CIGA design Time Cipher Wandering Hour Watch Review

I've been in the watch industry for just over twenty years now and have also been a collector for five years longer than that. For a majority of those years, there were only three countries where quality watches were produced, being Switzerland, Germany and Japan. The Swiss of course had the luxury of being renowned for manufacturing the finest watches in the world. After the fall of the Berlin Wall, the Germans started to rekindle their expertise in making classically excellent timepieces, especially after A. Lange & Son was resurrected. In the Far East in Japan, brands like Seiko were offering extremely well built watches at very obtainable prices.

One country that was never taken seriously during most of my time being involved with watches was China. Although China has been the world's most dominate force in manufacturing, it was never able to break the stigma of what a Chinese made watch was. Until recently a watch made in China meant a few things. One it was a fake or a replica of a more expensive Swiss watch. Two it was cheap and built to the lowest standards possible. Or three the company behind the watch was a fly by night brand that would no longer be around by the time the watch needed to be serviced or repaired.



Over the past few years this sentiment has changed vastly. In all honesty some of my favorite watches released recently have either been produced in China or are run by Chinese companies. Two recent examples of Chinese produced watches I just fell in love with are the OX FROG300 Depth Rainbow and the Spinnaker x seconde/seconde/ Phantom White. These watches might never have made it on to my radar, much less even have been produced if it wasn't for the global breakthrough success of fellow Chinese brand CIGA design.

Before I go over the history of CIGA design along with the very unique watch they sent us to review, let's first take a look back at some of the contributions the Chinese have given the world of horology. While Europeans have been credited with the creation of the mechanical clock, the Chinese had developed water powered clock towers that used an early form of the escapement mechanism centuries earlier, like Su Song's 11th century "Cosmic Engine". These were state sponsored machines that maintained the Emperor's connection to the heavens.

The Chinese were first introduced to mechanical clocks by the Jesuit missionaries in the 1600s, who brought these timepieces to the Imperial Court. It took centuries after this first exposure to mechanical timepieces for a serious watch industry to be established in China though. In 1955, China viewed the importance of a watch manufacturing industry as a matter of national defense. That year government established factories were built in Shanghai and Tianjin. The movement produced during this era was called the "Tongji" and served as the Chinese standard movement, which was found in nearly every watch produced in China. A huge positive to using just one movement, meant that parts were completely interchangeable from one watch to another and every watchmaker knew how to service and repair any watch that came across their desk.



Today China has continued to steadily evolve into a powerhouse in the world of watchmaking. Companies like the Tianjin Watch Factory (Sea-Gull) have now become one of the largest producers of quality mechanical movements in the world. Collectors have completely embraced their movements and even celebrate them inside of British made Studio Underd0g watches. The Chinese also produce countless components that are used in even the finest Swiss timepieces as well. Finally there are stand alone Chinese brands like CIGA design, Behrens and Fam al Hut that are pushing the boundaries of what is possible not only in Chinese watchmaking, but watchmaking as a whole.

We will be focusing our attention of CIGA design today though. CIGA design was founded in 2016 by renowned Chinese industrial designer Zhang Jianmin, who had over 30 years of experience in design. Jianmin's main goal with CIGA design was to shift the narrative of "Made in China" to "Created in China". While the wording in slightly different, the difference in meaning is huge. By promoting that his timepieces were "created" in China, Jianmin was now highlighting China as not merely a manufacturing hub, but as a hotbed of creative ideas.

CIGA design found its initial success on Xiaomi's crowdfunding platform, Mi.com, in the period between 2017 and 2020. The initial releases were skeletonized watches, like the C Series, which put the mechanical movement as the focal point of the watch. Domestically their crowdfunding campaigns were huge successes and in 2020 CIGA design shifted their focus internationally by launching watches on Indiegogo. The Series X and Z, launched on Indiegogo, went on to set all time sales records in the watch category on the platform. The successes on Mi.com and Indiegogo validated the global demand for high design mechanical watches to CIGA design.



At this point, CIGA design had become a very successful brand, but there were many other brands offering skeletonized timepieces that were high quality and also obtainable. To truly come into their own, CIGA design needed to do something completely different and establish their own identity. This moment came in 2021 with the release of the Blue Planet. The Blue Planet, or Series U Blue Planet, used a stunning pebble like case to house a dial and time telling mechanism like nothing seen before it. The dial used asynchronous-follow technology that had a rotating globe to simulate the Earth's rotation to tell the time, which eliminated the need for traditional hands.

Not only did the Blue Planet use a novel way of telling time, but it was also just a stunning timepiece. On top of all of that, the watch was priced at an extremely obtainable price. This all led to the watch being the most talked about watch of the year and the Blue Planet ended up winning the Challenge Watch Prize at the GPHG (Grand Prix d'Hologerie de Geneve) in 2021. The GPHG awards are basically the Academy Awards of the watch industry, so any win there is a huge achievement. Much more so for CIGA design, who were the first Chinese brand to ever win a GPHG award. A few years later, fellow Chinese watchmaker Fam Al Hut would also go on to win a GPHG award. I honestly feel that this trend will continue, with many more GPHG wins going to Chinese brands, I wouldn't at all be surprised if CIGA design goes on to win more as well.



Following the GPHG win, the Blue Planet was inducted into the permanent collection of the Musee d'Art et d'Histoire (MAH) in Geneva. Following the success of the Blue Planet, CIGA design did not rest on their laurels and have continued to release ground breaking new timepieces. First up was the Central Tourbillon Mount Everest, which used stone from Mount Everest for its dial, which highlighted the high horology central tourbillon movement. Next was the Eye of Horus, which paired the brand's classic high tech cases with a skeletonized movement and also used the mystic symbol of the Eye of Horus to represent the seconds hand. CIGA design have also recently released refined versions of their Blue Planet and Central Tourbillon in the Blue Planet II and Everest Summit (which which we well be reviewing soon).



Initial Thoughts

Following up on the groundbreaking designs of the skeletonized watches, the Blue Planet and Everest Central Tourbillon, CIGA design has just released their take on the wandering hour complication. The Time Cipher is a very unique interpretation of this classic complication, created in the 17th century, where the hour disc is mounted directly on the minute hand and turns on its own axis to represent the current hour. Typical wandering hour watches like those from URWERK and Audemars Piguet rely on a series of three satellites that each have four hour markers on them which turn and rotate around the dial that in conjunction with a portion of the dial marked for minutes display the time. While effective and easy to read, that method of the wandering hour complication looks a bit cluttered.



When the Time Cipher arrived, the first thing I noticed about the watch was just how clean and streamlined the dial was. Gone are the numerous satellites found on other wandering hour watches, being replaced by just one singular hand. The star of the show is the bright green hour disc which is coated with Super-Luminova. The minute hand and central mounting disc are much more subdued in color and let the hour disc shine. The "Super Black" dial absorbs 99.3% of visible light and further enhances the vibrant look to the hour disc.

The second thing I noticed during my initial time with the CIGA design Time Cipher was just how lightweight the watch was. I was a bit nervous when I saw that the watch had a 45 mm case diameter and was crafted out of stainless steel that it would be a heavy timepiece. I was extremely relieved when on our scale the Time Cipher weighed in at only 97 grams on the rubber strap and stainless steel deployant clasp. For a larger watch, anything under 100 grams I consider lightweight and in the realm of what I like large watches to weigh.

The final thing I took note of during my initial time with the Time Cipher was just how wearable it was. I own many watches around 45 mm in case diameter and the Time Cipher is by far the most compact of the bunch. We measured the case diameter at 45 mm with an identical lug to lug length 45 mm. This is the case since the Time Cipher uses hidden lugs found underneath the case. So while the case diameter is large, the actual size on wrist is more in line with a medium sized watch, say a traditional watch in the 38 to 39 mm range. With its lightweight case and also fairly thin construction, this means the Time Cipher can be worn on a huge variety of wrist shapes and sizes with no fuss.





A Closer Look

Now that we've gone over the history of both Chinese watchmaking as well as CIGA design and mentioned our initial thoughts of the Time Cipher, let's now go over the technical specifications of the watch. The Time Cipher is crafted out of 316L stainless steel and has a case diameter and lug to lug length of 45 mm. The watch weighs in at 97 grams on the rubber strap and attached stainless steel deployant clasp. At its thickest point, the Time Cipher is 11.8 mm tall.

The Time Cipher uses a flush mounted sapphire crystal which is nicely domed. Under the crystal clear sapphire is the Super Black dial we spoke about earlier. Like with other absolute blacks, such as Vantablack, Super Black blocks almost all visible light, actually 99.3%, creating a pure black surface. There is no finish to the dial to distract from the pure black either.

Around the outside of the dial is a printed minute track done in highly reflective silver. The minutes alternate between short and slightly longer hash marks with each five minute interval getting a longer and bolder mark. 0/60 is done in a larger triangle design as well. Between four and five o'clock, the minute marks are replaced with CIGA design branding.



There is only one centrally mounted hand on the dial of the CIGA design Time Cipher. It is a bit misleading since this hand displays both the hour and minutes of the current time. Holding this hand in place is a round gear shaped central mounting point with "CIGA design CD-08 Movement" engraved on it. The teeth of the gear are polished and the main body is grey and sandblasted in texture. Mounted on to this disc is the elongated skeletonized minute hand which is sandblasted in finish. The minute hand is capped off with a large arrow shaped tip which is polished and has a center marker filled with green Super-Luminova.

On the minute hand between the central mounting point and the arrow pointer is the hour disc mounted on top of the minute hand. The hour disc is also skeletonized and has the same gear teeth seen on the central mounting point disc. The hour disc has twelve spokes to it, with each spoke being an hour 1 through 12. There is a ring around the outside of the hour disc that has matching lume to the minute hand. Each Arabic numeral is also lumed as are the three main spokes coming off of the disc's central mount.

Coming off of the central mount for the minute hand is a matching lumed arrow that is used to point to the current hour. Telling the time on the CIGA design Time Cipher is a very easy process. First the minute hand works like any traditional time only watch, where it completes one rotation around the dial every 60 minutes and where it is currently pointing is the current minute of the hour. The genius of the Time Cipher is in the hour disc. This disc turns independently of the minute hand and takes a full twelve hours to complete a rotation. As the minute hand completes its full rotation in 60 minutes, during that time the hour disc makes one twelfth of a rotation. The lumed arrow at the center of the dial then points to the current hour. The hour disc doesn't jump each hour, but instead slowly turns, so you can actually roughly tell the minutes by the position of the hour disc. So if the arrow is pointing right between 2 and 3, then the time is around 2:30. Looking at the large minute hand and the minute track around the outside of the dial allows you to get the precise time.



The Time Cipher is available in two different case colors, one being silver and the other being carbon. We have the darker carbon model in for review, which would be my preference since it better suits the Super Black dial. The bezel of the Time Cipher is broken into 8 sections which alternate between polished and sandblasted finishes. The recessed sandblasted sections at 3, 6, 9 and 12 add some nice visual interest to what could have been a rather flat bezel and mid-case.

Looking at the profile of the Time Cipher you can see that it has a very organic pebble like design to it. The case looks symmetrical on both the top and bottom of the case as well. Since there are no lugs, the case sits flat on your wrist with no curve or taper to follow your wrist. Since the lug to lug length is rather short, this doesn't affect wearability at all.

On the right hand side is a non-screw down crown which features nice deep scalloping for exceptional grip. Even without a screw down crown, the Time Cipher offers a respectable 50 meters of water resistance. The crown finishing alternates between polished and sandblasted finishing and is topped off with a star design. You can manually wind the automatic movement in the resting position. Since there are no date complications on the Time Cipher, there is only one additional crown position. Pulling the crown out to position one allows you set the current time. As you turn the crown, you really get to see the wandering hour complication do its work and witness the hour disc rotate much faster than at real time speed. Pushing the crown back in causes no jump in the minute hand either.



Flipping the watch over shows off the display caseback with important information about the watch engraved around the display window, such as water resistance and the caliber number. Under the display window you can see the Japanese made Miyota caliber 9015 automatic movement. The movement is finished off nicely with Geneva striping on the bridges and a vertical brushing on the rotor.

Of course the Time Cipher doesn't run on a standard Miyota 9015. The CIGA design CD-08 just uses the Miyota 9000 series as its base and then is fully customized by CIGA design. The structure of the movement is redesigned to support the wandering hour mechanism and the movement is then put through extensive tests to make sure its meets the high guidelines set by the brand in terms of reliability and performance. Being based off of a Miyota does mean the core components of the movement can be worked on and serviced by just about any local watchmaker, which is a huge plus.

The caliber CD-08 beats away at 28,800 vph (4Hz) and has a power reserve of 42 hours. The movement is rated to an accuracy of -10 to +20 seconds per day, but on our timegrapher we recorded an accuracy reading of +5 seconds per day when averaged out over several positions. That is an extremely accurate result and is in line with base movements for Seiko, ETA and Sellita. One final thing I noticed about the CD-08 was how freely the rotor swung; it might be one of the easiest to spin rotors that I've even seen on an automatic watch.



Like I mentioned earlier, the CIGA design Time Cipher uses hidden lugs which sit underneath the case. The watch has a lug width of 22 mm and comes on a very supple black fluororubber strap that tapers down to 20 mm at the brushed and polished branded stainless steel deployant clasp. The dual deployant clasp uses one side which is held in place with tension, while the other side releases when both pushers of the clasp are depressed. The strap is matte in color and has slight ribbing on the sections nearest the case. The back of the strap is smooth and has CIGA design branding. The strap also has quick release tabs, which makes removing the strap a breeze. 22 mm is a rather standard lug width, so the Time Cipher should be able to host a wide range of aftermarket straps. It might be touch and go with the hidden lugs being built into the case with how thick of a strap the watch can accept though.

I normally don't mention the packaging a watch comes with unless it's something really interesting to me. The Time Cipher doesn't come in a tradition square watch box, but instead comes in a box that more resembles a hardcover book. When you open the first "pages" of the book you encounter the watch head and the strap, which are not attached. CIGA design actually forces you to interact with your watch before you ever put it on, which is a very usual approach, and one I really like. The last pages of the book contain warranty information and instructions.





On The Wrist

On my 7.25 inch wrist with a 55 mm flat area, the Time Cipher wore extremely well. The rubber strap kept the watch nice and centered on my wrist and it never favored one side over the other. Since the Time Cipher is 5 mm smaller in lug to lug length than watches I typically like to wear, there was a decent amount of my wrist exposed on each side. With no lugs this is to be expected, the watch didn't look small though, since the large 45 mm case diameter makes a bold statement on the wrist. I can say with fair certainty that the Time Cipher will fit a huge array of wrist sizes based on how it fit my wrist. Even on my wife's sub 6 inch wrist, the watch looked right at home.

With a total weight of just under 100 grams, the Time Cipher also wore like a dream. For the most part the watch completely disappears when on the wrist, only being there when you want to check the time or want to look at the watch. Typically I prefer lightweight materials like carbon, ceramic or titanium on larger watches since they allow you to have a larger cased watch without incurring the weight penalty that stainless steel carries. This was not the case with the stainless steel Time Cipher, maybe mostly due to the extensive use of sapphire and the rather thin case construction.

The mostly black with some grey aesthetic of the Time Cipher went perfectly with my typical dress of a black t-shirt, shorts and sneakers. The watch fit in well with my rather laid back lifestyle as well. I do feel that the Time Cipher could be right at home in more formal situations if the black rubber strap was swapped out to a black leather strap though. The dial is understated enough and the full case dimensions small enough to pass as a dressier timepiece.



To test the legibility of a watch I use a very simple test where I see how easy it is to tell the time at just a glance while driving. In this test dive watches do the best with their high contrast dials and large markers, while skeletonized and complicated watches tend to do the worst since they value design over legibility. I was worried that the Time Cipher would not do so great in this test and was pretty much correct in my assumption. The dial is extremely clean and the large minute hand is a great contrast to it, but that's not where the issue lies. The hour markers are rather small on the wandering hour disc, so it does take a second or two to focus on the disc to decipher which hour it currently is. At just a glance this does slow down time telling, but in all honesty if CIGA design would have changed this design at all, the dial wouldn't nearly have the visual effect it has now, so I'll gladly lose some legibility in sake of design here. Lume is smartly used on the dial of the Time Cipher, which makes low light time telling a breeze with both the hour and minute indicators having a large lumed arrow and the hour disc being fully lumed.

While wearing the Time Cipher out and about for boring everyday errands as well as out to dinner and drinks I noticed the watch getting a ton of looks. I also had many people stop and comment or ask me questions about the watch. I haven't received this much attention from a watch since the last time I wore a Freak from Ulysse Nardin. Most people were curious about the dial layout and how to tell the time and everyone was amazed by just how black the Super Black dial was. When it came to the price of the Time Cipher, everyone I spoke to about the watch was blown away by its asking price.



Value and Position in the Market

Speaking of price, the CIGA design Time Cipher is priced at $899. For that price you are getting an extremely unique take on a not often seen complication. The watch also is housed in a very well done organically shaped case with a stunning Super Black dial. Inside beats a highly modified Miyota movement that proved to be very accurate in our testing. Now is the time in the review where we compare the Time Cipher to other watches with similar features and specifications to see how it holds up value wise.



Up first we have the Vendetta II from Xeric which has a 44 mm case made out of stainless steel. The Vendetta has a more traditional case shape and also uses the most commonly seen three satellite approach to the wondering hour complication. Xeric does add the ability to add an additional time zone to the wandering hour display, but it's a bit limited. The dial of the Vendetta is much more cluttered than that of the Time Cipher as well. The Vendetta is also based on a Miyota movement and has a bit more water resistance at 100 meters. The Vendetta is a bit more expensive than the Time Cipher at $1,099.

Next up is the M3W from DWISS which has a 42 mm case made out of stainless steel. The M3W has an integrated case design and uses the once again commonly seen three satellite wandering hour display. Like many satellite wander hour displays, over half of the dial isn't used. The movement inside of the M3W is a modified Sellita SW200-1 with only 38 hours of power reserve. The M3W does offer a full 200 meters of water resistance though. The M3W is much more expensive than the Time Cipher at $2,046.

Moving on is the Drift Mercury from Gorilla which has a 44 mm case crafted out of forged carbon, titanium and aluminum. The Drift Mercury has a much more unique case design which also uses an integrated strap like the M3W and once again uses the more commonly seen three satellite approach to the wandering hour complication. The Drift Mercury uses an ETA 2824-2 modified by Vaucher Manufacture Fleurier to achieve the wandering hour complication which only has 38 hours of power reserve. The Drift Mercury also has an impressive water resistance of 100 meters. The Drift Mercury is much more expensive than the Timer Cipher at $3,250.



Finally we have the Code 11.59 Starwheel by Audemars Piguet which has a 41 mm case made out of white gold. The Starwheel has a very traditionally shaped case and again uses the normal three satellite wandering hour display. Audemars Piguet does manage to keep the not used area of the dial more interesting by using a blue aventurine dial. The Starwheel runs on an in-house movement with 70 hours of power reserve, but the watch only has 30 meters of water resistance. The Starwheel is extremely more expensive than the Time Cipher at $65,700.

Looking at the above four watches you can easily see just how great of a value the CIGA design Time Cipher is. It is the least expensive of the group and is the only one to offer a different way of displaying the wandering hour complication. On top of that, the Time Cipher is also right there in terms of specs with the other pieces, even betting them in some areas. Once again like with the Blue Planet, CIGA design has found a new way of displaying time and has also managed to offer it at a very obtainable price.



Closing Thoughts

So in the end, is the CIGA design Time Cipher for me? Before the watch arrived, I was a bit nervous that with the Time Cipher being a large stainless steel watch, that it would be too heavy for me to enjoy. When the watch arrived, actually the opposite was true. The Time Cipher was well under my 100 gram threshold of what I consider lightweight for a larger watch. So right away this eliminated my bias towards lighter weight materials like carbon, ceramic and titanium. Also the carbon color of the stainless steel made the watch look much more special and exotic than standard 316L stainless steel.



I was also able to get over my bias of not liking watches with less than 50 mm lug to lug length. While the lug to lug length of the Time Cipher was well under that at only 45 mm, the watch is all case since there are no traditional lugs. This means the watch actually has a very strong wrist presence since the case is 45 mm in diameter. I think if the watch with its lugless design was much larger, it would wear similar to how my 48 mm Blancpain Fifty Fathoms 500 Fathoms wears on my larger wrist. Even though that watch has short lugs, when you look down, all you see is case and dial covering your entire wrist. The 45 mm diameter of the Time Cipher makes a nice statement on the wrist, but isn't overbearing. On my 7.25 inch wrist, the watch looks appropriate without looking overly small or large, if that makes sense.

One thing I love when it comes to my personal watches is having something that is different from the norm. The Time Cipher takes the already rather rare complication of the wandering hour and then flips it on its head and displays it in a method that I have never seen before. The pebble like case reminds me of an evolved version of the case found on my Porsche Design Ocean 2000 and the Super Black dial is the perfect backdrop for highlighting the bright green wandering hour disc. When I first handled the case of the Time Cipher, I was honestly blown away by how nice the watch felt in hand. I had never had hands on with a CIGA design timepiece, so I didn't know what to expect. For these reasons, I feel that the Time Cipher is for me and would be an excellent addition to my personal collection.

So then would I recommend the Time Cipher to somebody looking to add a unique piece to their collection? I would have zero issue recommending the Time Cipher to a collector looking to add that type of watch to their collection. The Time Cipher pretty much undercuts every wandering hour watch on the market, and not only that, it does something completely different with the complication. Even when the watch arrived, I wasn't sure what the retail price of the Time Cipher was. It could have been twice as much and I still would have thought it was a great value. The lugless design also means that the Time Cipher will work on a huge variety of wrist sizes, from under 6 inches all the way up to 8 inches plus. Through our testing the highly modified Miyota movement inside of the Time Cipher also proved to be very accurate and the 50 meters of water resistance means that you shouldn't be afraid of the occasional splash of water. I really don't find much that any collector could be let down by with the Time Cipher. If they like the general look of the watch and are intrigued by the wandering hour complication, I think they'd fall in the love with the Time Cipher.



I'd really like to thank CIGA design for sending us the Time Cipher to review. It served as an amazing physical introduction to the brand and left me highly impressed by CIGA design. With the overall design of the Time Cipher and its unique take on the wandering hour complication, I wouldn't be surprised if the watch started to receive GPHG buzz later in the year. I'm really looking forward to the next watch CIGA design is going to send us to review since it combines my fascination of the 8,000 meter peaks, love of titanium cased watches and high horology. So please stay tuned for the review of the Everest Summit in the next few weeks.

For more information about the Time Cipher please visit : CIGA design



Technical Specifications

Reference Number: NA

Retail Price: $899

Case Size: 45 mm

Lug to Lug: 45 mm

Thickness: 11.8 mm

Weight: 97 grams

Case Material: 316L Stainless Steel

Bezel: 316L Stainless Steel

Strap: Black Fluororubber Strap with Stainless Steel Deployant Clasp

Movement: CIGA design CD-08 (Based on a Modified Miyota 9015 Automatic Movement)

Functions: Wandering Hours and Minutes

Power Reserve: 42 Hours

Water Resistance: 50 Meters