Chinese Haute Horlogerie From “The Geneva of the East?” — The New Peacock Haiyi Tourbillon Yu Limited Edition
Please meet Peacock, a Chinese watch brand that has been creating complicated timepieces since 1957, and its Haiyi Tourbillon, a 40mm limited-edition dive watch with a colorful Lindsay-engraved enameled dial in three colors. You might not be familiar with Liaoning Peacock, also known as the Peacock Watch Company, but the manufacturer from Dandong, China, is one of the world’s largest movement manufacturers. Peacock’s specialty, however, is creating complications. These include unconventional ones, like a dive watch outfitted with an in-house free-sprung tourbillon movement and a translucent enamel dial with a pattern inspired by the movement of the sea.
Before taking a look at the Peacock Haiyi Tourbillon, a limited-edition model available in blue, purple, and green (the last of which we had at our disposal at Fratello HQ), let’s introduce the brand that made this contemporary, complicated diver. Peacock is something of an anomaly. Founded in 1957 in Dandong, the watch manufacturer has evolved from producing some of China’s earliest mechanical timepieces to becoming one of the country’s most technically capable watchmakers, with a focus on complicated movements. The vertically integrated manufacturer develops, produces, decorates, assembles, and regulates its watches in-house. Over the years, Peacock has developed and produced more than 300 calibers, including many complicated ones, such as tourbillons, at scale.
The Peacock Haiyi Tourbillon is the result of nearly seven decades of watchmaking expertise
What started as the Antong Metal Products Factory, hand-building the company’s first watch, the Qianjin (“Progress”), led to a name change to Peacock in 1973. The name was chosen since the peacock is a traditional Chinese symbol of elegance, prosperity, and prestige. By the 1980s, Dandong-based Peacock had an annual output exceeding 3.8 million watches. Have you ever heard of Dandong? It’s a city in the northeast with around 800,000 inhabitants. It’s located on the Yalu River, on the border with North Korea, and is nicknamed “The Geneva of the East.”
That’s quite the nickname. However, it makes sense when you understand that in 1999, Peacock introduced one of China’s first chronograph movements and four years later, its first tourbillon watch debuted. In recent years, Peacock has shifted its focus toward high-end mechanical watchmaking, particularly tourbillons like the 2024 iF Design Award-winning Black Hole, a watch with a central tourbillon, and the ultra-thin Divine Craft, outfitted with a slim coaxial tourbillon movement paired with a hand-crafted artisanal dial. FYI, Atelier Wen utilized Peacock movements for the first two generations of its acclaimed Perception line. Now that you have a bit of perspective, it’s time to explore the green-dialed Haiyi Tourbillon Yu (屿), which translates to “Island” in English.
The Haiyi Tourbillon has 190 waves on its dial
The Haiyi Tourbillon has a 40mm case with a 47mm length and 12.2mm thickness. It is made of 904L steel and features an antireflective sapphire crystal, a sapphire bezel insert, and a helium escape valve. The Haiyi Tourbillon also has a 300m depth rating and comes fitted with either a dial-matching, shark-inspired rubber strap with a steel pin buckle or a steel bracelet. That bracelet consists of 48 precision links (25 large, 23 central) and has 25 brushed, 23 polished, and 46 beveled surfaces. The watch we had at HQ came on a rubber strap slightly mimicking a shark’s shape and proved to be a supple, problem-free option. Unfortunately, I can’t tell you about the steel bracelet, although its specs sound impressive.
With the standard specs out of the way, we can now focus on this dive watch’s bonus features, and we’ll start with the dial. It combines translucent enamel with hand-executed Lindsay engraving to create a layered pattern of 190 waves and 78 intersections. I had never heard of Lindsay engraving. However, I now know it is a technique that, unlike traditional hand engraving, which relies on manual pressure or hammering, uses precisely controlled pneumatic impulses to drive the graver. Using Lindsay engraving produces very accurate, fluid patterns. The dial of the Haiyi Tourbillon is proof of that. Its pattern is very delicate and accurately mimics a tidal wave pattern. And just so you know, Hǎiyīn (海音) translates to “Ocean Sound” and is frequently used in Chinese names to evoke imagery of the sea.
Go with the flow
The dial’s surface features six interlocking engraved zones that expand outward in a 1.3-ratio progression. The resulting pattern mimics the natural dispersion of waves across water, appearing to ripple with motion. It’s a complex dial to make because of the transitions between the different sections. Across the six zones are 78 so-called “knife-avoidance” intersections, where engraved lines must meet seamlessly without breaking the flow of the pattern. Every groove is very carefully cut to a uniform depth of just 0.15mm with no room for error. An uneven cut ruins the dial’s flow and renders it useless.
The engraving is only part of the story. To create the impression of depth and movement, Peacock overlays the wave pattern with a complex translucent enamel treatment. Five enamel layers, each measuring approximately 0.03mm, are applied individually. After that, the dial undergoes a lengthy firing process that gradually bonds the enamel to the engraved metal surface. Then, extensive polishing sessions reduce the enamel layer to just 0.06mm thick. At this point, the underlying Lindsay engraving begins to reveal itself through the translucent finish. That’s when the wave patterns start to look as if they were beneath the water’s surface. Well, that’s the idea. And when you know about the creation process, you can see it when you look at the dial, even though it’s green, not my favorite color when it comes to water.
A delicate, nice touch is the pair of transparent 0.4mm-thin sapphire hands. These add lightness, while the luminous material on them and the applied markers and sapphire dive bezel remind you that the Haiyi Tourbillon is a dive watch by nature.
Diving with a flying tourbillon
In case you’re smitten with the Blancpain Fifty Fathoms Tourbillon or the discontinued Girard-Perregaux Sea Hawk Tourbillon, but funding your love is problematic, here’s the Haiyi Tourbillon. The manual-winding in-house caliber PAX9610B has a 4Hz (28,800vph) frequency and a power reserve of 68 hours. Its top plate is decorated with rainbow Geneva waves, layered beneath a double-spiral great wheel and radiating finishes across the gear train. There are also etched inscriptions and beveled screws visible through the case back’s sapphire display. It’s certainly a nice movement to look at, but the front is where the action happens. That’s where the tourbillon spins at 6.
The in-house flying tourbillon is just 3.5mm thick and features a Gyromax free-sprung balance regulated by four inertia weights. This setup allows finer adjustment than traditional screw systems while preserving ideal hairspring geometry for long-term isochronism. To add visual spectacle, a micro-set natural sparkling diamond on the tourbillon bridge evokes a flying fish in motion — easy to spot, impossible to catch.
Final thoughts on the Peacock Haiyi Tourbillon
How do I feel about a tourbillon dive watch with an engraved and enameled dial? I never thought I would ask myself that question. Well, the engraving gives the dial genuine depth and texture. This is all thanks to a high level of artisanal craftsmanship that you rarely find in (sports) watches with a retail price of US$3,499. And the same goes for a hand-winding flying tourbillon movement inside a sub-$3.5k watch. It’s very impressive. Just as importantly, the Haiyi Tourbillon wears well, as you would expect from a well-proportioned 40mm steel watch on a supple rubber strap. This watch certainly is a conversation starter. So if you’re an open-minded person and ready to explore a new world of horology, the Haiyi Tourbillon might be a capable and colorful summer watch that turns a few heads.
And if green is not your color, there are two others to choose from. The gradient blue Xi (汐), meaning “Tide” in English, and the smoky purple Huan (幻), which is Chinese for “Magical,” Peacock Haiyi Tourbillon models are also available. The three versions of the Haiyi Tourbillon are each limited editions of 199 pieces. And if you’d like to know how to obtain one or learn more about “The Geneva of the East” and find out what else the brand has to offer, please visit the Peacock Watches website.
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