CIGA Reveals First Automaton Design with Mountaineering Theme for its Everest China 65th Anniversary Watch

Best-known for its distinctive range of creations over the past decade, the Chinese marque CIGA has a particular admiration for Mount Everest. With its central tourbillon model, the company commemorated the original Everest ascent of 2024, and now, CIGA is paying another unique tribute to the world’s highest peak. The watchmaker introduces its first-ever automaton design in its newest timepiece, the Everest China 65th Anniversary Watch. This timepiece is designed to honor the first Chinese team’s remarkable achievement of reaching the Everest summit in 1960. Despite being nine months past the anniversary year, the company chose to release this memorable tribute.

The case of the Everest China 65th Anniversary Watch might not have lugs, but its design is far from plain. The polished, protruding claws surrounding the radially polished bezel provide a rugged, heavy-duty aesthetic, contrasting the otherwise matte-blasted and brushed layout. These claws also work with the simple engraved bezel markings, mirroring the minimalist watch’s hour markers.

The dial is the true heart of the Everest China 65th Anniversary Watch from any perspective. The dial’s rugged texture is achieved by using bedrock procured from Mount Everest’s northern foothills, subjecting it to a 30-day process of laser shaping, cutting, and CNC engraving. The result is truly captivating on the wrist, with small crags and folds reflecting an icy, exposed face of the grand mountain. This textural effect pairs remarkably well with the watch’s primary attraction: it’s automaton design.