Behrens x Chaykin Kremlin Edition

Konstantin Chaykin and Behrens present a new collaboration – the Kremlin Edition watch.

Konstantin Chaykin only gives other brands permission to use his popular wristmon design with an anthropomorphic dial in exceptional cases. One of these partners who have developed their own wristmon in collaboration with Chaykin is the Chinese brand Behrens, which specializes in the production of watches with an original, creative design based on movements and display modules developed in-house. The story of the partnership between the two brands began in 2022, when the Behrens x Konstantin Chaykin Ref. BHR028 was introduced, which was offered in three versions – with a case made of titanium, blackened titanium and “ice” crystallized titanium, which is characterized by an interesting spotted surface texture reminiscent of frost patterns on glass. Each of the three versions was issued in a limited edition of 200 pieces and sold out quickly.

For this watch, the Behrens watchmakers have developed a special display module that is largely modeled on Konstantin Chaykin’s joker-indication display system with two hour and minute displays in the shape of the character’s eyes (hours on the left, minutes on the right, which helps to intuitively determine the time).

One key difference is the character’s smile, which features a unique complication – a “loony” seconds hand – instead of the moonphase or day of the week display typical of Chaykin wristmons. The “loony” seconds hand with a tip in the shape of a symbol of the playing card suit “spades” moves along a sophisticated path in the shape of a smile, a highly coveted feature of almost all wristnons. This complication fits perfectly with the idea of Chaykin’s joker-indication, although Behrens makes a technical allusion to an object from traditional Chinese material culture, namely a hand-operated stone mill “shi mo”, which has been invented and used in China since ancient times.