Benjamin Hui’s Independent Atelier Debuts Project Tai Yu, In Honour Of China’s First AHCI Watchmaker

Founder of Independent Atelier and watch collector Benjamin Hui has spent a good portion of his life devoted to the work of Kiu Tai Yu. As one of the key figures in the birth and rise of Chinese high-end independent watchmaking, Tai Yu was the first applicant from China to become a member of the Académie Horlogère Des Créateurs Indépendants, or AHCI in short, which happened back in 1992. With only 20 pieces of Tai Yu’s original Millennium watch, introduced in the year 2000, finding one is a tough challenge for anyone. Hui persevered, though, and got hold of not one but two pieces, after more than a decade of searching. Now, through his Independent Atelier, that very watch is recreated in a run of 25 pieces, honouring the late Kiu Tai Yu and his watchmaking legacy.

Benjamin Hui’s initiative, basically recreating a pivotal watch in Chinese independent watchmaking through his Independent Atelier, is an admirable move. With the passing of Kiu Tai Yu in 2020, Project Tai Yu keeps his legacy alive and will preserve it into the future. Independent Atelier is actually a group of GPHG academy members and independent watchmakers. For this particular project, Hui has partnered with Zhang YuXin, himself a talented watchmaker and GPHG academy member from China.

The Project Tai Yu case, despite its humble yet faithful-to-the-original size, is full of details. Made in 18k yellow gold, it measures just 35mm in diameter, 46mm from lug to lug, and 11.2mm in height. The sculpted lugs are also engraved with a spiralling pattern, which is filled with red lacquer. On the left side, there’s also a red cold enamel-filled section bearing Tai Yu’s name (although it’s hardly visible in the pictures we received). On the opposite side, a knurled crown with red-filled engraving sits between two guards protruding from the caseband.

The dial is made up of two sections, with the top one finished in black porcelain enamel with the balance wheel exposed, and the lower section reserved for the hours and minutes subdial. The balance wheel, held in place by a double-sided gold coloured bridge and heat-blued screws, is backed by a red lacquered section, with inscriptions in white on either side about the year and limitation. The bottom half shows sword-shaped hour and minutes hands running along a mix of Arabic, Roman and Chinese numerals and symbols, with a red centre. On the left, there’s an engraving in black showing the Chinese symbols for ‘Good Fortune & Harmony’ on the left and ‘Millennium’, the name of Kiu Tai Tyu’s original watch, on the right.

Although information on the movement is a bit scarce, it’s a recreation of Kiu Tai Yu’s original movement, which was likely based on the ETA 2824 architecture, with some technical updates. Now known as the IATY-01, this automatic movement features an improved escapement, balance shaft, Incabloc shock protection, regulator and hairspring in comparison to the original one. When the team was reverse engineering the movement, they learnt that Kiu Tai Yu had basically handmade his own components to build it, something that’s quite rare even today. In essence, this all would come down to a frequency of 28,800vph and a 38-hour power reserve.

The Project Tai Yu comes with two straps in black and red, both fitted with a yellow gold pin buckle with red-filled engravings. One of the two, with half a ‘bow-tie’ in red at the lug side of each of the strap ends, also bears Tai Yu’s name in yellow gold over red cold enamel. Only 25 pieces will be made, at a price of CHF 30,500 each, before VAT.

For more information, please visit the team’s Instagram page or reach out to [email protected].