Atelier Wen: The New Chinese Chic - Quality Mechanical Watches - Official Affiliate Thread

[Riva]

Word of advice to the entrepreneur: Worry less over the strap, and more over the watch itself. Fussing over the strap is akin to John Lobb fussing over shoelaces. Any watch buyer worth his salt knows it's a simple operation to switch straps. To offend the fewest sensibilities, pick a smooth leather, move on to other design problems, KISS.

I think your product has great promise. In fact I would strongly consider purchasing if you could keep the size to a more classic diameter of 35-6 mm, and maybe shave 2 mm off the thickness. Best of luck.

Sub $600 watch buyers may not even have the tool to remove the strap. I'm assuming they're aiming at a greater audience than those lurking in watch forums. If the better straps don't cost extra then it saves us time forking over more $ and time. This brand's strength lies in the details they put into it which in turns should be documented into their website as marketing materials.

39mm diameter is fine as it's the best balance for all wrist sizes men and women included. I got a puny wrist and I wouldn't even wear 35-36. Agreed on the thickness.

 

[starro]

A 450 euro watch is by no means entry level mechanical. An actual watch novice would shudder at a $150 watch. So I would argue that the target audience of AW is well aware of how to customize straps on their own. A quick search on Amazon reveals that a strap removal tool costs $5-20, or 2-4% of the price of the watch.

And please do not misunderstand me to suggest AW put on a crappy strap, but it shouldn't take weeks of hand-wringing to find an unobtrusive leather strap of medium-high quality.

39mm diameter is fine as it's the best balance for all wrist sizes men and women included. I got a puny wrist and I wouldn't even wear 35-36. Agreed on the thickness.

In the 50s and 60s men's dress watches were 33-35 mm. A 39 mm watch would be considered oversize novelty and rarely issued. I'm guessing most men back then didn't have woman wrists, but rather a more classic understanding of proportionality. Namely that it's better to have the wrist dwarf the watch than vice versa. It took the quartz revolution, and the subsequent realignment of mechanical pieces as luxury items, for the wristwatch to grow to current dimensions as bling-y monstrosities.

 

[clee1982]

33mm would be too niche for today’s men’s watch. I don’t know what’s the typical buyer for $500 ish watch to be honest though...

 

[beargonefishing]

A 450 euro watch is by no means entry level mechanical. An actual watch novice would shudder at a $150 watch. So I would argue that the target audience of AW is well aware of how to customize straps on their own. A quick search on Amazon reveals that a strap removal tool costs $5-20, or 2-4% of the price of the watch.

And please do not misunderstand me to suggest AW put on a crappy strap, but it shouldn't take weeks of hand-wringing to find an unobtrusive leather strap of medium-high quality.



In the 50s and 60s men's dress watches were 33-35 mm. A 39 mm watch would be considered oversize novelty and rarely issued. I'm guessing most men back then didn't have woman wrists, but rather a more classic understanding of proportionality. Namely that it's better to have the wrist dwarf the watch than vice versa. It took the quartz revolution, and the subsequent realignment of mechanical pieces as luxury items, for the wristwatch to grow to current dimensions as bling-y monstrosities.

I suspect the mass proliferation of automatic movements and addition of more complications have as much to do with the increase in size as anything. I wonder how many automatic movements exist that can fit in a sub 38-39 inch watch.

 

[Riva]

In the 50s and 60s men's dress watches were 33-35 mm. A 39 mm watch would be considered oversize novelty and rarely issued. I'm guessing most men back then didn't have woman wrists, but rather a more classic understanding of proportionality. Namely that it's better to have the wrist dwarf the watch than vice versa. It took the quartz revolution, and the subsequent realignment of mechanical pieces as luxury items, for the wristwatch to grow to current dimensions as bling-y monstrosities.

I'm fully aware of that but this is 2018 and women now wear daytonas and panerais... They need to be able to sell the watches.

 

[starro]

^ Fully agree. I should have worded my initial post better. If they could have 2 different size models, a 35mm and a 40mm, that would cater to all sides. Might be totally unfeasible at the start up phase.

Anyways, very interesting in terms of what the creators have come up with. I will bookmark this thread to see what's in store for the future.

 

[starro]

but this is 2018

Welcome to 2018, where the suits are tiny and watches humongous!

 

[Riva]

Welcome to 2018, where the suits are tiny and watches humongous!

But tiny suits accentuate my slim sexy body better... Lol yea I know it's ridiculous at times but biz is biz. I don't care if I have to wear a Richard Mille (hopefully a rosegold RM67) just to get the projects if the biz environment demands it.

 

[RogerP]

Rubber combo strap - I'd have to see it to comment. My initial reaction is no, as these watches lean heavily toward to elegant side of the scale.

 

[CanadaCal]

Rubber combo strap - I'd have to see it to comment. My initial reaction is no, as these watches lean heavily toward to elegant side of the scale.

Completely agree. Except I don’t even have to see it.

I’ll just mention 1 more time some ideas, but it’s your brand. So offer something your really set on and happy with.
We’re just offering up ideas, and while the watch is much more important then the strap. It’s still a selling feature, and very much going to be a part of the participation for some.


Standard offering - standard stitching
Quality calf, no embossing - mid brown, dark brown, navy, black

Stretch goal - both minimally stitched
Shell cordovan - navy, cognac, black. I still say Horween. It’s not that much more when comparing other strap brands and the shell they offer.

Suede - grey, navy, tobacco or snuff, mink/dark brown

Top goal
Exotic - real croc in 5 colours.
If that’s too much of a hassle for legal/import reasons. Look into goatskin (chèvre Mysore) lovely stuff, comes in a heap of colours.

@RogerP if you get a loner, let me know. I’d love to have a look before launch.

 

[Riva]

I would suggest ostrich leg instead of croc even if you can get them cheap from Vietnam. Similar grain, actually more unique imo, and also no need for CITES.

 

[clee1982]

no more new updates?

 

[Fandegrue]

no more new updates?

Quite a few updates coming up later today!

 

[Fandegrue]

Hello everyone,

Quite a few updates to share with you today.

I will start with the straps, since this generated quite some attention lately. So, finally, we have settled for the following. There will be three available straps:

-A navy, smooth, calf one. It will come with the watch by default. No fake crocodile embossing, and a simple, high quality calf. Normal stitching.

-A light grey suede strap. This one will be available as an add-on. I believe that it can give the watch a more youthful and playful look, so, somehow, it complements the default strap quite well.

-An exotic strap. The materials we are using is a rarely-seen one, so before giving some more details, I am waiting to see the prototypes and to assess their quality. Yet, if things go smoothly, this would provide for a really unique strap, and one with a strong Chinese character what’s more. @Riva, we had a look at ostrich after you mentioned it, but, in all fairness, I wasn’t very much under the spell of what our supplier was offering us… We also had a look at goatskin (@CanadaCal), and, while it indeed did look nice, I somehow preferred the other exotic option we finally settled for, as it is more unique and in-line with our positioning.

We should receive some prototypes during the HK Watch and Clock Fair, so hopefully not too long before I am able to post some pictures here. By the way, if some of you are in Hong Kong and would like to see the prototypes in person, or simply chat with us, let me know

In other news, Wilfried recently went to Shenzhen and Guangzhou in order to speed-up on some remaining pressing matters, and quite some progress has been achieved there.

We were not 100% satisfied with the crown; it is nice, of course, but I found it to be a tiny bit too small, and the engraving was too rugged to my tastes. After talking about this with a rather famous watchmaker in Beijing (Liu Shiu Li), he advised us to meet with what he deemed to be the “Rolls of crown manufacturing in China”. Located in Shenzhen suburbs, he has been in activity since 1991, and works with many famous Swiss brands. After talking extensively with him, we have decided to make the crown 0.5mm larger and to improve the “crenelation” in order to make the handling, the manipulation of the crown more straightforward, convenient and comfortable. The logo is now embossed in a way that is quite similar to a traditional Chinese seal, which, I like to think, adds a little bit more character and authenticity to the watches. It may not seem very significant at the onset, but I do genuinely care about these small details.

The new crown

They are going over the watches with a fine-tooth comb

The director finally abandons his Cartier and tries one of ours

Getting more technical...

Here’s an amusing anecdote: at the end of the day, Wilfried was invited to a dinner with the company’s owners and directors. Amongst the many dishes served there, bull testicles were present… Of course, he could not say no (that would have been rude), and therefore had to taste some! A true effort for the team!

It didn't taste very much special actually

Since he was in Shenzhen, we thought that it was a good idea to send him to our case manufacturer. But what was initially supposed to be only a courtesy call quickly turned into a great advance. A few days before, Wilfried was in a watch accessories shop in HK, and, noticing the two watches strapped to his wrist, a man goes to him and initiates a conversation. After being presented the brand, the whole “journey”, etc., he asks a slightly unsettling question: “what kind of 316L do you use in your watches?”. Wilfried doesn’t very much know what to answer because, thus far, for us, 316L was 316L. The man, who is an industry veteran, goes on and explains that 316L does not correspond to identical chemical compositions in every country. Of course, these “different” 316Ls are broadly similar, yet, there are some slight differences in terms of chrome, nickel, molybdenum, etc. quantities and concentrations. This, in turn, has some impact on the steel’s corrosion resistance and on its brightness. According to our man, the two very best 316L in this planet are the Finnish and Japanese ones. Some of you may have noticed it already, but we are quite obsessed with details. It may not add a lot directly to the watches, but if there are some – even tiny – things that we can do to make our products better, then we will do all of them. Hence, as soon as we knew these two alloys’ superiority, we wanted them in our products. Back at the case manufacturer, we ask the director about the provenance of his 316L. As we were expecting it, the one he uses is of Chinese origin. We thus enquire about the possibility to use a Japanese one instead, and, quite luckily for us, he has some personal good ties with a Japanese foundry, and is therefore able to provide us with the much sought-after alloy!

Afterwards, he headed to Guangzhou to work on the packaging. It is quite interesting, there is in the city an area where a fair share of the box manufacturers of the country gather… a sort of packaging neighbourhood if I may! We had been working with a company there to produce a navy-blue leather pouch, and things are coming up pretty neatly! It is of high quality (top grain leather, suede lining inside) and not made of cheap plastic + leather debris blend… I’m posting a picture of a prototype here, but please note that it isn’t fully finished yet

On the way...

Rainy Guangzhou...

Packed subway

Taken in the "packaging district"!

A prototype

Lastly, we have finally found some names for our watches! We thought that it would be nice to name each with only one character; it would add some sense, would be more in line with our positioning, and would be rememberable by both our Western and Eastern audience. For the white one, we selected the character “hao”:

It means a very luminous, radiant and pure white. One without any imperfections at all.

For the blue model, we settled for “ji”:

It refers to a blue that was, centuries ago, made out of lapis lazuli, and thus very hard to obtain. Often dubbed “the most beautiful blue”, it is supposed to look like the sky colour after a thunderstorm. Very rare, it was used on porcelain ware:

Last point, I came back from Brittany two days ago, and the prototypes were awaiting me. I felt very happy to finally be able to hold them in my hands, and couldn’t resist taking a few pictures:

Have a nice day, everyone.

Robin.

 

[clee1982]

Love the update