n 2012, Mr Lin Bingqiang registered the trademark for the Behrens watch brand, based in Shenzhen’s vibrant industrial ecosystem. One of the co-founders is Eric So, whom we met at the HKTDC trade fair in Hong Kong, and who introduced us to the brand. His relationship with watches goes back a long way. He began collecting them while still at high school and continued during his engineering training, before launching the online watch magazine Spiral in 2003.

The inspiration for the new Orion One automatic wristwatch, featuring Behrens’ classic “time display on a circular axis” concept, came from imagining the “Mothership” that aliens might use for travelling to Earth. The case features some 40 shaped and polished facets. Thanks to a newly designed and patented lever-type winding/time setting mechanism, the crown has been replaced by a hidden lever.

The name “Behrens” actually refers to Peter Behrens (1868-1940), a German pioneer of industrial design. Eric So and the co-founders of the brand identified with his creative philosophy, and named it after him as a tribute. Given that Behrens’ main focus is its highly original displays, one of the company’s first initiatives was to acquire a stock of ETA and Miyota movements to modify.

Nominated for the GPHG, the Apolar model is based on the orbital relationship between the Earth and the Moon. The domed globe (Earth) on the dial at 12 o’clock rotates once every 24 hours. The small spherical globe attached to the large inclined rotating metal ring represents the Moon, which revolves around the Earth on a 28-day cycle.

Many watch enthusiasts around the world discovered the brand’s existence when it was twice nominated for the Grand Prix d’Horlogerie de Genève in 2020, with its Apolar and Rotary models. It has since also signed collaborations with Konstantin Chaykin and Label Noir for limited editions that immediately sold out.

Behrens’ price range is broad, with collections starting at less than $2,000 to over $10,000 for its Perigee model with proprietary movement. Most models feature cosmic, geographical or space references and the unconventional displays that go with them. And while it bears a German name, the brand is nonetheless proudly Chinese – a Starship II X China Rocket model was sent into Earth’s orbit aboard a national commercial rocket in December 2022!

The Apolar model has also been revisited by the well-known Swiss creative studio Label Noir.

Eric So outlined for us the main milestones for the young brand: “After the 2018 launch of our first two triple-calendar models, with power reserve and dome-shaped 24-hour globe display, we explored the opportunity to produce mechanical modules in the form of wandering hours and satellite displays. Over time we developed ever more elaborate displays and highly original designs, and set out to conquer world markets. Our double GPHG nomination in 2020 certainly marked a turning point for our international visibility.”

Like Toyota and Lexus, the brand is strategically splitting its offering into two ranges: one below $3,000 equipped with Japanese Miyota movements and the other, higher-end segment with more complex modular displays offering “unlimited creativity”, based on ETA, Sellita or the brand’s own calibres – with the denominator being the promise of a unique product in terms of design.

Available at under CHF 10,000 in three editions of 200 pieces each, the collaborative model between Behrens and Konstantin Chaykin, featuring Chaykin’s Joker motif, was immediately sold out.

“It may have something to do with my experience in the media,” points out Eric So. “Over the years, we saw a lot of new models that were just part of the dominant trend. This led us to want to design something really different.” Behrens now employs around 35 people at its headquarters, producing some 3,000 watches a year.

In addition to China, the brand has retailers in Japan, Singapore, Thailand, Malaysia and India, as well as in the Middle East, the United States and Mexico. It also plans to build up a network of representatives in Europe. Behrens is positioned in a higher price segment than another Chinese brand that is expanding internationally, CIGA Design (read here).

Based on a modified SW200 calibre, the Mars Project One model is equipped with a dual Earth/Mars time-zone mechanical module system. The two time zones have a 24-hour base and are displayed with a four-roller system.

Behrens’ commercial journey was strewn with pitfalls, especially in the early days, as Eric So recounts. “As a Made in China brand, it was quite difficult at first, because people assumed we were offering cheap, entry-level stuff. But in recent years, we’ve done a good job of promoting ourselves. Journalists and retailers are seeing our products, and we’re increasingly convinced and confident that the situation will continue to improve, both for us and for Chinese watchmaking as a whole.”

The B027 Perigee featuring Behrens’ first in-house movement is equipped with a ruby chain hour display system to minimise friction, improve overall efficiency and avoid energy loss. A dome-shaped globe represents the day/night indication, while a new Moon-tracking system represents the satellite orbiting the dial.

Eric So is keen to get across what he believes is an important message for the global watch ecosystem: “As a Chinese brand, we are not a threat to the watch industry! Quite the contrary, we’re trying to bring more people into the watch market. And we like Swiss watches – I’ve been collecting them for over 40 years myself. My long-held dream was to build a brand with an original creative proposition.”

It was Eric So’s meeting with Lin Bingqiang that made his dream a reality. Originally active in the jewellery industry, Lin Bingqiang went on to set up his own OEM (subcontracted production) watchmaking company. After working for a number of other brands, he decided to place his production facilities at the service of the Behrens adventure.

Also selected for the GPHG, Behrens’ Rotary model on an ETA base pays tribute to Mazda’s centenary, and more specifically its RX-Series engine. The twin rotors of the Japanese car manufacturer’s Rotary engine are transformed into hour and minute indicators.

“It’s a huge asset,” notes Eric So. “We have our own CNC machines, 3D printers and prototyping department, which means that we can shorten design times considerably. What would take a year to produce in another structure, we do in three months.”

To reduce the weight of the Ultralight model, titanium has been used not only for the case, but also for the movement components, bringing the weight of the watch head down to just 20 grams.

A product from this in-house laboratory, the ultra-light 20G model with a curved movement, launched in 2023 at the Time to Watches exhibition in Geneva, weighs just 20 grams. Behrens tends to attract a younger clientele, with its moderate prices and unconventional designs (in line with the “deconstruction” of traditional watchmaking that has occurred over the last two decades). It is asserting itself as a new-generation Chinese company, with a very different profile from that of the conglomerates that have dominated its domestic industry to date.