Montres Allison - Ensvizzengarten

Born in China in 1946, Kiu Tai Yu started studying the watch structure before the age of 20 and, aged 23, he realized his first mechanical watch; in 1978 he created his first escapement without pallets. In 1980 he moved to Hong Kong, where he dealt with old watches in his shop Kie & Cie.

His passion for old watches led him to write the book "Time in Pocket" that was granted the Best Print Quality Award in Hong Kong and adopted by a Swiss watch-making school. In 1991 he started realizing movements with tourbillon devices whose components are wholly constructed by himself - from the pillar-plate to the wheelwork, a complication in which he specialized himself by exploring virtually all the possible technical solutions allowed for, included the one in which balance and balance spring are housed in the turning carriage with the escapement attached to the fixed part of the movement. Kiu Tai Yu is a full member of the AHCI since 1992.

Watchmaking Images

Literature - Montres Allison recommends that students of watch manufacture read George Daniels "Watchmaking," the "Theory of Horology" WOSTEP text book, and the "Treatise on Modern Horology." Please email us at learning@montresallison.com for information on where to acquire these wonderful learning aids.

Each watch by Kiu Tai Yu represents a trip into the Far East aesthetics. Chinese lacquerware and gold, sensual curves and ideograms recreate the formal canons of watchmaking through a cultural diaphragm which is completely different from tradition. His creations recalls the ancient shapes of the pagoda. The Tourbillon Flying models include the Mystery Tourbillon Rectangular made in pink yellow and white gold, the Mystery Flying Tourbillon No. 12 with the tourbillon carriage at 9 and time zone at 2, the Tourbillon No. 13 with flying tourbillon carriage and off-center hours. The tourbillon seems not to hold mysteries for Kiu Tai Yu. We must stress that every single piece of these splendid watches, from the case to the dial to the movement itself is completely hand-made and produced in single specimens, each incredibly fascinating.

For two subsequent years Kiu Tai Yu is "neglecting" tourbillons and is devoted to watches without complications. The Joy of the Millenium in platinum made in 1999 was inspired by the "delicate" mechanics of the Heavenly Clocks (i.e. Chinese astronomical watches used more than 1000 years ago) and characterized by the particular dial design with the large 18K gold sight balance bridge and the off-center hour display. The new Millennium created in 2000 is an automatic watch with the characteristic pagoda-shaped case in 18K yellow, white and pink gold. The hand-decorated dial design aims at harmonizing different cultures by the name written in both English and Chinese and markers alternating brilliants with 9 in Roman numerals, 21 (instead of 12 as a homage to the XXIst century) in Arabic numerals and 3 and 6 in Chinese characters.

Mr. Kiu Tai Yu's creations have gained the highest monetary value.

The expertise of Mr. Kiu Tai Yu demonstrates that expert watchmakers can originate from geographic regions beyond Switzerland, and can attain the highest credentials.

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