Automatic Wandering Hour Watch · Time Cipher

CIGA design’s first creation of 2026 reimagines time as a cipher in motion rather
than through conventional hands, pairing a wandering hour display powered by the
self-developed CD-08 caliber with a Super Black dial and a newly sculpted, slim round
case with layered finishes—minimalist in spirit and experiential in wear.

Some taught us to read time in straight lines—hours fixed, minutes obedient. But time was never meant to be read so plainly. It wanders, overlaps, and reveals itself slowly.
Time Cipher is born from this belief: that time is not announced, but deciphered—through motion, alignment, and attention.

Against a dial that absorbs almost all light, motion becomes the only clue. A single, purpose-built form wanders through the darkness, tracing minutes in quiet orbit, while the rotating hour reveals itself in sequence. Polished indices catch light like signs at the edge of perception, suspended within a newly sculpted case—minimal, slim, and composed. On the wrist, Time Cipher feels poised and restrained: a watch defined not by what it shows at once, but by what it reveals to those who linger.

WANDERING CODE

The wandering-hour began in the 17th century as a night clock created by the Campani brothers for Pope Alexander VII; it later migrated into pocket watches and, centuries on, into the work of avant-garde independents. It reframed how time is
read—shifting emphasis from static display to motion as expression, allowing time to unfold across the dial.

Today, many examples lean toward mechanical spectacle: complex satellite systems, dense layers, and thick, theatrical cases that privilege drama over daily use. Time Cipher keeps the cipher but pares it down—distilling the wandering language into a single, minimalist, and slim gesture, making the complication immediate and wearable.

DECODED IN MOTION

At the dial’s centre, a singular wandering assembly traces minutes; along its path, an hour disc rotates calmly, read against a fixed marker. The minute arm reveals partial
skeletonisation with Côtes de Genève and refined chamfers, while the hour
disc pairs openwork with polished accents and satin-brushed finishes. Its
numerals glow with Swiss Super-LumiNova. Opposite the indicator end, a micro-sandblasted counterweight balances the axis.