Atelier Wen Introduces a New Perception with a Rare Natural Pietersite Dial
Last year, Atelier Wen released one of my favorite watches of the year in the Inflection, a bold and ambitious integrated bracelet sports watch in tantalum. The reaction to that watch, to my mind, was puzzling. While there were certainly many supporters and admirers of the Inflection, there was also a vocal contingent of enthusiasts on Instagram and various watch blog comment sections (who, to be fair, were probably not customers for this particular watch anyway) griping about the price, and the fact that a brand centered on value and approachability would even make a watch like this (the retail price is just shy of $30,000).
I’ve never cared much for the notion that a brand that makes affordable watches can’t also make watches that are very, very expensive. It’s all relative anyway, right? Rolex makes watches that are considered entry points to the brand at right around $10,000, but they also have watches in their catalog that sail into the six figures. That’s a pretty big delta, certainly larger than the one between Atelier Wen’s entry level pieces and the Inflection. But that’s a topic for another day. Today, we’re focusing on Atelier Wen returning their bread and butter, the Perception, an integrated bracelet sports watch they’ve been iterating on for several years now, this one in steel with a natural pietersite dial.
It’s tempting to say that this watch represents Atelier Wen jumping on the stone dial trend, but the pietersite of it all changes the equation slightly. This is a truly unusual and beautiful stone, dominated by blue and black tones, used rarely in watchmaking but with an uncommon depth and dramatic aesthetic that naturally lends itself to many of the themes that have always interested Atelier Wen. In the press materials for this watch, they note that the stone has been selected for its resemblance to the mountain water landscape gardens that are deeply rooted in Chinese architectural traditions. I have to confess, I don’t have an expertise on this type of architecture. But I take Atelier Wen at their word, and as with all dials that are based on something cultural or have a specific theme they are trying to evoke, they ultimately have to be evaluated on the visual impression they make. This dial, if you’re all drawn to this kind of thing, is very nice looking.
As is the case with other Perceptions, this one features a case in 904L steel with a matching integrated bracelet. I reviewed a titanium version of this case a while back and really enjoyed it, but I’ve worn the steel version as well. Obviously it’s a big heftier, but not by much, and the proportions work really well in any material. It’s 40mm in diameter and 47mm from lug to lug, but the most important measurement is the 9.4mm case height (inclusive of the crystal). This is a very thin and easy to wear watch, which is kind of a necessity in the realm of integrated bracelet watches.
This watch is part of Atelier Wen’s ongoing “Millesime” series of watches, which are launched on an annual basis and are meant to be community driven efforts that allow the brand to experiment outside the confines of the collaborative watches that sometimes dominate a release schedule. According to Atelier Wen, this series is meant to showcase their most experimental designs. While a stone dial in an of itself is not exactly a groundbreaking achievement (particularly in today’s watch enthusiast climate), moving away from the guilloche dials that Atelier Wen has become known for does represent a certain amount of risk. I’m glad to see them mixing it up with this particular Perception – the platform can certainly handle a wide variety of dial executions and I hope we see even more in future releases.
A total of 225 pieces will be made for this edition. Delivery is expected in the fourth quarter of this year. The retail price is $3,600. Atelier Wen
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