 2024.