Atelier Wen: How two Frenchmen are changing perceptions of Chinese watchmaking

It’s not just grit, resourcefulness and a brilliant idea that lead to entrepreneurial success. Often, sheer naivete is what gets you started. When French friends Robin Tallendier and Wilfried Buiron decided to start their own watch microbrand, they were nearly laughed out of town. Their bold vision? To create a Chinese watch brand that would celebrate Chinese culture and horology. Never mind that the founders were categorically not Chinese; their plan to sell them at US$700 (S$900) a piece was also considered preposterous. Lacking the pedigree of Swiss or even European watchmaking heritage, Chinese horology was — and sadly still is in some circles — considered inferior, mass-produced, and cheap.

“We were very nervous,” recalled Buiron. “A lot of people around us said we were crazy, and that no one was ever going to pay that much for a Chinese watch. But we were young and naive and decided to try anyway.” And that’s where the brilliance of their idea comes in — the pair were actually much better positioned to promote Chinese watchmaking than it seemed. Tallendier had been collecting vintage Chinese watches since the age of 12, and his passion earned him the role of advisor and “Execution Expert” at the China Horologe Association in 2016. Buiron, born in Hong Kong, spent most of his life in Asia, speaks fluent Mandarin, and is a seasoned serial entrepreneur. Together, they set out to showcase China’s rich traditional crafts through contemporary watchmaking. In 2018, they founded Atelier Wen and successfully raised US$100,000 on Kickstarter to launch their first series, the Porcelain Odyssey.

The Porcelain Odyssey was a series of 39mm steel watches featuring porcelain dials with subtle Chinese influences. Instead of a traditional railroad minute track, the dial's outer edges display the Chinese "hui wen" pattern, while the seconds subdial pays tribute to the Eight Trigrams. Powering the watch was a customised Dandong SL-3006 automatic movement with a 41-hour power reserve. Five variations of the Porcelain Odyssey were produced, each limited to 250 pieces, and all were sold out.

Despite Atelier Wen’s successful debut, it took another three years for the brand to develop its next product. “We wanted to lay a strong foundation for the future of the brand, to create an iconic piece in the same way Audemars Piguet has the Royal Oak,” Buiron explained. After countless revisions, they finally delivered the Perception in 2022.

The Perception’s pagoda-inspired case shape, distinctive hexagonal link bracelet, and contrasting brushed and polished finishes reflect the brand’s keen understanding of mainstream tastes. However, it’s the dial that truly captures the soul and vision of Atelier Wen. Crafted by China’s only master guilloche artisan, Cheng Yu Cai, each dial takes eight hours to complete. Remarkably, Master Cheng is entirely self-taught in the art of guilloche and even developed his own rose engine (as he had never seen one before), which he patented in 2017.

Tallendier and Buiron were introduced to Master Cheng through mutual friends in the industry. “When he first met with us, he thought we were scammers because we wanted to order hundreds of dials from him,” Buiron laughed. “He had previously been turned away by all the other local watch brands, like Seagull, because they thought his dials were too expensive.”

The story behind Master Cheng’s agreement to work with Atelier Wen is almost too charming for words. “His hometown of Xinmi in Henan Province is famous for fortune-telling, and 15 years ago, his fortune-teller predicted that he would meet foreigners and do business with them, leading to his success,” Buiron revealed. “That’s why he trusted us! Our partnership has helped him expand and build new machines, and now all the watchmakers are knocking at his door requesting dials, but he’s turned them down.”

Atelier Wen has since produced around 2,000 pieces of the Perception, including special editions, with prices starting at a significantly higher US$3,300 — but still arguably a great value proposition. These watches are powered by modified versions of the ultra-thin Dandong SL1588 movement, just 3.4mm thick, allowing for a slim 9.4mm case. “We're essentially the only option for an automatic movement this thin under US$10,000," Buiron explains, noting that the next alternative would be something from Vaucher Manufacture Fleurier, a specialist providing calibres for brands like Baume & Mercier and Richard Mille.

Despite having only one core product (as the Porcelain Odyssey was retired and will not be made again), Atelier Wen’s fanbase has been active and growing. “We had 30 people in our first Whatsapp group, but now we have over 2,000 across different chapters,” he said. And the founders are just as committed to engaging with its community. “For the first 1,000 pieces or so, we asked our customers to give us feedback, and we actually got some essays. So batch after batch we improve, like making the bracelet micro-adjustment system more comfortable, and we are constantly learning.”

After three successful years with the Perception, the founders are ready to introduce something new. This month, they released the brand’s first non-collaborative limited edition, the Perception Millesime 2024, featuring the first titanium model with a purple guilloche dial. Buiron hopes to launch a new Millesime each year, allowing them to explore “more funky” designs. The brand is even teasing some of this upcoming funkiness with a lucky draw: three customers who order the titanium Millesime will be surprised with a full-tantalum prototype model instead, as Atelier Wen aims to become the first brand to serially produce a watch with both a case and bracelet made of tantalum.

“We’re fortunate that our customers have been so receptive. Some of them have said they would gladly pay US$70,000 for something crazy — I wish I’d known that sooner because we were always playing within so many constraints thinking we couldn’t be more expensive than this,” said Buiron. “This means we can work with more top craftsmen, we can be more mechanically ambitious, and we can develop new complications and finishing styles.”

Already Atelier Wen has plans to incorporate more crafts into upcoming collections, with the founders currently exploring projects involving Chinese enamel, lacquer, mother-of-pearl, and silk embroidery.  While he can’t disclose further details for now, he mentions that they have applied for patents for some of the processes. “We had to reinvent certain techniques because it couldn’t be executed in the traditional way and we wanted something really, really special.”

The Perception is aptly named, as Atelier Wen aims to reshape perceptions of the Chinese watchmaking industry. “China is a manufacturing powerhouse, capable of producing everything from low-end cars like Geely to Teslas. The Chinese watch industry is similarly versatile. Coupled with its 5,000 years of history in craftsmanship, it’s actually far more diverse than the Swiss watch industry.” Buiron further expresses his ambition to elevate the Chinese watch industry in the same way Grand Seiko has transformed the Japanese watch industry.

“Even though we're not Chinese, what we do comes from a very genuine place,” he says. It’s the reason the brand name combines the French word for workshop with the Chinese word for culture. “If we called it something like 文化作室 and tried to hide the fact that the founders are French, that would be a bit jarring. Our own baggage and experiences will likely seep into the watches, but our process has always been earnest and transparent, and that helps with people’s perceptions of us, too.”

The Perception Millesime 2024 will be available for pre-order at https://atelierwen.com/products/perception-mu from now till 21 October 2024.