Hands-On: The Watch Ho & Co. x Selten Yum Cha Edition

Today marks the third collaboration between Watch Ho & Co. and Hong Kong-based microbrand Selten. I don't believe we've covered any of Selten's past watches, but last October the brand appeared on my radar after I spent a good bit of time at their booth looking at their watches during theWindUp Watch Fair New York.

It's also when I met Jackie Ho, the founder of the Hong Kong watch-enthusiast-and-collector community Watch Ho & Co. Before today, there were two Watch Ho & Co. collaborations with Selten, the Jui and Jui Bauhinia, both under $1,300 and centered around a distinctive "Mountain" pattern CNC-machined onto mother-of-pearl dials. The Bauhinia edition expanded on the design of the first by offering two iridescent dial options, in either pink or purple, and I'm willing to bet that if you float around watch communities on Instagram, you've definitely seen at least a few wrist shots from collectors online. I have a few friends with these watches, and they look really fantastic in person.

To celebrate the third anniversary of the enthusiast group, Jackie Ho takes the third collaboration, named Yum Cha (the Cantonese word for dim sum), in a completely different creative direction. On paper, this new watch goes much more upscale with handcrafted decoration instead of CNC machining to achieve a hand-engraved motif on the dial, with grand feu enameling on top. But while the previous editions attribute the dial motif to ancient Chinese armor, the inspiration for the Yum Cha edition is much more personal to Ho. "My Por Por [grandmother] raised me as a baby until I was five, then I emigrated," he tells me. "So my earliest memories of Hong Kong were going to kindergarten and just hanging out in the house with her, and then going to dim sum with her." For many of us, even the most ravenous consumers of Chinese food, dim sum might be a once-in-a-while thing. But for Ho, going to dim sum was an event that occurred at least three or four times a week.

"Back then, that was their whole social scene—it was like going out to the bar or going out for a meal, but instead, they would do their tai chi in the morning, wake me up, and then we'd go to dim sum. It was really a core memory for me, and one of the happiest times of my childhood that I can remember," he recalls. As a result, the inspiration translates more literally onto the dial of the new Yum Cha edition, with the hand engraving depicting the subtle hatching and cross-weaving of a bamboo steamer lid. The dials call on Selten's in-house engraver and enamelist, Master Qin, who spends about 8 hours per dial on the engraving itself. Qin carves out the bolder lines of the rectangular weave on the silver dial base, and then adds around 40 parallel lines by hand to each of the approximately 80 rectangles. It's a lot of tiny lines, but the final result is quite impressive in person, achieving the look of a well-used steamer lid with an organic feel. A stippled texture towards the center of each rectangle, paired with those lines, gives the illusion of depth despite the flat surface.

Following the engraving is the grand feu enameling, also applied and fired by Qin and his apprentice, which, over eight layers, turns a beige powdered glass into a rich yet transparent shade of amber that continues with the reference to aged steam baskets. The final result produces an almost fumé effect, with the amber darkening around the periphery of the dial. Still, Jackie Ho tells me that the effect is much less pronounced in the final product, with a more even and gradual dimming towards the edges, in (literal) contrast to the prototype I was able to keep for a few weeks. Finally, the enamel surface is hand-polished to achieve a glossy sheen. Between the engraving, enameling, and polishing, Selten says each dial takes around 16.5 hours to produce, with a heavy rejection rate of almost half of all dials made—not hard to believe compared to many other similarly hand-engraved and enameled dials out there.

The gradient of the dial isn't the only major change from the prototypes, and such iterations offer a glimpse of how much an idea like this is refined even up to launch. While the handset on the prototype I photographed shows a different take on classic leaf hands aptly called "tea leaf" hands in homage to dim sum, the production handset will be longer and broader for an even more pronounced effect, and the crystal will be more domed instead of the more "top hat" style crystal on this prototype. It's sometimes challenging to evaluate a release through a hands-on review when a prototype isn't the final result, but based on the changes outlined, none seem like dealbreakers to me if I were otherwise sold on the execution of this prototype.

The dial is set within a compact 38mm stainless steel case, with a thickness of 9.95mm and a lug-to-lug measurement of 44.5mm. While the overall case design is the same as the one found on the previous two Jui designs, as well as a majority of Selten's product line for that matter, it's actually a millimeter smaller. The silhouette is clean and simple but offers a few interesting details up close, such as a recessed, brushed midcase and generously chamfered lugs. The smaller diameter is a nice touch, but for such a considered dial, it would have been cool to see some additional work on the case itself to further differentiate this release. Water resistance is rated to 50 meters.

The solid caseback also offers another tie-in to the watch community at large, featuring artwork by watch designer and artist Lee Yuen-Rapati (@onehourwatch on Instagram, as you might know him). Engraved around the caseback are the WH&C and Selten brands, a reference to the 3rd anniversary of WH&C's group, and the group's motto "Good Vibes Only." A nifty customization available to each owner of the Yum Cha watch is the ability to engrave a number up to 3 digits on the dim sum table stand depicted in the artwork on the caseback. Inside the watch is the Sellita SW200-2M Power+ movement, a new caliber introduced earlier this year by Sellita that offers a 65-hour power reserve, up from the classic SW200-1's 42 hours. While the name scheme might suggest a subtle change, such as a new mainspring, the SW200-2M is re-engineered quite a bit, including a new gear train and barrel construction. Tying everything together with the overarching story is the included packaging, which consists of a bamboo steamer basket, three handcrafted bamboo coasters, and a warranty card designed to resemble a classic dim sum order card.

The Yum Cha-themed packaging. Image courtesy of WH&C.

The watch looks striking on the wrist. The enamel dial is absolutely gorgeous, with the silver base coming across as much more metallic compared to many of the other colorful enamel dials I've encountered in the past, and in bright light, the amber hue glows brilliantly. There's a really satisfying texture achieved through the rectangular motif and what almost feels like delicate brushstrokes that are, in reality, lines etched in the silver. I think the reason why this execution works so well for me is that despite the very pointed reference to steamer baskets, the actual engraving of the weave isn't too on the nose and, paired with the honey gold enamel color, evokes a feel that reminds me a bit of some marquetry dials I've seen. 

As I alluded to at the beginning, the Yum Cha watch is quite a bit more expensive than the past two collaborations with Selten. It shouldn't be surprising at all, given the amount of handwork for the dial in the engraving and grand feu enamel. Limited to 100 pieces, the watch is priced at $4,950. It's a large step up even from Selten's own Spiral watch with a hand-engraved and enameled dial, but the pattern here is much more demanding to execute and certainly unique in the space. Ho tells me he expects some pushback on the price point, even though the pricing of the Yum Cha accurately reflects the amount of work required for each of the 100 watches. I believe that this is Selten's most expensive watch to date, though you're still getting a lot of craftsmanship for the money.

What draws me most to this release is, of course, the story. While Jackie Ho's upbringing differs from mine, the ritual of family dim sum is a universal hallmark of the Chinese household—whether in Hong Kong, America, or anywhere in between. It's something that instantly resonated with me, and more importantly, represents a shared experience of food and family that transcends cultures and countries. Narrative aside, the very considered execution and production of the Yum Cha elevate what could have merely been a simple marketing exercise into what I find to be a genuinely compelling release.

For more, visit Selten.

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