“Wu Ji”represent the “infinite universe”.It is a lofty title typical of Chinese naming practices. This tourbillon watch was invented by one of oldest and most prestigious China watches companies-Beijnig watch company.
It would be wrong to look at this watch dial and assume you can read the time as you would on most other round-dialed watches. In fact only the upper half of the dial is used to read the time. A shortened scale for all 12 hours is placed on the top half of the dial, and both the hour and minute hand have retrograde mechanisms that have them jump back to the starting point when necessary. This makes the dial extremely confusing at first if you don’t know what you are looking at. The double retrograde system for the hour and minute hand is designed to prevent the hands from ever accidentally touching it. The benefit is a watch with such a tourbillon system that does not require a “bubble” in the crystal. At 17.2mm thick, the watch could certainly have been thicker.
The tourbillon element of the Wu Ji is quite amusing. What you have is a bi-axial tourbillon that is basically a smaller tourbillon inside of a larger tourbillon. Then you have a traditional flying tourbillon as a separate element on the dial. The traditional tourbillon has a pleasant bird-shaped bridge. In addition to the tourbillons and the unique time telling system, the Wu Ji watch also contains a retrograde date indicator as well as a power reserve indicator. The manually wound movement holds just over 50 hours of power reserve. On the rear of the watch is an additional complication; a moon phase indicator, with a blue enameled disc.
Claimed accuracy for the caliber TB09 movement isn’t bad. Beijing Watch Factory says the Wu Ji is accurate to about plus or minus 10 seconds a day. That isn’t quite chronometric standards, but probably in line with many Swiss tourbillons. Other Chinese movements can often be off by as much as a minute a day. So all things being considered, 10 seconds a day for this type of complex movement is pretty good.
On the wrist, the Beijing Watch Factory Wu Ji is 44mm wide and sits large thanks to its wide lugs. The case comes in either 18k rose gold or platinum. The inspiration for the design is clearly Greubel Forsey-ish, but it looks decent and I am happy that it isn’t just something simple and round. Nothing like a boring perfectly round case to destroy an otherwise unique wearing experience. The Infinite Universe is conservative, but has learned that boring isn’t the same thing. The level of uniqueness mixed with traditional looks is an art that Europeans have learned well, and the Wu Ji is the latest to replicate that. Does it succeed? It really depends on who you ask.
Beijing Watch Factory has succeeded in impressing me a lot. It has also succeeding in producing something that is both unique and interesting, but is also the type of thing that even the most snobbish watch lovers will take notice of.
