CIGA Design J Series Mechanical Watch
CIGA Design launches a new mechanical watch intricately inspired by Zen gardens.
The CIGA Design J Series Mechanical Watch has been inspired by Karesansui, also known as “Japanese rock gardens,” or “Zen gardens,” gardens of intricate sand, stone, and gravel that represent water and mountains that are synonymous with tranquility.
CIGA Design has already attracted a funding of more than $2 million USD from its online crowd-funding campaign for its Z Series Titanium watch, which was initially launched in Kickstarter and then in Indiegogo. The Z Series timepiece is still available for purchase through the Indiegogo InDemand page of CIGA Design Z Series Titanium edition.
Following this immense success, CIGA Design has launched a new Kickstarter Campaign to promote its brand new J Series Mechanical Watch.
When CIGA’s design team set out to find inspiration for a Zen-themed watch, they found Karesansui to be the perfect source. The gardens are often used by Japanese monks to aid in meditation, and are believed to have a calming effect.
Each layer of the watch represents a realm of Zen. The watch’s core layer represents the essential core of reality, the middle layer represents a deeper understanding, and the outer layer represents the outward form of reality.
The watch’s comfortable, sweat-proof, and elastic silicone strap features the lines of Karesansui. A stainless steel strap is also available. The J Series has a patented floating hour hand that hovers above the skeleton movement.
Meanwhile, X-shaped equal-length double hands span the entire dial, breaking the time reading tradition of most watches. The hands cross at different times to form differing visual effects for a highly impactful appearance.
The dial includes 120 fine lines and a pitch of just 0.3mm, the ultimate micron precision for an intricate and complex design. A dual-hollow design provides a look into the mechanics of the watch to view and admire the craftsmanship on a deeper level as the wearer sees and feels the watch at work.
The CIGA Design J Series is equipped with original Japan-made Citizen Miyota Movement. The movement frequency is 21,600 times/hour, 21 diamonds, and energy storage is 42 hours.
The watch face comes in either black or white and is made with K9 high strength mineral glass.
The watch is the latest in a line of unique, design-driven mechanical watches from an award-winning design team. Thus far, Zhang Jiamin and CIGA Design’s accolades include nine Red Dot awards, three iF Awards, and two German Design Awards. [View the promotional video]
The CIGA Design J Series mechanical watch is available on Kickstarter for the super early bird price of $369 USD.
Please visit the CIGA Design J Series Kickstarter page for more details.
Technical details
Case
Stainless steel case
Diameter: 44mm
Thickness: 10.8mm
K9 Mineral crystal for front glass and caseback crystal
Water resistance: 3 atm/ 30 meters
Movement
Miyota 8N24
Automatic movement, 21 jewels
Dial
Black and white versions
Strap
Silicone strap or stainless steel bracelet
Strap width: 22mm
Length with silicone strap: 240mm
Length with stainless steel bracelet: 230mm
Weight
Without straps: 52g
With silicone straps: 71g
With stainless steel bracelet: 93g
Warranty
2 years
About CIGA Design
CIGA Design was founded in 2016 by CEO Zhang Jiamin. Mr. Jiamin is a well-known designer with over 30 years of industrial design experience across fields including architecture, aeronautics, and retail products. He has been named one of China’s top 10 outstanding industry designers and is a member of the Industrial Designers Society of America. His love of watches compelled him to launch CIGA. Since, he has won the most Red Dot Design Awards in the Chinese watch field, and in total has won nine Red Dot Awards, two iF Awards, and three German Design Awards.
Awards won by CIGA Design
Red dot
- 2013: Best of the Best award for CIGA Design Single Hand Wristwatch Designed by Zhang Jianmin.
- 2013: Honorable mention for CIGA Design 009 Series Wristwatch designed by Qiang Xiaoning, Zhang Jianmin and Xin Jiang.
- 2014: The award for high design quality, expressing innovation in form and function in an exemplary manner. Wrist watch designed by Zhang Jianmin, Shenzhen CIGA Design Co., Ltd).
- 2015: Honorable mention for Compass Wristwatch designed by Zhang Jianmin and Xin Jiang.
- 2016: Honorable mention for Moonphase Wristwatch designed by Zhang Jianmin, Zihan Chen and Xin Jiang.
- 2017: The award for high design quality, expressing innovation in form and function in an exemplary manner. The Anti-Seismic Mechanical Watch designed by Zhang Jianmin and Xin Jiang.
- 2017: The award for high design quality, expressing innovation in form and function in an exemplary manner. The Innovative Single-hand Watch designed by Zhang Jianmin.
- 2018: Honorable mention for Unibody wristwatch designed by Zhang Jianmin.
German Design
- 2020: Winner, Excellent Product Design (Category: Lifestyle and Fashion) for CIGA Design Mechanical Watch Z Series (Designd by Zhang Jianmin – Shenzhen CIGA Design Co., Ltd).
- 2019: Special Award, Excellent Product Design (Category: Luxury Goods) for CIGA Design Anti-Seismic Mechanical Watch (Design by Zhang Jianmin and Xin Jiang -Shenzhen CIGA Design Co., Ltd).
- 2019: Winner, Excellent Product Design (Category – Luxury Goods) for CIGA Design Michael Young Watch (Designed by Michael Young and Zhang Jianmin – Shenzhen CIGA Design Co., Ltd).
iF Design
- 2019: CIGA Design Ceramic Mechanical Watch (Designed by Zhang Jianmin – Shenzhen CIGA Design Co., Ltd).
- 2017: CIGA Design Master Series Michael Young Watch (Designed by Michael Young and Zhang Jianmin – Shenzhen CIGA Design Co., Ltd).
