Guangdong is one of the earliest provinces in China to implement reform and opening up, there are three famous cities that have connection with watches, Guangzhou, Dongguan and Shenzhen. When mentioning Guangzhou, what watches you will think of? Yes, you are right, replicas watches. While what is connection between Dongguan and watches? You may not know most watches parts including cases and bracelets are made in factories of Dongguan, on my blog, some homage watches reviewed also made in Dongguan. In Shenzhen, this is a place of the future and hope of the development of China watches, because I have seen many creative ideas in watch-making come from watch companies in Shenzhen. In brief, fakes in Guangzhou, watch manufacturing in Dongguan, innovation happens in Shenzhen, movements from several cities in northern China like Tianjin, Dandong and Shanghai.
Back to the watch I am going to introduce today, it is a new watch I just found, totally a Chinese style watch, Chinese words on the dial, but this won’t cause inconvenience for you to read time. Do you know this brand? Beside the date window, four Chinese words “維傑豪兹”, which is Vager Hauers in English, this is a watch brand founded in Shenzhen, on their website, I saw an interesting thing, which is Vager Hauers claims that they are an independent watch maker in China, yes, any of these homage brands in China that has a small workshop can be an independent watch brand. Even their watch company has an address registered in Shenzhen, but all watches are shipped from Yunnan, so I guess their watches were assembled in Yunnan.
The watch has a similar outlook to Lange, but is is completely made for the Chinese, if you know some Chinese characters, you will find this watch is very interesting. The dial completely explains to the world how the Chinese understand time. Especially the white bigger subdial on the left, there are twelve Chinese characters, they are “子”, “丑”, “寅”, “卯”, “辰”, “巳”, “午”, “未”, “申”, “酉”, “戌”, “亥”, each of these Chinese characters is called Shichen in Chinese, which represents a time period during the day, that is two hours in modern times. So, this Shichen subdial is actually a 24-hour display in Chinese way. The offcentre small dial on the lower right is a display of the small seconds. On the following, I will explain all Chinese characters on the dial.
拾貳 – 12
元亨利貞 – Yuan Heng Li Zhen, it is is the classic judgment in the I Ching. Here is the meaning:
元: represents the primal force of creation, the source of all things
亨: signifies smooth development, unobstructed progress, and success.
利: indicates that the situation is favorable, bringing benefit when aligned with the right path.
貞: means steadfastness, integrity, and enduring in the right way.
Some people believe that “元”, “亨”, “利”, “貞” indicate the four seasons in a year, Spring, Summer, Autumn and Winter.
維傑豪兹 – Vager Hauers, which is the brand name. Besides the date window at 2 o’clock.
叁 – 3
陆 – 6
出離心 – Chu Li Xin, a buddhist concept refers to a deep mental resolve to free oneself from samsara (the cycle of birth, death, and rebirth) and the three poisons (greed, hatred, and delusion). It is not merely about physical withdrawal but a profound shift in perspective—recognizing the suffering and impermanence of worldly pursuits and cultivating a sincere desire for ultimate liberation (nirvana).
時辰大時 – Double Hours Big Hours, the bigger subdial
子 – Zǐ (23:00~1:00)
丑 – Chǒu (1:00~3:00)
寅 – Yín (3:00~5:00)
卯 – Mǎo (5:00~7:00)
辰 – Chén (7:00~9:00)
巳 – Sì (9:00~11:00)
午 – Wǔ (11:00~13:00)
未 – Wèi (13:00~15:00)
申 – Shēn (15:00~17:00)
酉 – Yǒu (17:00~19:00)
戌 – Xū (19:00~21:00)
亥 – Hài (21:00~23:00)
On the smaller subdial:
十五 – 15
三十 – 30
六十 – 60
At last, I want to say its movement, which is a Japanese Miyota 8219, which has a accuracy of ±5 – ±30 seconds.
Conclusion:
A watch with a strong Chinese I Ching culture. It combines traditional Chinese time display method to show you the 24 hours, this is a great innovation. By the way, some concepts of I Ching and Buddhism transferred through the watch may attract a lot of people who like Chinese culture.
