CIGA Design Skeleton Falcon Turns Openworked Watchmaking Up to Full Volume

CIGA Design has never been interested in making quiet watches.

The Skeleton Falcon takes that attitude into time-only territory, using openworked architecture, sharp industrial finishing and an in-house automatic movement to deliver a watch that looks far more complex than its $499 price suggests.

It’s a strong reminder of why the Chinese brand has become one of the more intriguing names in accessible mechanical watchmaking.

At a glance

A Chinese brand leaning into spectacle

CIGA Design’s credibility changed sharply in 2021, when its Blue Planet won at the Grand Prix d’Horlogerie de Genève and became the first Chinese watch brand to receive the industry’s most visible prize.

Since then, the brand has moved quickly across ambitious territory, including central tourbillon pieces and dramatic openworked designs that would usually sit in a much higher price bracket.

The Skeleton Falcon doesn’t chase a grand complication, but it does show how much visual drama can be drawn from a time-only automatic watch.

Instead of hiding the mechanics behind a conventional dial, CIGA Design makes the movement, case and bracelet feel like parts of the same exposed machine.

The CD-02 movement becomes the architecture

At the centre of the Falcon is the CD-02 automatic movement, an in-house calibre designed to be seen from almost every angle.

The usual sense of a movement sitting behind the dial is largely erased here, with open bridges and transparent supports creating the impression that the mechanism is suspended inside the case.

A gear-like outer structure doubles as the minute track, giving the watch a functional frame without softening its mechanical character.

The finishing is part of the appeal, with chamfered edges, micro-sandblasted surfaces and polished accents adding contrast across the visible components.

That mix of textures matters, because skeletonisation only works when there’s enough definition for the eye to read the layers.

A 43.5mm case with deliberate wrist presence

The Falcon is not trying to follow the current appetite for small, vintage-leaning proportions.

At 43.5mm, it has a sizeable footprint, made more assertive by skeletonised lugs, broad shoulders and an oversized crown.

The case has a machined, multi-layered feel rather than the rounded smoothness of a dress watch, and the alternating brushed, sandblasted and polished surfaces keep the shape from feeling flat.

The bezel is the most familiar element, carrying a monochrome diving-style scale that gives the open centre a recognisable frame.

With 50 metres of water resistance, this isn’t a proper dive watch, but the bezel adds order to a design that could otherwise become too visually loose.

Colour is used sparingly, with a red seconds hand and green lume-tipped hour and minute hands cutting through the monochrome metalwork.

The bracelet keeps the industrial line intact

The H-link bracelet follows the same industrial language as the case, with a hidden push-button clasp that keeps the profile visually clean from lug to lug.

It’s not the loudest element of the watch, but it matters because a case this expressive would feel unfinished on a generic bracelet.

The result is a watch that feels more coherent than many affordable skeleton pieces, where the case, dial and bracelet can seem like separate ideas forced together.

That cohesion is the Skeleton Falcon’s most persuasive trait, especially at a price where most buyers would reasonably expect compromise.

Details & Specifications

The Skeleton Falcon will appeal to buyers who want mechanical theatre without stepping into luxury watch pricing.

It’s unapologetically bold, but it’s also considered, and that combination is exactly where CIGA Design continues to make its strongest case.