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If you’ve been paying attention to CIGA design lately, you already know the deal. The Shenzhen brand dropped a sub-$2,000 in-house tourbillon earlier this year with the Hunter Tourbillon. Then came the sub-$500 Z Series Hunter, provingthey truly understands how to deliver solid value across the board.
And now the Vector slots right between them, the brand’s first racing-inspired skeleton automatic and a watch that finally gives CIGA a true round-cased flagship.
A Round Case for a Brand Built on Tonneaus
As we mentioned, the Vector breaks free the silhouette we’ve come to expect from CIGA. Where the Hunter line runs angular and tonneau-shaped, the Vector goes 44.5mm and round, with integrated lugs, a domed sapphire crystal, and a layered bezel marked with four bold numerals.
The brand calls those numerals “speedometer grammar rather than a timing tool,” which basically means the racing cues are there purely for design and aesthetics. The bezel isn’t a tachymeter, and the watch isn’t going to clock your lap times – but it does look the part.
At 12.7mm thick (9.4mm if you don’t count the crystal), it’s slim for something this open-worked. Buyers get three case options: 316L stainless steel, Grade 2 titanium, and heat-forged carbon fiber with a cloud-veined grain pulled from short-fiber stock, which is the same kind of carbon you’d see on a motorsport application. Steel and titanium go unplated to keep the raw material tone, which feels like a good call here.
The skeletonized hour and minute hands also get a heavy dose of green Swiss Super-LumiNova, which looks stellar against all that openwork.
The Caliber Doing the Heavy Lifting
Inside is the self-developed CD-02X, a 4Hz automatic with 38 hours of reserve, 25 jewels, and a Nivarox-type balance spring. Back-to-front openwork exceeds 50 percent, so the movement reads from both sides.
Here’s where CIGA had some fun with it. Most skeleton watches just carve windows into a standard movement, but CIGA rebuilt the architecture from the ground up to support the skeleton concept.
The caliber actually floats inside the case, suspended by a clear synthetic mount that gets it off the case wall and gives you cleaner sightlines around every gear. And instead of a full-sized rotor blocking half the view from the back, they shrunk it down to half the footprint and rebalanced it so it still winds efficiently across a 120-degree arc.
All of it rides on a tapered woven-pattern fluororubber strap with a hidden push-button clasp, which keeps the sport register without veering into dive-watch territory.
Spec Sheet
Brand: CIGA design
Model: Vector
SKUs: V011-SISI (Steel), V011-TIGR (Titanium), V011-TCGR (Carbon Fiber)
Case Size: 44.5mm
Case Thickness: 12.7mm (9.4mm without crystal)
Case Material: 316L Steel, Grade 2 Titanium, or Forged Carbon Fiber
Crown: 6.5mm, CNC grooved
Crystal: Domed sapphire, anti-reflective
Water Resistance: 5 ATM
Movement: CIGA design Caliber CD-02X, self-developed automatic
Power Reserve: 38 hours
Frequency: 28,800 vph (4Hz)
Jewels: 25
Accuracy: -10 to +20 seconds/day
Lume: Swiss Super-LumiNova, green
Hands: Skeletonized hour and minute
Strap: Tapered 22mm to 20mm woven-pattern fluororubber with hidden push-button clasp
Pricing & Availability
The CIGA design Vector is set for a 2026 release with three SKUs. The Steel starts at $699, the Titanium runs $899, and the forged Carbon Fiber tops out at $1,099. Early-access signups are open now on CIGA design’s website.
Recap
CIGA design Vector
CIGA design goes round and racing with the Vector, a sub-$1,100 skeleton automatic powered by the brand’s own in-house caliber.
