It brings us great joy to finally announce the third instalment of our collaborative triptych with Wei Koh and Revolution Media! This collaboration is one we have been sitting on for quite some time, and we are delighted to see it finally unveiled.
Alongside 喜 (Xǐ) and 粲 (Càn), this edition, 粹 (Cuì), was initiated way back in April 2022 during that fateful meeting between Robin and Wei during Watches and Wonders.
It features a dazzling silver dial that has been hand-turned in a diamant or diamond guilloché pattern that gets progressively finer towards the middle of the dial. As Master Cheng's most complex dial that he can currently produce, each raw dial takes approximately 36 hours of continuous turning — in a relay comprising of both himself and two of his most senior disciples. Any slight deviation in the accuracy of the process renders the dial unusable as the distorted refraction of light is visibly noticeable, and the resultant failure rate of this particular dial variant is therefore approximately 50%.
When the collaborative project with Revolution was first kicked off, Wei initially requested for this pattern to feature in the first launch, 喜 (Xǐ), in an edition of 100 pieces. Master Cheng turned this request down flatly due to the difficulty of the variant, instead offered only 25 pieces, and that was what we left it at. However, following the success of the previous two collaborative efforts, Revolution once more asked if there was any way we could add additional pieces for this third collaboration. We pushed hard with Cheng to see if he could increase that number over the subsequent months, and he ultimately agreed to do so after meeting Wei in-person in Geneva this year and taking a liking to his magnetic personality.
Just like its two predecessors, 粹 (Cuì) launches in a case and bracelet comprising of grade 5 titanium. However, with this installation, we have taken things a step further, executing our loveable stone lion on the caseback in the material instead of plating it over steel as we have done before. The same upgrade has been applied to our crown and clasp shell! 粹 (Cuì) also features heat-blued hands that have been given the V2 treatment, with a far more voluminous profile on both the minutes and hours, as well as a bulbous counter balance to the seconds hand that improves its centre of gravity and aids in optimising the amplitude of the SL1588 movement within it, translating to better timekeeping accuracy.
Perception 粹 (Cuì) launches directly through the Revolution website on the 15th of August 2024 at 7pm SGT (1pm CET | 7am EST).
It is priced at US$3,800, excluding taxes. Once sold out, it will not be reproduced again.
Atelier Wen × Revolution Perception “粹" (Cùi) Specifications
— Grade 5 Titanium case and bracelet with contrasting surfaces and exceptional attention to finish.
— 40mm (Diameter) X 47mm (Lug-To-Lug), with a wearing experience closer to 38/39mm, suiting smaller and larger wrists alike.
— 9.4mm thickness.
— Screw-down crown.
— Water resistant to 100m/10ATM.
— Hand-crafted guilloché dial with intricate diamant pattern, turned by China’s sole guilloché master craftsman, Cheng Yucai.
— Four-layered dial construction, inspired by ancient Chinese architectural tenets of Sunmao (friction/imbrication through mortise and tenon joints).
— Chinese huiwen-patterned chapter ring, printed in Super-LumiNova ®, X1 grade.
— Applied rhodium-plated indices.
— Voluminous, heat-blued and hand-bent, leaf-shaped hands with Super-LumiNova ®, X1 grade.
— Double-domed sapphire crystal with 10 layers of anti-reflective coating.
— Hammered texture surrounding raised stone lion motif.
— Semi-display sapphire crystal window showing balance bridge/rotor.
— Deeply CNC-engraved, 3D lettering on all text.
— 10 layers of anti-reflective coating.
— Customised 32 jewels extra-thin (3.4mm) Peacock SL1588 automatic movement decorated in côtes de genève, perlage.
— Tungsten rotor with circular côtes de genève and silver 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).
— Proprietary, patent-pending on-the-fly micro adjustment system.
— Telescopic deployant blade system for enhanced comfort and wearability.
It has been, as always, a tremendous pleasure to work with the Revolution team, and a big thank you goes to Wei Koh for his continued belief and support, as well as to the entire team that has been ever helpful in facilitating everything, including Maria, Constant, David, Nikki, Shazlina, Roy, Bryan, Sylvestre and everyone else!