- Indie darling Atelier Wen’s latest limited edition is its first solo project since mid-2022.
- The ‘Perception’ sports a titanium case, purple engine-turned dial, and self-winding movement: priced at US$3,588.
- Three preorder customers (chosen at random) will receive Perceptions made out of tantalum: an earth element so rare, and tough to machine, that there are less than 6 fully tantalum watches on the market in 2024.
Following the goodwill that it has generated inside the watch enthusiast community these past three years — thanks in part to well-chosen alliances with Seconde/Seconde and Wristcheck — Atelier Wen is finally going it alone with its first limited edition in a while, that isn’t a collaboration.
Nicknamed the Zi (translating from the Mandarin for purple), this particular version of the Perception lives up to its moniker with a dramatic new dial that expresses the colour violet in all its light, dark, and otherwise chameleonic glory.
Among existing customers of the Sino-French indie label, purple has been the most requested colourway; and off the back of this demand, Co-Founder Robin Tallendier decided the launch should also mark the commencement of Millésime.
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“It’s basically a program focused on an annual limited edition with community at its centre,” says Tallendier. “It’s also the first time since April 2022 that we’ve released something that is not a collaboration.”
In indie/microbrand circles, Atelier Wen already enjoys a reputation for overdelivering on the value front; and Tallendier hopes that the inception of Millésime will help to deepen the brand’s relationship with patrons (many of whom are accustomed to collecting watches at 4-5 times this one’s price).
Admittedly, such initiatives at the edges are all well and good, but it’s product itself — in this case, the Perception automatic sports watch — that is make or break.
Iterating on the foundation of the core Perception collection (made in 906L stainless steel) this purple titanium edition is still inspired by the “exquisite geometries found in traditional Chinese architecture.” As ever, the dial is engraved using a custom rose engine, in a process that requires eight hours of manual labour from start-to-finish.
So far, so good. But it’s what comes next that makes the Perception in purple such a revelation.
In an effort to “leapfrog the amount of value [they] bring” to the Atelier Wen fanbase, Tallendier and his team have decided to give three randomly chosen customers a welcome surprise: a purple Perception cased in the much rarer element of tantalum, instead of titanium.
Once again working in the theme of branded easter eggs, this tantalum Perception is a throwback to the R&D watches the Atelier Wen team took to Watches & Wonders 2024.
Initially, the use of purple was intended only to distinguish the tantalum prototypes from regular productions but, true to Tallendier’s sentiments about community, these ideas have been spun into a Willy Wonka-esque twist — giving collectors an opportunity to own one of the rarest varieties of solid metal sports watch anywhere in the world.
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“Watches with a fully tantalum case and bracelet are basically non-existent,” Tallendier observes. The ability to produce such a product, in even the smallest handful of numbers, immediately puts Atelier Wen in rarefied territory: next to serious industry players like F.P. Journe and La Fabrique du Temps — Louis Vuitton’s fully in-house horological subsidiary.
Regardless of whether you’re blessed with a golden (or ought that be tantalum?) ticket, pre-orders for the Perception in purple open tonight and will set you back AU$5,200.
Customers will have two weeks to put their name down, where after this particular configuration of titanium/purple will never be made again. Head to Atelier Wen’s website to find out more.
