CIGA Design

King Jewelers is an authorized CIGA Design retailer in Nashville, Tennessee

CIGA Design is the first Chinese watch brand to win at the Grand Prix d'Horlogerie de Geneve, taking the Challenge Watch Prize in 2021 with the Blue Planet - a watch that reads the time with a rotating three-dimensional globe instead of hands. Founded in 2016 by industrial designer Zhang Jianmin on a Bauhaus premise, the brand has collected 17 international design awards. King Jewelers carries the skeletonized Hunter, Falcon and Vector automatics, the Blue Planet and its Atlantic Edition, the Label Noir Black Star and the Moon Walker, from $499 to $1,999.
1 4

17 products

CIGA Design Information and FAQ

About CIGA Design Watches

CIGA Design was founded in 2016 by industrial designer Zhang Jianmin around a Bauhaus premise - form follows function, less is more - applied to mechanical watchmaking. The brand describes its watches as art accessories for self-expression, and its pricing philosophy as design equality: putting genuinely original design within reach rather than treating it as a luxury surcharge.

That approach has been recognized well outside China. CIGA Design has won 17 international design awards since it was founded, and placed among the global top three in the iF Design Award's watch and jewelry category between 2017 and 2021, alongside Apple and Bulgari. In 2021 the Blue Planet took the Challenge Watch Prize at the Grand Prix d'Horlogerie de Geneve, the first time a Chinese watch brand had won there.

The watches are assembled in China with movement components drawn from China, Japan and Switzerland. CIGA Design develops its own calibers - the CD-02, CD-04-E, CD-07 and the hand-wound CD-011 tourbillon among them - and designates several as Swiss-made.

History of CIGA Design

A designer, not a watchmaker

Zhang Jianmin was born in Qinghai Province in 1967 and studied industrial design at the Northwest Institute of Light Industry. He spent around two decades in Shenzhen designing graphics, transit systems and civic architecture before turning to watches, founding CIGA Design in 2016. His brief for the brand was plain: watches that are "good looking, easy to use and not expensive."

The Blue Planet and the GPHG

In 2021 CIGA Design entered the Blue Planet in the Challenge Watch category of the Grand Prix d'Horlogerie de Geneve, the award reserved for watches below a set price ceiling. It won, making CIGA Design the first Chinese watch brand to take a GPHG prize. The New York Times reported the result as a genuine shock to the Swiss establishment, which had not expected a made-in-China watch to place at all.

Design first, and measurably so

The awards are the brand's own yardstick: 17 international design prizes since 2016, and a top-three global ranking in the iF Design Award's watch and jewelry category from 2017 to 2021. The design language is consistent across the lines - skeletonized movements shown from both sides, lugless integrated cases, and time displays that abandon hands altogether where the concept calls for it.

Calibers

CIGA Design develops its own movements and sources components from China, Japan and Switzerland. The CD-07 drives the Hunter at 28,800 vph with a 40-hour power reserve; the CD-02 and CD-02X drive the Falcon and Vector; the CD-04-E powers the Blue Planet at 3Hz. The hand-wound CD-011, a skeleton tourbillon on twin barrels with a 72-hour reserve, sits at the top of the range.

CIGA Design Collections

Hunter - The tonneau-cased skeleton automatic that anchors the Z Series, fully open front and back so the bridges, gear train and anchor-shaped rotor all read through sapphire. 43mm by 48mm in 316L stainless steel in four finishes, or 41.5mm in Grade 5 titanium. The line also includes the hand-wound Hunter Tourbillon, a skeleton tourbillon on twin barrels with a 72-hour power reserve. $599 to $1,999.

Blue Planet - The GPHG winner. A CNC micro-engraved relief globe under domed sapphire, read by an hour compass and a rotating minute ring rather than hands. 43mm or 46mm, mirror-polished stainless steel or recycled titanium. The Atlantic Edition turns the globe to face the Atlantic, and the Label Noir Black Star replaces it with a super-black concave dial. $1,199 to $1,980.

Falcon - A round, lugless 43.5mm case just 9.5mm thick, with a back-to-front skeleton dial and a layered bezel of polished numerals. CD-02 automatic with hours, minutes and seconds, 40-hour power reserve, 50 meters. Silver or carbon dial. $499.

Vector - Racing-inspired, with the CD-02X suspended in the case like an engine in a chassis and a stepped bezel of raised numerals. 44.5mm in stainless steel or forged carbon fiber, hours and minutes only, 38-hour power reserve. $699 to $1,099.

Moon Walker - Time told by a miniature cast-copper astronaut gliding above a dial micro-engraved with lunar terrain, hiding Armstrong's footprint and the Apollo 11 landing coordinates at ten times magnification. 46mm polished titanium, Swiss-made CD-09 automatic, 41-hour power reserve. $1,699.

CIGA Design Manufacturer Warranty

Every CIGA Design watch carries the brand's two-year warranty from the date of purchase, covering defects in materials and workmanship. Water damage is covered provided the screw-down crown was properly sealed. Normal wear and tear, impact damage, loss and theft are excluded, and the warranty is non-transferable - it stays with the original owner. Because CIGA Design honors the warranty only on watches bought from the brand directly or from an authorized dealer, purchasing from King Jewelers keeps that coverage intact from day one.

Frequently Asked Questions About CIGA Design Watches

Where can I buy CIGA Design watches in Nashville, TN?
King Jewelers carries CIGA Design at 4121 Hillsboro Pike, Nashville, TN 37215. Call (615) 724-5464 or shop the collection at kingjewelers.com. The Nashville showroom stocks the Hunter, Falcon and Vector skeleton automatics alongside the GPHG-winning Blue Planet, the Label Noir Black Star and the Moon Walker.

Is CIGA Design a good watch brand?
CIGA Design is the first Chinese watch brand to win at the Grand Prix d'Horlogerie de Geneve, taking the Challenge Watch Prize in 2021 with the Blue Planet. It has collected 17 international design awards since 2016 and ranked among the global top three in the iF Design Award's watch and jewelry category between 2017 and 2021, alongside Apple and Bulgari.

Who founded CIGA Design?
Zhang Jianmin, an industrial designer born in Qinghai Province in 1967. He studied industrial design at the Northwest Institute of Light Industry and spent around two decades in Shenzhen designing graphics, transit systems and civic architecture before founding CIGA Design in 2016. His brief was watches that are good looking, easy to use and not expensive.

Where are CIGA Design watches made?
CIGA Design is a Chinese brand and assembles its watches in China, drawing movement components from China, Japan and Switzerland. Several calibers are designated Swiss-made, including the CD-04-S in the Black Star and the CD-09 in the Moon Walker.

What movements do CIGA Design watches use?
Self-developed automatic calibers. The Hunter runs the CD-07 at 28,800 vph with a 40-hour power reserve; the Falcon uses the CD-02 and the Vector the CD-02X, at 40 and 38 hours; the Blue Planet uses the CD-04-E at 3Hz with 40 hours. The Hunter Tourbillon is the exception - a hand-wound CD-011 skeleton tourbillon on twin barrels with a 72-hour power reserve.

How does the CIGA Design Blue Planet tell the time?
With rotating discs rather than hands. CIGA Design calls the system Asynchronous-Follow: an hour compass and a rotating minute ring converge on a single point above a CNC micro-engraved relief globe of the Earth. It is the watch that won the GPHG Challenge Watch Prize in 2021.

What is the difference between the Blue Planet and the Blue Planet Atlantic Edition?
The globe faces a different ocean. The standard Blue Planet is centered on the Indian Ocean; the Atlantic Edition turns the Earth so the Americas sit opposite Europe and Africa. Both are offered in 43mm and 46mm, in mirror-polished stainless steel at $1,199 or recycled titanium at $1,399.

What is the CIGA Design Black Star?
A collaboration with the Geneva atelier Label Noir. The 46mm DLC-coated titanium case holds a dial with an 8.5mm concave pit finished in a pigment that absorbs more than 99 percent of the light reaching it, with hand-painted blue and white stars spiraling around it and a luminous polar-star hand. It runs the Swiss-made CD-04-S automatic with a 41-hour power reserve and retails at $1,980.

Are CIGA Design watches water resistant?
Yes, but ratings vary by line. The Falcon, Vector, Hunter Titanium and Hunter Tourbillon are rated to 50 meters. The steel Hunter, Blue Planet and Black Star are rated to 30 meters, and the Moon Walker to 50 meters. None is a dive watch - 30 meters covers splashes and handwashing, not swimming.

How much do CIGA Design watches cost?
At King Jewelers the collection runs from $499 for the Falcon to $1,999 for the hand-wound Hunter Tourbillon. The Vector starts at $699, the Hunter at $599, the Blue Planet at $1,199, the Moon Walker at $1,699 and the Label Noir Black Star at $1,980.

How long is the CIGA Design warranty?
Two years from the date of purchase, covering defects in materials and workmanship. Water damage is covered if the screw-down crown was properly sealed. Normal wear and tear, impact damage, loss and theft are excluded, and the warranty is non-transferable, applying only to the original owner.

Does King Jewelers sell authentic, warrantied CIGA Design watches?
Yes. King Jewelers is an authorized CIGA Design retailer, so every watch is new, comes with the brand's factory documentation, and is covered by CIGA Design's two-year warranty against defects in materials and workmanship. CIGA Design honors that warranty only on watches bought from the brand or an authorized dealer.