Auspicious Dragon Bestows Fortune: 2024 Limited Edition Concrete Automatic Watch of the Year of the Dragon

Year of Jia Chen, the majestic dragon soars beyond the fourth dimension, leaping through the gates of clouds, ushering in an era of abundant prosperity and good luck.

22STUDIO X百廟門 (Saving Door Gods Programme，SDGP)

"百廟門Baimiaomen" (literally translated as Hundred Temple Gates) is a project initiated by international art restoration master Leo Tsai(蔡舜任), dedicated to the restoration of Taiwanese cultural artifacts and preservation of cultural heritage. Leo Tsai is the first Taiwanese to join the team of international restoration master Stefano Scarpelli and entered the Uffizi Gallery in Italy to restore the works of Renaissance masters.

Having acquired international experience before returning to Taiwan, he believes that temples are the closest places to the people, harboring many precious local folk arts and embodying cultural values. Initially, he targeted the restoration of the door-god artworks by the national treasure-level temple mural master, Teacher Pan Lishui (1914-1995).

The dragon motif: derived from the door-gods of the Puji Temple.

For this zodiac commemorative watch, 22STUDIO drew inspiration from the dragon motif on the door-gods of the Puji Temple in Tainan, painted by Teacher Pan in 1978, creating a special version of the concrete dial for the Year of the Dragon. The Puji Temple was established in the 22nd year of the Yongli era of the Ming Dynasty (1668 AD) and is recorded in the National Database of the Ministry of Culture as the "earliest Wang Ye temple in Taiwan."

A colossal dragon occupies the dial of the four-dimensional rotating staircase, surrounded by auspicious clouds and spewing out pearls. The dragon pearl surrounded by the fiery glow conveniently serves as the date window of the watch, with the "24th" of each month displaying the Chinese character "龍" (dragon), symbolizing that this watch is a special edition for the year 2024. This "龍" character comes from the calligraphy of the word "龍" (dragon) by Teacher Pan on the mural of the Venerable Auspicious Dragon at the Beiji Temple in Tainan City in 1981.

Vermillion Red Seal: Sapphire Crystal Caseback

The watch caseback is adorned with the vermilion red seal most commonly found in temples, drawing inspiration from the auspicious clouds of the Puji Temple in Tainan and the logo of Baimiaomen. We strive to ensure that every line and detail of the watch reflects its renowned origins, expressing our deep respect and passion for traditional temple culture.

The hardness of sapphire crystal glass is second only to that of diamond, with a Mohs hardness of 9. With its high hardness, it is less prone to scratches and offers excellent light transmission, ensuring clear and legible time display. Additionally, it has the advantages of low friction and high temperature resistance.

Hand-cured concrete dial

22STUDIO developed its own formula of concrete, which can quickly solidify and form, with low shrinkage and high strength. Moreover, after each dial mold has been manually filled with concrete, it will be placed in 『concrete curing room』for 14 days with constant temperature and humidity. Similar to aging beef or red wine, this process can maximize the structural strength of concrete, as well as producing a uniquely natural texture on the surface.

Super-LumiNova three-dimensional hour marker

The luminous feature: Super-LumiNova®, a product of the Swiss manufacturer LumiNova AG Switzerland. Excellent chemical stability, a green luminous of high brightness, no matter how dark the environment is, the time can be checked quickly and precisely. Three-dimensional hour markers are made by metal CNC process, each topped with pigments of Super-LumiNova. The tiny hour marker is only 3.9x1x0.8mm, which must be precisely mounted on the concrete dial; an extreme challenge of demolding and alignment skills.

“Screw-in” case design

The bezel and case have been assembled by our new 「screw-in design」, four screws hidden in the groove of the strap screw-in upwards to lock in the bezel. The innovative structure eliminated the old maintenance opening at the 12 o’clock position, improved its performance in water resistance, and simplified the disassembling and repair process when necessary.

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