If you follow the watch world at all, you’ll know that the Grand Prix d’Horlogerie de Genève — the GPHG — is as prestigious as it gets. Sometimes called the “Oscars of watchmaking,” it’s the annual event where the finest watches from across the globe compete for recognition from an international jury of experts, collectors, and industry figures. Swiss brands have historically dominated the podium. Patek Philippe. Rolex. Richard Mille. The usual suspects.
So when a Chinese brand nobody outside the watch community had heard of walked away with the 2021 Challenge Watch Prize, it sent shockwaves through the industry. The New York Times ran a headline: “The Chinese Watch Brand That Beat the Swiss.”
That brand was CIGA Design. And the watch was the Blue Planet.
What Is the GPHG, Exactly?
The Grand Prix d’Horlogerie de Genève has been running since 2001, and it is widely regarded as the most credible independent recognition a watchmaker can receive. Unlike brand-funded awards or media rankings, the GPHG jury is made up of professionals who evaluate watches on genuine horological and design merit — movement quality, originality, finishing, and conceptual depth.
The Challenge Watch Prize category is specifically for watches priced under CHF 3,500. Historically, this category had been dominated by Tudor. To win it as a debut Chinese brand was, to put it plainly, remarkable.
So What Made the Blue Planet Win?
1. The Concept Was Genuinely Original
The Blue Planet is not just a pretty watch. At its centre sits a three-dimensional globe — a sculpted aluminium Earth — which functions not merely as decoration but as the actual time-telling mechanism itself.
Here is where things get technically interesting. CIGA Design developed what they call their *Asynchronous-Follow Technology*, a patented gear system that works like nothing in traditional watchmaking. In a conventional watch, the minute hand completes one full 360° rotation per hour. On the Blue Planet, the hour disc rotates just 30° per hour while the minute disc completes a full 390° rotation. A compass rose on the globe acts as the unified pointer — reading both the hour and the minute simultaneously from a single reference point.
It sounds complicated. In practice, it takes about a day to learn, and after that it becomes completely intuitive. More importantly, it was genuinely new. The GPHG jury had never seen anything quite like it.
2. The Watch Was Inspired by a Real Idea, Not Trend-Chasing
CIGA Design founder Zhang Jianmin drew inspiration from ancient sundials — the original human tool for reading time from the position of the Earth relative to the sun. The Blue Planet concept builds on this: what if the Earth itself told you the time?
This wasn’t a gimmick. It was a coherent philosophy executed into a product, and the jury recognised that.
3. The Design Language Was Award-Worthy Before the GPHG
By the time the Blue Planet arrived at the GPHG, CIGA Design had already accumulated 17 international design awards, including the Red Dot: Best of the Best Award, the German Design Award 2020, and a top 3 finish in the German iF Design Awards 2017–2021 alongside Apple and Bulgari.
These aren’t small accolades. They reflect a brand with genuine design rigour, not a watch company that stumbled into an award.
4. The Price Point Made It Accessible
The Blue Planet was — and remains — genuinely accessible. This matters. It’s easy to make something extraordinary when budget is unlimited. Making something extraordinary at a price that real people can actually consider? That’s a different kind of achievement, and the GPHG Challenge Prize specifically exists to recognise it.
Pic: CIGA design Blue Planet Ice Age
What Happened After the Win?
After the 2021 GPHG victory, the Blue Planet’s story only grew. In 2022, the original Blue Planet became the first-ever watch to enter the permanent collection of the Museum of Art and History in Geneva. To have a timepiece displayed alongside historical artifacts in one of Switzerland’s most respected institutions is not something you manufacture with marketing.
CIGA design has since released the Blue Planet II — an evolution of the original with an upgraded self-developed movement (the Caliber CD-04-E), improved ergonomics, larger luminescent indices, and new variants including the Atlantic, Ice Age, Gilded Age, and Titanium editions.
Pic: CIGA design Blue Planet II Atlantic Ocean
The brand has also expanded significantly into tourbillon territory, with their self-developed central tourbillon — astonishingly priced under USD $4,000 — continuing to challenge assumptions about where serious watchmaking can come from.
ilded
Pic: CIGA design Blue Planet II Gilded Age
Why This Matters for Watch Buyers in Malaysia
At Red Army Watches, we stock CIGA design because we believe in what they represent: a brand that takes design seriously, earns its recognition on genuine merit, and makes it accessible to collectors who aren’t spending Swiss luxury money.
The GPHG win wasn’t luck. It was the result of a brand that understood that originality, executed with craft, will always be recognised — regardless of where in the world it comes from.
If you haven’t yet considered a CIGA design watch, the Blue Planet is the place to start. Not because it won an award. Because the award was deserved.
Explore the full CIGA Design collection at Red Army Watches — available online and at our stores in Pavilion KL and 1 Utama.*
