Review: Behrens Perigee

Let me give you some context on this watch. The Bulgari Jumping Hour Retrograde Minutes cost $100,000. This watch has retrograde minutes. The chain-driven Romain Gauthier Logical One costs $150,000. This watch is also chain driven. The Van Cleef & Arpels Midnight Planetarium has an orbital celestial display and costs $300,000. This watch has an orbital celestial display, and it doesn’t cost anywhere near close to any of these watches. This watch, it’s rearranged my brain a bit. It’s … crazy.

History

Usually, I’d give you the background on the watch first and then go into detail, but today I’m going to do it the other way around. Why not. This is the Behrens Perigee, and as you can see it’s a bit … different. The mono-lugged titanium case sits astride the wrist at 43mm, although it doesn’t feel like it, because really what we’re all looking at is the Stephen King-esque sapphire dome straddling the universe beneath. I don’t use the term “universe” lightly. You’ll see.

Where to start? Well, when telling the time, it’s customary to start with the hours, so we’ll oblige that tradition by drawing your attention to the chain navigating the top and bottom portions of the dial left-hand side of the dial. There are thirty-six links in this chain, each pivoting on a ruby bearing, and cantilevered from every third link is a number. That’s the hour. I’ll direct your gaze to the arrow pointing to the left-hand side of the chain from which to read the hour. It’s like the opposite of a normal dial, where instead of the numbers staying still and the hands moving, you get the reverse.

But how do you know if those hours correspond to day or night? Most folks would look out of the window, but the Perigee offers a convenience rarely seen on a watch: a twenty-four-hour indicator. That could have been rather boringly integrated into a simple dial, but Behrens had other ideas. Instead, a globe, the source of our daily regimen, spins once per cycle, a small arrow on its surface pointing to the outer twenty-four-hour display.

So that’s great. We’ve got the hours covered and we’ve not accidentally gone to work at 9pm. But days are split into finer units than hours, so of course we’ll need a minute display too. That comes courtesy of a retrograde counter on the right-hand side, an arch reading from zero to sixty, top to bottom. It’s a satisfying moment when the minute hand snaps back on cue, and it’s tempting to set the time forward just to see it—but do so at your peril, because the Perigee only goes forwards, not backwards. If you want to see the retrograde minutes happen once, you’ll need to commit to seeing it twenty-three more times.

That wouldn’t be the worst experience, however, because the guts of the retrograde system are fully on display. It shows just how complex a retrograde indicator really is, with enough going on to keep even the most easily distracted person occupied as they do a full rotation of the Earth to set the time.

So far, so impressive. But it gets more so, because standing guard around the perimeter of the watch are three equidistant towers. Two of those towers are passive and one of them is driven, together supporting a toothed ring that runs the entire circumference of the dial. On that ring is a moon that navigates the globe a precise 27.3 days per orbit. There are markers for that on the Speedmaster Apollo 8-esque dial, but forget the effort of setting that accurately and keeping it set. Just enjoy the fact you’ve got a freaking slice of the solar system on your watch.

The party’s just getting started because flip the watch over and on the rear of the watch is a power reserve indicator, which keeps track of the 45-hour grace period before the planetary system grinds to a halt. It’s a remarkable watch with a remarkable set of complications, completely unique as an expression of time. It should cost a fortune. It doesn’t.

Review

The Behrens Perigee—the name given to the point at which the moon is nearest the Earth, by the way—just gets better the closer you look. Pick a spot and it’ll reveal more impressive detail under magnification. Take the globe, for example. The landmasses stand in relief against the sea, a crisp, fine texture delineating the surface.

And the chain. Each ruby-fitted link is also capped with a polished lid. The bridges and springs are bevelled and polished, brushed on top, in keeping with traditional watchmaking. The mainspring barrel is ratcheted by twin springs rather than a single click.

The looks may not be to your taste, but there’s no denying this is workmanship to a standard of which Switzerland should be proud. Except… this watch wasn’t made in Switzerland. It wasn’t even made in Europe. It was made entirely in China.

Behrens, based in Shenzen, China, has set out to make a point. No more fake watches. No more copies. No more bad quality. China has the ability to produce high quality goods that can go toe-to-toe on a world stage. In fact, China has been producing a lot of that stuff for western brands for a while already. Optics, computing, hi-fi, automotive—you name it—China is supplying the world’s best with its produce.

I recently saw a video on Adam Savage’s channel, Tested, where he purchased a complex vice called a fractal vice. In it he explains that the vice is incredibly difficult to machine and is no longer produced by the original manufacturer, and so the only place to purchase one was from China. If you watch the video, linked in the description, you’ll see he was incredibly impressed with it. He also had this to note:

“This only exists because of a mind. The makers of these products are faceless to us. We’re not engaging with them. But when I see this thing, I am engaged with someone.”

It was a poignant moment that applies here with the Behrens Perigee too. Someone decided to make this because they wanted to do something better, and I hope the individuals who created this watch can transcend any preconceived notions. Think of it like the International Space Station, a place where science comes first and everything else gets left behind on Earth.

And it’s because this watch is made in China that it costs just $13,500. That’s not pennies, but it is, for example, cheaper than a Rolex Daytona. It’s cheaper than an Omega Ploprof. And it’s better than both of them combined. The level of imagination and watchmaking genius that’s gone into building this watch is truly staggering, and it’s completely reconfigured my brain.

I’m hoping to be able to go and visit the Behrens factory myself soon, to see how this comes to be. I hope it’s all as I imagine, because the possibilities this creates are endless. Behrens was only founded in 2012 and has taken some time getting operational, so I can only presume that progress from here on in will be astronomical. They’re already working on a watch that will be the lightest in the world.

Do I think people will be clamouring to buy a $13,500 Chinese watch? No matter how impressive, no matter how complicated—no. At least, not yet. It’s a major hurdle for Behrens, and a huge risk to take. But I’m glad they’ve taken it, because it’s one less factory producing fakes, more skilled watchmakers producing something new and exciting. The world is changing, and watchmaking is changing with it.

What are your views on Behrens and the Perigee?