Atelier Wen has a stated mission to raise the profile of an increasingly sophisticated watch manufacturing industry in its native China.
The brand is making watches that measure up favourably with the finest Swiss pieces thanks to its work with some of China’s leading artisans, artists, designers and watchmakers.
With the cost advantages that Chinese manufacturing can deliver, Atelier Wen is able to experiment with new materials and engineering combined with craftsmanship that has been handed down from one generation to the next.
The story of Atelier Wen and its relationship with Chinese suppliers is being explored through a series of films for YouTube that go behind the scenes at several partners who contribute to its finished timepieces.
The first episode of Inside the Atelier featured Atelier Wen’s founder Robin Tallendier and Wilfried Buiron meeting Cheng Yucai, a master of hand-turned guilloché dials from Xinmi in South Central China, who makes dials for its Perception line of integrated sports watches.
This month, the second episode dropped, and features the more industrialised operation of Liaoning Peacock Watch Company in Dandong.
Peacock is the poster child for the advanced horology that watchmakers in Dandong have been delivering since 1957 and kicked into high gear with the introduction in 2003 of its first watch featuring an in house tourbillon movement.
The company produces its own range of watches under the Peacock brand, but also supplies other businesses across the world, including Atelier Wen.
Once again, Mr Tallendier and Mr Buiron are our guides through the hi-tech manufacturing plant in the city of Dandong on the southeast coast of China.
“Working tirelessly to raise their standing in the industry and push the envelope of Chinese watchmaking, Liaoning Peacock Watch Company has invested in state-of-the art machinery, a beautiful, expansive new manufacture complex, and a working environment that matches up to many of their Western counterparts,” the video explains.
Liaoning Peacock Watch Company manufactures customised and highly decorated SL1588 hi-beat movements for Atelier Wen’s Perception collection.
Modifications include an extended power reserve of approximately 41 hours and the removal of the default date-complication to give it a slimmer profile.
The movements are tested for 48 hours before leaving the factory at +/- 10 seconds per day.
They are then regulated again in five positions by Atelier Wen before going to China’s national research lab, the Horological Research Institute of Light Industry (HRILI), for further testing following assembly.
Atelier Wen is so confident in the build quality and reliability of its Perception watches that they are sold with a five year warranty for under $3,000.
