As with literature, music, and fashion, my taste in watches leans classic. Most days, either a Cartier Tank or a Shinola Mechanic adorns my wrist. But just as my mood occasionally favors John Cage over the Stones, I like to sport an avant-garde timepiece now and then. The experimental pièce de résistance of my watch box is a Moonwalker from Ciga Design, a Chinese company quickly emerging as a formidable disruptor in modern horology.
Photo by Johnny Motley
Spaced Out
The watch’s onyx-black dial, evocative of deep space, encompasses a 3-D scintillating silver globe, a miniature moon intricately engraved with craters, valleys, and ravines. In lieu of traditional hands, a matchhead-sized metallic astronaut orbits the dial, its outstretched arm tracing an outer ring to mark the hours and an inner ring for the minutes. It requires a bit of practice to tell time at a glance, but after a few wears, it’s as easy to read as a traditional dial.
Photo via Ciga Design
Beyond the Bravado
Beyond the Moonwalker’s playful bravado, I’m glad to support Ciga Design, a maverick in luxury horology and a brand helping to erase lingering stigmas around Chinese watchmaking. Founded by industrial engineering dynamo Zhang Jianmin, Ciga became the first Chinese marque to win a Grand Prix d’Horlogerie de Genève. Essentially, an Olympic gold for watchmakers. Collectors laud the house for its audacious designs, technical mastery, and proprietary space-age materials like ceramic jade, an ultra-hard porcelain that gleams like polished stone. Skeletonized cases are another Ciga signature, with offerings like the X-Series and Z-series showcasing whirring metallic innards as complex as a rocket engine.
Photo by Johnny Motley
A Dashing Companion
The Moonwalker’s sleek black-and-silver palette makes it as dashing a companion to a tuxedo as to a motorcycle jacket or edgy T-shirt. For a statement piece that delights the eye and guarantees both queries and compliments, here’s a watch that’s truly out of this world.
