Atelier Wen PERCEPTION - MILLESIME MU

MOVEMENT

• Customised 32 jewels extra-thin (3.4mm) Peacock SL1588A automatic movement.
• Decorated in circular côtes de genève with polished jewel and screw sinks, and heat-blued screws.
• Tungsten rotor with circular côtes de genève and purple rhodium plating.
• +/- 10s per day and further adjusted in 5 positions and for temperature fluctuations.
• Tested exhaustively by the horological research institute of light industry (hrili).
• 41 hour power reserve
• 28,800 bph (4hz)

STRAP

• Grade 5 titanium bracelet with individually chamfered links and exceptional attention to finish.
• Tapering from 22mm at the case to 18mm at the clasp, and thinning gradually from 3mm at the case to 2.6mm at the clasp.
• Quick-release spring bars.

WARRANTY

Five-year Warranty

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PURPLE AND TANTALUM

Purchasers of the purple Millésime will also be automatically included into a very special raffle in which three lucky customers will open their watches to unveil something a little bit heavier than what they were perhaps expecting.

Since April 2024, we have been teasing the debut of some extremely special watches made out of the rare and precious metal that is tantalum. It is a metal that has almost exclusively been restricted to some of the most prestigious brands, and one that is reputed to be the scarcest stable element in our solar system.

With a density approaching that of platinum and a hardness outstripping titanium, its unique combination of a blue-tinted, gunmetal tone and uncommon heft has seen its stock rise significantly as a coveted material amongst the highest tiers of independent watchmaking.

Tantalum is also extraordinarily difficult to work with, and for that reason, has never been incorporated into a fully-braceleted watch (outside of three known ‘pièce unique’s and several short runs of multi-metal, two/three-tone watches).

In many ways, this raffle is therefore a herald of what is to come. While they will be ordering a titanium watch and paying a titanium price, these three lucky individuals will unbox their Perception to discover a Wonka-esque “ticket” crafted out of solid tantalum.

Alongside this ticket, they will also recognise that the watch within will not be executed in titanium, but instead be a fully-functional and specially-manufactured tantalum prototype — that is approximately three times the weight they expected, and many more times greater in value.

As a bonus for our cherished community, existing owners of our watches will also earn an additional entry into this tantalum draw for each Atelier Wen timepiece in your collection.

THE MILLESIME EDITIONS

The French word “Millésime” is most frequently employed in winemaking nomenclature and denotes a particular year or “vintage”. The Millésime edition will therefore be a yearly, limited and community-driven timepiece that allows us the freedom of a blank canvas on which we can try out our boldest, most experimental and requested-for configurations of existing collections.

Most of our limited editions are launched with collaborating parties and necessarily capped at a fixed number of watches. Because of this, many members of our community consequently miss out on these special editions. Owing much of our growth to this global Atelier Wen family, the Millésime project enables us to pay you back by offering a still-exclusive, yet obtainable edition that you can get your hands on.

These will release in the form of a limited launch window that, once gone, will never be available again — thereby reflecting and upholding the idea of a yearly vintage. The editions will also carry the hallmark of a small engraving of our logo on the caseback, and for the 2024 purple Millésime, this logo will be filled with traditional Chinese lacquer in purple.

As we expand our catalogue to various lines of watches, the Millésime project will also encompass these, and will not be limited to the form of Perception.

ABOUT PERCEPTION

Our integrated sports watch offering, the Perception, draws upon traditional cues in Chinese architecture, reinterpreting them in sleek, contemporary form. Its case and bracelet subtly reference the sloping rooftops and hexagonal windows of Chinese palaces and pagodas, and its dial structure harks back to the ancient Chinese methodology of building construction, 榫卯 (sǔn mǎo), which relies on friction and imbrication to join beams together without wood or glue.

These architectural cues are complemented by tastefully incorporated traditional motifs in the beautiful 回纹 (huí wén) pattern — that doubles as Perception’s chapter ring, and the stylised face of a stone lion on the caseback — that extends the architectural concept further with the motif’s traditional service in guardian statues that stand watch outside important buildings and monuments.

Then there is the star of the show: a guilloché dial from the atelier of Master Cheng Yucai —Asia’s first master of the craft. Carved in a pattern known as écailles de poisson for its likeness to fish scales, its hypnotic interplay between straight and curved lines is meticulously hand-turned on a rose engine of Master Cheng's own patented design in Xinmi, Henan. With approximately 30 known masters of the craft left in the world, it has become increasingly rare in its traditional European strongholds — though Cheng hopes to bring about a renaissance of the craft through the legacy of his workshop and the disciples have begun to turn within them.

MOVEMENT: A HEART OF RELIABLE MOVEMENT

Perception's case houses a high-beat, original calibre designated the SL1588A. Supplied by the Liaoning Peacock Watch Company's new state-of-the-art manufacture, the movement has been heavily customised for us. These modifications include an extended power reserve of approximately 41 hours; a marked increase from its base movement’s 38 hours, as well as the removal of the default date-complication.

The movements leave the factory at +/- 10s/d after being drop-tested and observed in hot, cold and ambient temperatures, as well as measured across 48 hours of continuous running.

They are then further regulated in 5 positions by us, and sent in to China's top national research lab, the Horological Research Institute of Light Industry (HRILI) for further testing following assembly.

The movement also boasts extensive decoration, with circular côtes de Genève on its bridges that are contiguous with its black — purple, in the case of 睦 (Mù) — rhodium-plated tungsten rotor. Special care has also been taken with the smaller componentry, with the inclusion of polished jewel and screw sinks rarely seen at this pricepoint, and flame-blued screws.

REF: 259/498 TT