Qian GuoBiao’s New Skylight Models Might Just Be My Favorite Watches From Him Yet
There’s something very satisfying about seeing a watchmaker push a familiar idea a little further without losing the thing that made it appealing in the first place. That was my first reaction to the new Qian GuoBiao Skylight Original and Skylight Sun. On paper, the concept is simple enough. This is Qian GuoBiao’s first partially skeletonized wristwatch. It’s offered in two versions, both using the hand-wound AB-05 caliber. But what makes the Skylight interesting to me isn’t only that it opens things up more but also that it still feels like a Qian GuoBiao watch.
In fact, this might now be my favorite Qian GuoBiao release to date. I know I said that about the Split-Seconds Chronograph launched earlier this year, but here we are. Anyone who knows me will know I’ve got a soft spot for openworked and skeletonized watches when they’re done well. The problem is that plenty aren’t. Too often, they can feel busy, overdesigned, or simply opened up for the sake of it. The Skylight doesn’t strike me that way. It looks like a watch that’s been opened up with some care rather than just carved apart for the sake of it, and I think that’s a big part of why it works.
The Skylight might be my favorite Qian GuoBiao creation yet
Part of the appeal here is that the Skylight doesn’t feel like a hard break from what Qian GuoBiao has already been building. The visible balance on the dial side, the sense of depth, and the calm but deliberate layout have all become part of his visual language. The difference is that the Skylight pushes those ideas a bit further. You get a clearer sense of the movement’s structure and animation without losing the visual anchors that stop the whole thing from becoming chaotic.
That feels especially important with a watch like this because openworking can go wrong very quickly. Here, though, it seems to have been handled with a lot of restraint. Qian GuoBiao himself put it neatly: “I have always believed that a watch should never hide its soul. In my earlier pieces, I placed the balance, springs, and bridges on the front so the wearer could feel that heartbeat with every glance. With the Skylight, I wanted to go further, opening the architecture in a way that lets the movement and dial come together as one living structure.” That sums up the appeal of this watch pretty well. It feels more open, yes, but not more confused.
Opening up the dial without losing the plot
That balance between openness and control is really what gives the Skylight its appeal. The dial side now shows more of the gear train and the keyless works, but it still looks organized. It never feels like things have been opened up just to show off. It feels more architectural than theatrical, and that’s exactly the right direction for a watchmaker like Qian GuoBiao.
That’s also why I think this release speaks to me so much. I love seeing the workings of a watch. I always have. But I only truly connect with openworking when there’s still a sense of order to it. The Skylight seems to keep that order intact. Even on the more expressive version, there’s still enough structure there to stop it all from becoming a mess. That’s not always easy to pull off, especially when you’re trying to give the watch more character.
Skylight Original and Skylight Sun take the idea in different directions
Of the two versions, I slightly prefer the Skylight Sun. The Skylight Original looks good and leans more naturally toward the industrial side of Qian GuoBiao’s design language, which will probably resonate more with people who prefer his cleaner, more structural side. But it’s the Sun that grabs me more.
Part of that comes down to the warmer, hand-hammered dial, which just gives the watch more personality and makes the whole thing more visually engaging. I also think the finishing around the edges of the openworked sections helps elevate the Sun further. That extra detail gives the dial a bit more depth and makes the openworking feel better integrated. Combined with the gold-tone surface and blue strap, it makes for a much bolder and more distinctive watch overall. The combination of blue and gold almost always works, and it certainly does here.
Clearly, a lot of work goes into that dial as well. As Qian GuoBiao explains, “The hammer dial technique was one of the most demanding but also one of the most rewarding challenges in the project. Every strike had to be carefully controlled. Too light and the texture disappears, too strong and the metal distorts. Each dial required more than twenty hours of focused hammering and finishing.” The dial is a big part of why the Skylight Sun feels more alive compared to the Original.
The watch beneath the styling
It helps, of course, that there’s a solid watch underneath all this. Both versions use the in-house, hand-wound AB-05 caliber, which beats at 18,000 vibrations per hour and offers a 40-hour power reserve. The slower beat rate suits the watch nicely, and the partially skeletonized layout should make that movement feel even more alive in daily wear.
The dimensions also look sensible. With a 39mm diameter, 10mm thickness, and 46mm lug-to-lug, the Skylight sounds pretty compact and wearable rather than oversized or overly dramatic. A watch with this much going on can easily become too much if the proportions aren’t kept in check, so that restraint is important. Here, they seem pretty well judged. Front and rear sapphire crystals and 50m water resistance round things out in practical terms.
A strong case, even if it could go further
Having seen a few of Qian GuoBiao’s watches before, I’ve always come away impressed with the quality of the cases. They tend to look very precisely machined and well made, and I absolutely love the stepped bezel here. It gives the watch some presence without overcomplicating things.
That said, if I had one small point to make, it would be that I’d still love to see a little more done with the case itself. Though clean, direct, and purposeful, it’s also perhaps a touch matter-of-fact compared to what’s now happening on the dial side. A few more details, or just a little more character through the case, could lift the overall watch even further.
What the Skylight says about what comes next
What I like most about the Skylight, especially the Sun version, is that it feels like Qian GuoBiao is starting to push a little further visually. Between the Split-Seconds Chronograph from earlier this year and this latest release, there’s a growing sense that he’s becoming more comfortable trying bolder, more expressive ideas alongside the industrial styling people already know him for.
I’ll get the chance to see the Skylight in person at Time to Watches in Geneva next week, and I’m genuinely looking forward to that. Watches like this often live or die on how they come together in the metal, and based on what I’ve seen from his work before, that should be where the finer details really start to show. The Skylight will be presented there this April, with pricing set at CHF 29,000 and production limited to 12 pieces for the Skylight Original and 18 pieces for the Skylight Sun.
Either way, this release leaves me feeling very positive. More than anything, it reinforces the sense that Qian GuoBiao is doing meaningful work in helping put China on the map for serious high-end watchmaking. And I’m very much here for that.
