I did not think I would ever own this watch because I thought it was overpriced at $5k USD. The asking price might well be reasonable because there is a lot of very limited production custom milling of components and hand assembly which costs money. But I was concerned about resale value, you see a lot of them for sale new &used on Chrono24 for about the same price and they don’t seem to move. And frankly it is a Chinese watch, despite its merits. Then I saw one listed on eBay by a pawnbroker who clearly also had trouble moving it as well. I sent them a severely low bid and was shocked to discover they accepted, with no counter! At this price, I am well insulated from the foibles of the watch market should I ever resell.
This watch is from their Inventors series and released in 2020. It was nominated for an award at that year’s Gran Prix d’Horlogerie in Geneva and then won a Gold Medal at the 2021 China Watch Competition in Zhangzou. The watch uses the essential elements of the Selita SW200 movement with a custom in house module that uses rotor shaped elements (to celebrate the Mazda 787B win at Le Mans in 1991) to mark the time. Unlike the cheaper watch I wrote about earlier (https://jimchungblog.com/2024/09/23/an-truly-affordable-rotary-engine-themed-mechanical-watch/) this watch shows the rotor element tracing an actual peritrochoidal curve. This theme is also reflected in the watch’s all alloy storage case shown above with an inset and moveable rotor tracing that same curve in its housing. Behrens continues to innovate and produce stunning designs with their latest generating perhaps the greatest interest. A curved and thin watch weighing only 20 g with an in house designed movement and skeleton face, the BHR030 which at well under $10,000 is making a stir in the market. eBay now provides an authentication service free of charge for watches of this price level by sending the watch to a third party for inspection before shipping it on to you. A good way to avoid a fake Rolex.
Behrens was found by four Chinese watch enthusiasts in 2012 with fabrication based in Shenzen and a workforce of about 50 people including designers, machinists, engineers and more than 20 dedicated watchmakers. Almost every component is produced in house including the sapphire crystal. The company produces about 3000 watches per year and would like to expand their company to include a new department dedicated to hand finishing and polishing. This sounds very much like a plan to compete with the likes of Omega and Rolex by offering way more unique designs but with the same rich bespoke quality.
The watch does have the ability to display the date but it is often very difficult to read, despite the slot cut into the hour rotor.There is a 2025 edition of the Rotary Watch with an updated face with more attractive numerals and a rotor embossed crown. But the new watch loses the original’s exhibition backcase.
I have degrees in Biochemistry and Dentistry and practice clinically 2 days a week. The rest of the week I devote to photography and bringing you the very best writing in this blog.
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