Memorigin

Memorigin watches

Memorigin is a Hong Kong-based watch manufacturer founded in 2011 by William Shum. The brand specializes in tourbillon watches, which are often associated with Swiss luxury watch brands. The tourbillon movement is produced in only a handful of factories worldwide, which are traditionally sold in retail stores at high five- or six-digit prices (USD). Memorigin, on the other hand, offers around 100 high-quality tourbillons in the mid-price segment, at prices between USD 3,800 and USD 38,000 - and all of them are designed to reflect Hong Kong's love of Chinese symbolism, pop culture kitsch and flash. They feature curved dragons, jade panels, cartoon pandas, Marvel superheroes and even Bruce Lee in gold.

To underpin the quality of its watches, Memorigin has had a quality inspection process carried out by Ogawa Satoshi Yukari, an accredited watch repair specialist from the renowned Watch Repair Master watch inspection centre in Osaka. The test consisted of a time accuracy test in six directions (left, right, up, down, face up and face down) and a water resistance test. The result was excellent, as both the time accuracy test and the waterproofness test achieved the highest award category.

Bartels Watches is official dealer for Memorigin

Bartels Watches is an authorized dealer of Hong Kong Memorigin watches since 2013. We work closely together with Memorigin to offer you the best selection of men's and women's tourbillon watches at a fair price. All Memorigin watches come with a complete set of papers and warranty cards and are new. Since we only sell watches online, we can offer you the best deals and fastest delivery times. Start today and add some Tourbillons to your watch collection.

Memorigin collections & models

The first watch model sold by the brand was the 2011 edition of the 'Antique', which was available in retail for $3,800. Since its launch, the watchmaker has focused on high-end collectibles such as its 2013 'Emperor Jade' model. The Emperor Jade featured translucent leaves with precious hand-carved stones. This particular model was at the top end of the Memorigin range and cost $38,000.

In cooperation with global brands, Memorigin has also designed watches that are used as merchandise items. Their Marvel watch collection featured famous figures on the dials, such as Iron Man and Captain America. Also in cooperation with Hasbro or Warner Brothers, watches with Batman and Superman motifs have been designed. The focus on superheroes is due to the Chinese interest in comics and their film adaptation. Founder William Shum explained: "Most Hong Kongers between the ages of 30 and 50 like superheroes because we grew up with many of them and they represent justice".

When asked about the difference between Chinese tourbillons and Swiss tourbillons, Shum replied: "Chinese watches are evolving, and the target customers are not the same as those who buy exclusively Swiss watches. Swiss watches are produced in smaller quantities with a strong passion for traditional design and filigree functions. Chinese watches are now produced in larger quantities at lower prices".

The company now offers a wide range of tourbillon watches with automatic and manual winding calibres. Some of the most popular models are:

• Stellar
• Orbit
• Grand
• Navigator
• Military

Characteristic features of the Stellar are its 18-carat white gold planetarium, its specially manufactured sapphire crystal and its spherical world time display. In contrast, the Orbit series has a very classic layout with a moon phase, a GMT display and a handmade skeletonized rotor for the automatic movement. The Grand Series has a large date complication, which is a combination of two discs in two adjacent openings. This is not only a very elegant but also a very practical watch complication that requires perfect synchronization between the two discs. Another very useful complication is found in the navigator, the power reserve indicator. As a hand-wound watch, the Navigator series must be wound every 80 hours. The remaining power of the calibre is indicated by a display on the dial. Memorigin also has a military watch collection in a black PVD coated case with large yellow indices, reminiscent of the classic military and aviation watches. Easy to read and robust, the Military is a sporty watch that should not be missing in any collection.

Memorigin watches are unique in their design

The tourbillon watches from Memorigin are unique because they fuse Chinese and Western design elements. When founding Memorigin, Shum declared that he wanted to create watches that had "Swiss precision with Chinese characteristics".

In an interview with Forbes, Shum explained that memoriginal watches are often designed in collaboration with well-known watch collectors from Hong Kong. Memorigin has always aspired to be a bespoke watch brand rather than a mass manufacturer.

The beginnings of Mermorigin

William Shum founded the Memorigin watch brand in 2011, which is based in Hong Kong, China. Shum previously attended the University of Southern California and Cornell. After graduating from Cornell University, he returned to Hong Kong, where he initially worked as an investment banker. His early interest in tourbillon watches can be traced back to his father, who was one of the investors in a watch factory in Hangzhou, China. The factory had been producing tourbillon movements since 2000.

Memorigin - Tourbillon perfection at a low price

Like many Chinese manufacturers, the factory in which Shum Senior invested had the technical know-how to produce reliable movements, but not the ability to create and launch its own watch brand. In the context of the founding of Memorigin, Shum was quoted as saying: "There were only about 30 factories around the world producing tourbillons, and only a few in China". In the same interview with the New York Times, Shum explained that there was a limited supply of Swiss tourbillon watches on the market and that they were very expensive. He believed that tourbillon watches at more affordable prices were lacking in the watch market.

If you are wondering what the typical cost of some of the most famous Tourbillon watches is, here is a brief comparison.

Prices of Tourbillon watches