This Stunning Watch Shouldn’t Be This Impressive at This Price

From the dial to the case to the movement, the level of craftsmanship on display is almost unbelievable.

By Johnny Brayson

Published July 30, 2025

·

Updated 23 hours ago

Every product is carefully selected by our editors. If you buy from a link, we may earn a commission. Learn more

The reputation of the Chinese watch industry has come a long way in just a few short years.

It wasn’t that long ago when China was mainly seen by the watch-buying public as a producer of cheap replica watches, but the nation has long been a horological manufacturing powerhouse, with even the most prestigious Swiss brands sourcing parts from China.

Today, China is changing the narrative by producing some impressive watches that are proudly Chinese. From Ciga Design’s award-winning innovations to Sea-Gull producing a split-second chronograph at an impossible price, Chinese watches are becoming more tempting by the day.

atelier wen watch on a mans wrist — Atelier Wen had already made quite a splash with the Perception, but its new model is even more impressive.

Leading the charge, of course, is Atelier Wen, which not only is extremely up-front about its Chinese origins but is also competing head-to-head with Swiss luxury brands while undercutting them on cost.

The brand’s newest model, the Ancestra, is arguably its most impressive yet and does things that I frankly wouldn’t expect for the price.

Dialing Up the Luxury

Atelier Wen’s best-known model is the Perception, the brand’s outstanding integrated sports watch. But for its latest model, the Ancestra, the brand went in the complete opposite direction with a showstopping dress watch.

an atelier wen watch — Atelier Wen’s Ancestra is the brand’s most impressive yet.

The Ancestra’s dial, case and movement are all worthy of closer inspection, but I’ll start with the dial since that’s the most impressive element here.

While the Perception’s dial was renowned for its use of true engine-turned guilloché, the Ancestra’s dial ups the ante by making use of several artisan disciplines. First, the dial is made of 925 silver and hand-hammered for a dimpled finish.

It’s then treated with grand feu enamel — the most prestigious type of enamel work in watchmaking — and given a true, kiln-fired fumé finish for a gradient effect. The result is a dial that’s rich in both texture and color, and no two are alike.

a closeup of an atelier wen watch dial — Hand-hammering, fumé grand feu enamel, calligraphy and diamonds come together to create a dial unlike any other.

The indices alternate between lab-grown baguette-cut diamonds and custom calligraphed printed numeral indices in one of two styles. One option features Chinese characters designed by Hong Kong calligraphy artist Elaine Wong, while the other offers Western Arabic numerals inspired by Chinese bamboo paintings and designed by artist Lee Yuen-Rapati.

Even the hands are impressive. They’re leaf-shaped, 0.45mm-thick, rhodium-plated and feature a frosted finish in their center with a mirror polish on their concave sides. The dial is protected by a box-shaped sapphire crystal with five layers of anti-reflective coating.

two atelier wen watches in sand — The printed indices are available in Chinese characters or more familiar Arabic numerals.

Unique Case, Unexpected Movement

Moving on to the case, it’s nice and compact at 38mm across, 11.3mm thick (9.05mm sans crystal) and 46mm lug-to-lug. The case is water resistant to 100m and is made from 904L stainless steel, the same grade used by Rolex for its Oystersteel, and features some impressive finishing — especially on the lugs.

The lugs are a unique detached design where two lugs are carved from the same piece of steel and then screwed internally into the case and secured from the outside with engraved bolts. Because they exist as a separate piece from the case, the lugs are able to be finished to a degree that wouldn’t be possible on traditional lugs, with Atelier Wen utilizing several different finishing techniques on all surfaces of the lugs.

When I reviewed the titanium Perception, my only real gripe had to do with the movement. It was a Chinese movement, and while China’s dial, case and bracelet construction are all top-notch, its movements still lag behind Europe and Japan when it comes to their precision and reliability.

For the Ancestra, Atelier Wen looked outside of China for the movement after failing to find a caliber in the country that met its needs. The brand ended up selecting the Pequignet Cal. EPM03 out of France, which is an automatic beating at 4Hz with a 65-hour power reserve and accuracy well within the chronometer standard with an average deviation of +/- 2 seconds per day.

the movement of an atelier wen watch — The main bridge of the movement is etched with over 400 tiny Chinese characters.

The movement has been heavily modified by Atelier Wen. It’s adjusted to six positions like luxury watch movements and features black polishing and a custom skeletonized tungsten rotor with 5N rose gold plating.

Most impressive of all is that the 3/4 bridge has been micro-etched with Chinese poetry — specifically, the manuscript Questions to Heaven — to the tune of 446 tiny characters. All of this is visible through a sapphire caseback with five layers of AR coating.

Pricing and Availability

an atelier wen watch on a mans wrist — Even with luxury watch pricing, the Ancestra feels like a bargain.

If a Swiss luxury brand put out this same watch with this same level of craftsmanship, I would easily expect the price to stretch into five figures. But that’s not the case with the Ancestra.

Atelier Wen’s new model is available now from the brand and retails for $5,850 on a leather strap. That is admittedly a chunk of change that puts the watch firmly in luxury territory, where it will compete against some big Swiss names. But for the insane level of craftsmanship from various disciplines on display here, the price seems like a bargain.

Atelier Wen Ancestra

Atelier Wen’s reimagining of a traditional dress watch combines a hand-hammered, fumé grand feu enamel dial with diamond and calligraphed indices, a unique case design with detached lugs and a French automatic movement with micro-etched Chinese poetry on the 3/4 bridge.

$5,850 at Atelier Wen

About the Author:

Johnny Brayson is an editor at Gear Patrol mostly covering watches. He enjoys watches that are packed with blink-and-you’ll-miss-’em details and believes nearly every watch could stand to be a tad smaller.