ReviewThe Oris Sun Wukong Limited Editions: In Collaboration With The Shanghai Animation Film Studio

Oris is a brand known for its unique and significant collaborations. Its inspired special editions present a fresh perspective on various concepts, be it sport, social causes, music or the arts, thereby leaving its mark in the segment. Their latest co-creation is an interesting interpretation of a cultural phenomenon from the Far East. Oris has recalled a well-known tale of 16th-century China by infusing it into a timepiece in an innovative way. The results are a unique blend of timekeeping and artistry. Inspired by the Chinese animated film The Monkey King: Uproar in Heaven (1961) are the Oris Sun Wukong Limited Edition and the far more exclusive Artist Edition. These timepieces are versions of the high-performance Aquis diver’s watches, designed in partnership with the Shanghai Animation Film Studio (SAFS).

The Monkey King: Uproar in Heaven was produced by the Wan brothers—who are considered pioneers in Chinese animation—and was first released by the SAFS in 1961 during the ‘second golden era’ of the Chinese film industry. The central character of the film, the Monkey King or Sun Wukong, is a legendary mythical figure from the Chinese epic Journey to the West, written in the 16th century. The 1961 action-comedy is based on this Sun Wukong, a monkey born from stone who acquires superhuman abilities before rebelling against heaven. The film follows the immortal Monkey King from birth and early life into his first wild adventure as he strives to find a weapon worthy of his incredible martial skills. He acquires a red pillar with golden tips that he shrinks to form a staff, which aids him in his fight against the enemy and their unjust ways. Today, the Monkey King is an icon in Chinese culture, and is recognised as such, even outside of China.

Reimagining A Story In A Watch

In the Sun Wukong Limited Edition, the central seconds hand draws directly from the Monkey King’s staff, and is fashioned in red with golden tips

The Monkey King acquires a red pillar with golden tips that he shrinks to form a staff, which aids him in his fight against the enemy and their unjust ways

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With this partnership between Oris and SAFS, the objective was to retell a well-known, culturally-relevant story in the context of a watch. The Artist Edition houses complex aesthetics without compromising functionality whereas the Limited Edition seamlessly blends aesthetics and mechanics. Both watches are unique in their own ways and successfully balance form and function.

The challenge for the designers was to depict a monkey with superpowers on a largely static canvas of a timepiece’s dial. In the Limited Edition, the standout element is the Monkey King’s staff. It is represented by the seconds hand in red with golden tips. The Monkey King spins his staff so quickly in battle that the designers abstracted the motion on the dial and added recurrent blue flashes that appear to shrink and then reappear in size as the second’s hand sweeps. The caseback, engraved with the head of Sun Wukong and his staff, completes the reimagining of the Monkey King’s story.

The Artist Edition houses complex aesthetics without compromising functionality

Artistic Precision On A Tiny Canvas

The far more resplendent Sun Wukong Artist Edition features a hand-painted dial with cloisonné enamel work depicting an underwater palace, which plays a crucial role in the film: this is where Wukong finds his weapons—including his iconic staff. The scene is displayed beautifully on a white-gold plate using the cloisonné technique by outlining it with thin silver wire. Cloisonné enamelling is a highly-regarded technique used for creating designs on metal and is carried out in three stages.

The artist draws the composition’s outline in the initial stage using tiny wires. The term ‘cloisonné’ refers to these wires, which create a spread of tiny chambers that are made manually. Once the basic framework is in place, enamel paint in the desired hues is used to fill them in. The tricky part, naturally, is creating this pattern with precision and perfection on the tiny canvas of a watch dial. The final step involves baking the colours to firmly solidify them, making the image stand out for its artistic design due to its rarity and uniqueness.

A cloisonné enamel dial depicting the dragon king’s underwater palace in this edition

Cloisonné enamelling is a highly-regarded technique used for creating designs on metal, where enamel is painted onto a metallic plate with a fremwork of the intended design

The underwater palace is where Sun Wukong finds his weapons including his iconic staff

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Of particular note is the fact that this is the first dial in cloisonné enamel from Oris, who chose the Monkey King, Sun Wukong, as the theme for this debut. The head of Sun Wukong and the limited-edition number are engraved on the caseback to add context to the theme’s selection. Drawing heavily from the unmatched supernatural strength and ability of Wukong to transform into 72 different animals and objects, the Artist Edition is limited to only 72 pieces. The choice to include a cloisonné enamel dial in a robust dive watch like Oris’ Aquis dive watch is unconventional, to say the least, but the result is quite extraordinary.

With The ‘New Standard’ From Oris

As part of the Aquis Date series of sturdy dive watches, the Sun Wukong is built to be water-resistant up to 300m. It seems almost fitting, considering the significance of the underwater palace that plays such a crucial role for the lead character. With the sapphire crystal glass dome enhancing the visual of the dial in each watch, the multi-piece steel case is sized at 41.5mm. The downturned lugs attach it to a steel bracelet with an extendible folding clasp, which is a dive-watch staple. A standard unidirectional-rotating dive-time bezel is seen on both editions—with the 60-minute scale on a blue ceramic insert on the Limited Edition and in a matt-metallic insert on the Artist Edition. In the latter, this bezel could actually aid readability as it is devoid of any markers on the timekeeping display.

The time and date displays of the Limited Edition are driven by a Sellita-based movement, which offers a power reserve of 38 hours. On the other hand, the Artist Edition runs on Oris’ self-developed calibre 400. This movement is from Oris’ in-house 400 series of movements that boasts a ‘new standard’ in mechanical timekeeping, with elevated levels of anti-magnetism and a five-day power reserve.

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Given their history and skill in watchmaking, collaborations and limited editions have become a part of the brand’s DNA, as can be seen in theseSun Wukong special editions. While the Limited Edition is more in line with the Aquis Date series, the Artist Edition is the company’s first attempt at high watchmaking. The main change is the cloisonné enamel dial and a matte metallic insert with a tone-on-tone scheme on the bezel. Besides appealing to lovers of the Monkey King character, the Chinese mythological inspiration could also interest western admirers for its cutting-edge dial and chiselled features.