By now, you’re undoubtedly familiar with Ciga Design. Last month, we went hands-on with a skeleton watch that surprised me how much I liked it (you can see that here), and before that, we had a watch in that literally put the world on your wrist (that review is here). Obviously, they’re doing interesting things with their designs, and this time around, we’ve got one that takes things in a bit spacier of a direction – meet the Ciga Design Black Hole.
Aesthetics
While a lot of the focus for the Ciga Design Black Hole is going to be on the dial, we actually want to start with the case. Fittingly, for a watch drawing from space, the case takes the shape of a classic, Lost in Space era UFO design. Taking advantage of that real estate, you’ll see that the 24-hour time scale is engraved there.
Moving on into the dial, you’ve got a large black hole literally in the center of the dial. That circle hides the movement, with the hour (orange) and minute (yellow) hands poking out from under the circle. Those extend over an open gap, and then curve up to match the slope of the chapter ring around the outer edge. All of this gives you that sense of open space, as well as that concept of space warping and bending in around the black hole.
Using it as a watch
While the design concept is solid for the Ciga Design Black Hole, it is a watch. So, if you can’t tell the time on it, it’s going to fail at it’s primary mission. Here, we’ve got a bit of a mixed bag. If it’s bright out, and you’re just trying to pick up the minutes, then you’re actually in good shape. That pale yellow hand jumps out, and it’s quick to find. The hour hand, though, it’s a good bit smaller, even on this 46mm watch, which can make it a little trickier to pick out.
Once the lights go down, you will see that the hands are lumed. However, given that they’re skeletonized and just a wire shape, there’s not a lot of surface area to absorb (and then release) photons, which means this is not a great nighttime watch.
The movement
Whatever the aesthetics, we should think about what movement that is being used. Here, it’s a rather well-known quantity, the Seiko NH05. This is a 3Hz movement that will net you somewhere around 50 hours of power reserve, and an average accuracy of -35 / + 55 seconds per day. So, no, it won’t be your most accurate watch, but if you adjust things every few days, you should be good to go.
On the wrist
While there’s no disputing that the Ciga Design Black Hole is a large watch, it’s actually relatively light on the wrist. This is due, in large part, to the fact that the review unit that we got in was the titanium case version. Additionally, you’ve got the synthetic 22mm strap that’s light as well, and comfortably fits to the wrist. Long and short, the way it’s constructed and the materials here, it made for a very comfortable wear on my 7.25″ wrist.
Wrapping things up
Normally, if we see a watch that quite obviously have put a small movement in an oversized case, we’ll poke some fun at that design. On the flip side, the Ciga Design Black Hole actually leans into that, and purposely uses that empty space between the movement holder and the case to make it part of the design, giving us a bit more of a unique look. For us, the theme of a UFO flying into a black hole is a fun bit of whimsy, and we appreciate the tacit acknowledgement that the case is much larger than the movement would require. If you want to get yours, it’s available for for $559 (titanium) or $459 (steel) directly from cigadesign.com
Tech Specs
