Atelier Wen Ancestra: A Timepiece Where Chinese Craftsmanship Meets French Mechanical Marvel

Atelier Wen continues to champion Chinese craftsmanship with the introduction of the Atelier Wen Ancestra. This new addition to their collection offers a unique approach to the classic dress watch, simultaneously celebrating traditional Chinese artistry and the brand founders’ French heritage.

The highlight of the Ancestra watch is its breathtaking dial. It features enameling, a craft prominent in the Chinese artistic landscape for more than six centuries. The dials begin with a 925 silver base with hand-hammering to create complex textures. Following this, enamel layers are cautiously applied, a process that necessitates meticulous care due to the high risk of cracking. The enamel powder consists of an unrefined combination of quartz, feldspar, borax, and other minerals, melted and rapidly cooled to form glass-like fragments, which are ground and sieved to form a fine powder.

Another distinctive feature of the Ancestra dial is the alternation between baguette-cut diamonds and calligraphed Chinese numerals or stylized Arabic numerals, designed by Lee Yuen-Rapati and Elaine Wong. Wong was briefed to imagine watch numbers if Breguet had been a Chinese craftsman, thus leading her to design a highly cursive style with traditional characters. Lee, on the other hand, assimilated inspiration from bamboo leaf calligraphy, presenting an organic form to the Arabic numerals. To further create distinction, the placement of the baguette diamonds is inverted on both dials.

The culmination of motif, numerals, and diamonds, backed by meticulous craftsmanship, places the Ancestra model at the pinnacle of watchmaking. In particular, the rhodium-plated feuille hands display time with unmatched refinement, complementing each intricate detail of the watch.