CIGA Design always surprise me with their attention to detail. Which is probably a sign that I should stop underestimating them because they deliver above and beyond with every watch I get hands-on with. Afterall, the Blue Planet’s distinctive single hand display was so innovative that it won a GPHG award one of the highest honours in watchmaking. The latest CIGA piece I’ve had the opportunity to see up close is the new CIGA Vector automatic skeleton.
CIGA describe it as a racing-inspired skeleton but personally I see more in common with a spaceship than a sports car. At 44.5mm in diameter it’s a large watch and stylistically it almost falls into the disco volante archetype except that there are short lugs that protrude and a crown at 3 o’clock. The short lugs are actually a blessing because it means the lug-to-lug is basically 44.5mm as well, which is a very normal length meaning the watch wears very comfortably despite its size on paper.
I am normally anxious about wearing anything over 41mm given the size of my wrists, but the Vector doesn’t feel particularly oversized even on me. On some of my thicker-wristed colleagues it’s perfectly sized. A key part in why it’s wearable on slimmer wrists is the case construction. The version I have here is made from a carbon fibre case middle sandwiched between a titanium caseback and titanium bezel. It’s lighter than most steel watches even at its large size. If the striated carbon aesthetic isn’t for you, it’s also available in full titanium or steel.
As you will have already gathered from the pictures, the display is completely skeletonised. According to CIGA’s specifications, over 50% of the movement has been skeletonised to create front-to-back empty space and reveal the inner workings of the calibre. One of the coolest details is that the movement is held in place by a completely transparent support, which means the entire calibre appears to be floating unconnected from the rest of the case by anything except the crown stem at 3 o’clock.
This structure does mean there’s no room for a traditional hour and minute scale, forcing CIGA design to find an alternative solution. You might think that the gear appearance of the peripheral ring is purely aesthetic but no, count the individual teeth and you’ll spot that there are 60, meaning it serves as the watch’s minute scale. On top of that ring is a thin white line with notches every so often and those are your hour markers. It’s not the easiest scale to read in the world but it does its job in a thematic style and will stave off any complaints of ‘what’s the point in a watch that doesn’t tell the time accurately’.
Another complaint often levelled at skeleton displays is that it’s hard to see the hands as they blend into the components beneath them like the balance wheel at 12 o’clock or power barrel at 5. The CIGA design Vector avoids this flaw by making the hands a vibrant shade of lime green so it’s impossible to miss them.
The movement that’s on display is the CD-02X, which CIGA designed in-house. It has a 38-hour power reserve that’s supplied by an automatic rotor that’s as skeletonised as the rest of the movement. Instead of the usual wedge-shape rotor it’s more of an anchor shape with a central stem that flattens out into two prongs at the end. It has been designed to be very efficient at producing kinetic energy, which allows it to be smaller – the arc of the rotor covers only 120° as opposed to a normal rotor’s 180°.
That power reserve is perhaps a little low by modern standards, but sacrifices do have to be made in order to keep the watch accessible. Especially when you’re already using high-tech materials like carbon fibre in the case construction that would typically balloon the price. The CIGA design Vector carbon fibre comes in at just $1,099 (approx. £815). The titanium and steel options are even more accessible than that, with the entry-level steel at $699 (approx. £520). For a watch that visually is competing with modern, experimental skeletonised displays from the likes of MB&F, that’s more than solid value.
Price and Specs:
More details at CIGA.
