Behrens teams up with Vianney Halter for the bold, electric meter-inspired KHW Watch, in white or rose gold. The extremely dense movement combines the brand’s chain-driven hour display with rotating minute and power reserve cylinders, and a surprise on the back. It also represents a new frontier for the Chinese brand, as its most expensive offering yet.

Initial Thoughts

While Behrens’ watches do not always appeal to me aesthetically, I think the brand is an ideal champion for Chinese watchmaking. Unlike some brands marketing Chinese-built watches to global enthusiasts, Behrens is Chinese owned and operated. The brand’s founder, Lin Bingqiang, cut his teeth making parts and custom modules in Shenzhen for brands down in Hong Kong before starting Behrens in 2012.

An exploded view of the 870 part movement.

Many Chinese manufacturers excel at the engineering and manufacturing side, but have weak soft skills and lack vision. Behrens is strong on all fronts, and this is the brand’s most ambitious, and expensive, project yet. The brand may be over-reliant on computer-generated imagery, but I can confirm these watches are real, functional, and doing the rounds at Geneva Watch Week.

Case

On the heels of a collaboration with Konstantin Chaykin, Vianney Halter’s partnership is now with Behrens. This comes only days after Mr Halter’s collaboration with Massena Lab. His style dominated the aesthetics of that watch, though here it feels like Behrens took the lead.

A vintage electrical meter in Vianney Halter’s workshop first impelled the design, though the end result looks somewhat like Behrens’ “wat board” style watches.

The bezel-less sapphire crystal – nearly as tall as the mid-case – and rounded-rectangle silhouette capture the electrical meter aesthetic well, though it also resembles a smart watch, by coincidence. Despite the unusual case design, which includes a pair of buttons at 12 0’clock, the watch is still water resistant to 30 m.

This is only Behrens’ second precious metal watch, following the Kung Fu Platinum Edition from a few years back. Until now, the brand limited itself to less expensive materials, such as base metals, sapphire, and composites. Gold is appropriate for the brand’s most expensive watch, and added heft differentiates it from the similarly shaped Ultra-Light 20G.

Serpentine Hours

Inspired by the classic video game Snake, the chain running the movement perimeter completes one circuit in twelve hours with a single lumen dot acting as an hour hand. A string of six smaller dots, the Snake, chases the hour dot around and around.

The chain runs on ruby bearings, reminiscent of the Romain Gauthier’s Logical One, to minimise friction against the steel sprockets. Naturally, this chain comprises a majority of the movement’s 870 parts.

Behrens also mentions a temperature compensation system to “ensuring the stability of the micro-chain mechanism in all environments”.

While not explicitly identified, I notice the lower two sprockets are part of their own subassembly, mounted on springs. If the chain were to contract under extremely cold conditions it would compress those springs slightly, moving the lower sprockets upward, though that is only speculation on my part.

Two rotating cylinders, inspired by the aluminum disks on vintage electricity meters, flank the balance bridge. The right tracks the minutes, with one minute resolution thanks to the interaction of stationary and moving scales.

The tangled wire inspired bridges for the power train are another electric meter allusion. Despite their complexity, I suspect there are cut on a normal three-axis CNC mill with a lot of patience and care. These renders represent the movement decoration fairly: somewhat industrial but thorough and well executed.

The cylinder on the left is split between the day night indicator, and power reserve indicator. When fully wound the watch will run for three days, thanks to a pair of stacked mainspring barrels.

The balance is free-sprung, which has become very common in Chinese tourbillons over the last few years, but remains rare in non-revolving escapements.

This specific cam-style was likely inspired by the Swatch Group design used in the Powermatic 80 and others, which is adjusted using just a normal screwdriver and a tool shaped like a tiny foot to support the balance.

Flip the watch over and you’ll be greeted by the date and moon phases on the case back. Double sided pocket watches are an elegant way to present lots of information without crowding a single dial, but it is often awkward in wristwatches without an easy way to reverse the case while on the wrist.

A case back moon phase display works well enough as it’s not very useful in everyday life, though the date might benefit from front facing placement. Both are adjusted using a pair of buttons in the case band.

Key facts and price

Behrens x Vianney Halter KHW Watch
Ref. BHRM2WG01 (white gold)
Ref. BHRM2RG01 (rose gold)

Diameter: 35 mm by 41 mm
Height: 10.9 mm
Material: White or rose gold
Crystal: Sapphire
Water resistance: 30 m

Movement: BM06
Features: Hours, minutes, day/night, and power reserve indicator, date, moon phase.
Frequency: 28,800 beats per hour (4 Hz)
Winding: Manual wind
Power reserve: 72 hours

Strap: Cowhide leather with gold pin buckle matched to case material

Limited edition: 9 pieces each
Availability: Direct from Behrens
Price: US$44,800

For more information, visit behrenswatches.com.

Building on the Russian watchmaker’s signature Joker timepiece, the Behrens x Konstantin Chaykin Ace of Hearts blends the European court jester with its Chinese counterpart – contained with Behren’s ultra-light, trapezoid wristwatch that was first launched in 2023 as the Ultra-Light 11G.

Initial Thoughts

One of a new breed of inventive Chinese watchmakers, Behrens has always excelled at novelty watches, thanks to a combination of creativity and competitive pricing. This sets it apart from both its domestic and international competition.

European manufacturers in the same price range simply can’t develop base movements or even custom modules for small production runs, at least economically, while only a few other Chinese brands have built enough credibility outside the country to sell five- to six-figure watches internationally.

The Ace of Hearts exemplifies what Behrens does well – while also being a collaboration with an established European independent watchmaker.

The brand’s earlier collaboration with Konstantin Chaykin was well received, but didn’t stand out from other Wristmon models in terms of styling, so it’s good to see a new direction with the Ace of Hearts.

In fact, the Ace of Hearts stands out even in comparison to the ever-growing Wristmon family. I find the sapphire case models most interesting, as the transparent case suits the airy construction of the movement and importantly, they are priced reasonably compared to Swiss brands.

Movement

The principal inspiration for the distinct smile of the Ace of Hearts is a famous statue of a drum-beating Han Dynasty entertainer that’s about 2,000 years old. Unearthed in 1957, the statue now has pride of place in the National Museum of China – even in the gift shop that sells clay replicas as well as chocolates and ice cream in its likeness.

While Behrens replicated the shape of the statue’s mouth well, the skeletonised movement does away with the statue’s other distinguishing features, like the cheeks and forehead wrinkles, and the result is less distinct.

Sandwiched between two planes of sapphire, the manually-wound movement appears to float in the case. As with Konstantin Chaykin’s Wristmon watches, one eye marks the hours and the other, minutes. Both eyes are lumed, as is the mouth and a subtle power reserve indicator doubling as a forehead wrinkle.

Behren’s primary design contribution is an unusual seconds indicator using its millstone mechanism. This takes the shape of a heart-shaped pointer that traces the outline of the character’s mouth as the seconds hand covers 60 seconds. Underneath the “mouth” bridge is a free-sprung balance, which is good to see.

Case

Behrens split the 1,000 piece run across three case materials and five colourways.

The basic version is 600 pieces in titanium. Then there are  150 each in black or white SPSCF, a proprietary carbon composite. Behrens debuted SPSCF, which presumably stands for Spark Plasma Sintered Carbon Fibre, on the Ultra-Light 11G in 2023.

Last are the pair in clear sapphire crystal cases: 80 in sky blue sapphire, and only 20 in pink. A further 50 blue SPSCF pieces are reserved for the Russian market.

Besides the materials, Behrens also retained the trapezoidal case from the Ultra-Light, though without the curved case back and movement. It’s not marketed as a thin watch, but at just under 8 mm, it’s certainly on the slimmer side.

Unlike the Ultra-Light models that utilise straps screwed onto the case middle, the Ace of Hearts employs conventional straps with quick release spring bars for easy replacement.

Each watch is delivered with a pair of synthetic rubber straps with quick-release spring bars. The titanium, white SPSCF, and sapphire models are paired with straps colour matched to the case and movement respectively. Black and red straps accompany the black SPSCF model.

Key facts and price

Behrens x Konstantin Chaykin Ace of Hearts
Ref. BHR033TI01 (titanium)
Ref. BHR033SPWHT01 (white SPSCF)
Ref. BHR033SPBLK01 (black SPSCF)
Ref. BHR033SAPK01 (sky blue sapphire)
Ref. BHR033SABLU01 (pink sapphire)

Diameter: 37 mm by 42 mm
Height: 7.85 mm
Material: Titanium, SPSCF, or sapphire crystal
Crystal: Sapphire
Water resistance: 50 m

Movement: BM07
Features: Hours, minutes, seconds, and power reserve indicator
Frequency: 28,800 beats per hour (4 Hz)
Winding: Manual wind
Power reserve: 46 hours

Strap: Rubber with titanium pin buckle

Limited edition: 600 in titanium, 150 in white SPSCF, 150 in black SPSCF, 80 in sky blue sapphire, and 20 in pink sapphire
Availability: Direct from Behrens
Price: US$8,250 in titanium, US$10,120 in SPSCF, and US$14,960 in sapphire

For more information, visit behrenswatches.com.