Behrens Watches: Chinese Watchmaking With Bonkers Attitude
Behrens is not the sort of watch brand that politely knocks on the door of traditional watchmaking. It kicks the door open, walks in wearing a titanium case, and asks why everyone is still making another vintage diver.
Founded in Shenzhen, Behrens has become one of the more interesting names in modern independent watchmaking. Not because it is trying to copy Switzerland, but because it appears to have looked at Switzerland, nodded respectfully, and then wandered off to build something far stranger. The brand’s own line-up includes everything from ultra-light titanium pieces to skeletonised tourbillons and playful collaborations with major independent watchmakers. In short, Behrens is doing a very good job of proving that Chinese watchmaking is no longer just about affordable homages and suspiciously familiar bezels.
And honestly, it is about time.
For years, collectors have lazily treated Chinese watchmaking as the budget end of the hobby. Behrens makes that view look increasingly outdated. The watches are creative, technically ambitious, sometimes brilliant, and occasionally so visually chaotic that you wonder whether the design meeting involved coffee, lasers and no adult supervision.
Here are three that show exactly why Behrens is worth watching.
Behrens x Konstantin Chaykin: The Joker Goes East
The Behrens x Konstantin Chaykin collaboration is probably the watch that made a lot of collectors sit up and say, “Sorry, who made that?”
Limited to 200 pieces and priced at £6,826, this was Behrens joining forces with Konstantin Chaykin, the Russian independent watchmaker best known for his wonderfully unhinged Wristmons and Joker creations. Behrens describes this as Chaykin’s first collaboration with a Chinese watchmaking brand, which gives the watch some real historical weight beyond the obvious fun of having a mechanical face staring back at you.
The dial follows Chaykin’s familiar expression-based format, with two large eyes used to display the hours and minutes. It is ridiculous, but deliberately so. This is not a watch designed for someone who wants to glance discreetly at the time during a board meeting. It is a watch for someone who wants their wrist to look faintly possessed.
Where Behrens adds its own flavour is in the seconds display, inspired by a traditional Chinese stone mill. The idea is that the seconds move like an ancient farmer grinding grain, which is a much better story than “we added another sub-dial because there was space.” Inside is a Sellita SW200 base movement, wrapped in a 42mm titanium ice crystal case with 5 bar water resistance.
The critique? Legibility is not exactly the main event. But complaining about that feels like complaining that a clown car has poor luggage space.
The Dark Knight: Batman, But Make It Horology
The Dark Knight is Behrens leaning fully into pop culture, and subtlety was clearly not invited.
Created as a 200-piece limited edition to celebrate Batman’s 85th anniversary, this watch incorporates Warner Bros. Discovery-inspired Batman elements, including the logo, Bruce Wayne initials and a special nod to Detective Comics Issue 27, where Batman first appeared.
At £4,741, it is not cheap fan merchandise. This is not a novelty watch you buy next to a Batman mug and a pair of socks. The watch uses Behrens’ in-house BM05 movement, with a full skeleton design, a free-sprung tourbillon, date, day and night display, and power reserve display. It is also surprisingly compact at 38mm wide and 8.9mm thick, which means it avoids the usual superhero-watch problem of looking like a dinner plate strapped to your arm.
There are some lovely details. The number 27 gets special treatment as a reference to Detective Comics 27, while the day and night display alternates between “BW” and the Batman logo. The clasp also carries the Batman logo, and the metal presentation box recreates the famous searchlight scene.
Is it a bit much? Absolutely. But Batman himself dresses as a bat and drives a tank, so restraint was never really part of the brief.
Ultra-Light 20G: Barely There, But Hard To Ignore
If The Dark Knight is Behrens showing off, the Ultra-Light 20G is Behrens showing what it can really do.
Priced at £5,639, this watch is inspired by the “wat”, an ancient Chinese note-taking tool used by court ministers. That is exactly the sort of reference you only get from a brand trying to create its own design language rather than raiding the Swiss archive cupboard again.
The case is made from grade 5 titanium and measures 42.6mm by 38.2mm, with a fluoroelastomer strap and sapphire crystal. The Behrens in-house BM02 movement offers double retrograde hours and minutes, a power reserve display, 28,800 vph frequency and 38 hours of power reserve. It also includes Behrens’ original free-sprung balance and shock absorber.
The real party trick is the integration of case and movement. Behrens says hundreds of parts operate on non-planar structures, which sounds like something a Bond villain would say before revealing a rotating island base. The result, though, is genuinely impressive. It is technical, lightweight, unusual and properly distinctive.
The one issue? At 3 bar water resistance, this is not exactly a rugged daily beater. More “carefully admire over lunch” than “wear while pressure-washing the patio.”
Winding Things Up
Behrens is not perfect. Some designs are busy, some prices are ambitious, and some pieces may be too eccentric for collectors who prefer their watches to whisper politely from under a cuff.
But that is also the point.
The Behrens x Konstantin Chaykin, The Dark Knight and Ultra-Light 20G show a brand with imagination, technical confidence and a genuine appetite for risk. In a watch world where too many releases feel like reheated leftovers, Behrens is serving something spicy.
You may not want to wear every watch it makes.
But you will definitely remember them.
Image Credits - Behrens Watches