Enjoy Watches

Brand history & owner guide

Kew & Cie — Kiu Tai Yu’s Hong Kong workshop

The Hong Kong workshop resolves to Kew & Cie, Kiu Tai Yu’s documented antique-watch and independent-watchmaking practice. 12

This profile covers the maker’s identity, history and documented work. A complete model catalogue is being researched separately.

At a glance

Subject
Independent Atelier 12
Documented work
First Kiu Tai Yu tourbillon 21
Documented work
Mystery Tourbillon 1

Kew & Cie: the repair shop behind Kiu Tai Yu’s independent watches

The Hong Kong workshop resolves to Kew & Cie, Kiu Tai Yu’s documented antique-watch and independent-watchmaking practice. Kiu moved to Hong Kong in 1980; the sources disagree about when he opened his own Kew & Cie shop.

Phillips associates the Kew & Cie opening with 1980. Revolution instead describes ten years in another repair shop after the 1980 move, followed by opening Kew & Cie.

Kew & Cie repaired, bought and sold antique watches; Kiu’s independently signed watches form a related original-making activity. Phillips catalogues a circa-2003 ref. 22 Millenium, 唯吾知足, numbered 8/20, with Kiu’s signatures on multiple components.

Signed case, dial and movement establish attribution, but do not independently prove that every component was fabricated inside Kew & Cie. 12

The work and why it matters

Revolution renders Kiu Tai Yu as 矫大羽 and Kew & Cie as 天仪轩. AHCI lists Kiu Tai Yu as a member from 1992.

Revolution dates Kiu’s first tourbillon to 1991, after his 1990 Basel visit. Phillips dates the Mystery Tourbillon concept to 1993. 231

People, production and attribution

Phillips records Kiu’s lifespan as 1946–2020. Kiu’s AHCI recognition and original tourbillons document a Hong Kong independent-making identity beyond antique-watch retail. 13

Ownership and continuity

The Hong Kong workshop resolves to Kew & Cie, Kiu Tai Yu’s documented antique-watch and independent-watchmaking practice. 12

Watchmakers and designers linked to Kew & Cie — Kiu Tai Yu’s Hong Kong workshop

These people have a sourced relationship to this brand in the Enjoy Watches register. The label beside each name states the relationship recorded; it should not be read as a broader employment or ownership claim.

Identification and service

For an individual watch, record the complete reference, serial, dial, case, and movement markings and compare them with dated primary documentation.

A brand history cannot authenticate, appraise, or establish the provenance of a particular watch.

Evidence and limits

How the claims are supported
  1. reasonable inference

    The Hong Kong workshop resolves to Kew & Cie, Kiu Tai Yu’s documented antique-watch and independent-watchmaking practice.

  2. verified fact

    Revolution renders Kiu Tai Yu as 矫大羽 and Kew & Cie as 天仪轩.

  3. verified fact

    Kiu moved to Hong Kong in 1980; the sources disagree about when he opened his own Kew & Cie shop.

  4. verified fact

    Phillips associates the Kew & Cie opening with 1980.

  5. verified fact

    Revolution instead describes ten years in another repair shop after the 1980 move, followed by opening Kew & Cie.

  6. verified fact

    Kew & Cie repaired, bought and sold antique watches; Kiu’s independently signed watches form a related original-making activity.

  7. verified fact

    AHCI lists Kiu Tai Yu as a member from 1992.

  8. verified fact

    Revolution dates Kiu’s first tourbillon to 1991, after his 1990 Basel visit.

  9. verified fact

    Phillips dates the Mystery Tourbillon concept to 1993.

  10. verified fact

    Phillips catalogues a circa-2003 ref. 22 Millenium, 唯吾知足, numbered 8/20, with Kiu’s signatures on multiple components.

  11. reasonable inference

    Signed case, dial and movement establish attribution, but do not independently prove that every component was fabricated inside Kew & Cie.

  12. verified fact

    Phillips records Kiu’s lifespan as 1946–2020.

  13. reasonable inference

    Kiu’s AHCI recognition and original tourbillons document a Hong Kong independent-making identity beyond antique-watch retail.

Known limits

  • What was the registered English/Chinese business name and ownership structure?
  • Which business directory or registration resolves the 1980 versus circa-1990 opening chronology?
  • Did the business continue after Kiu’s death, and is any website or later tribute project authorised?
  • What do signed movement records and patent documents establish about construction and historical priority?
  • This identity dossier is not a complete catalogue of every watch or reference.

Direct sources

  1. Kiu Tai Yu, ref. 22 Millenium, 唯吾知足 — lot 857Phillips · auction object catalogue · accessed September 15, 2026

    Locator: Relevant passage identified in the supplied research record. External source.

  2. In-Depth: The Evolution of Independent Watchmaking in ChinaRevolution · specialist historical reporting · accessed September 15, 2026

    Locator: Relevant passage identified in the supplied research record. External source.

  3. Kiu Tai YuAHCI · association profile · accessed September 15, 2026

    Locator: Relevant passage identified in the supplied research record. External source.

Corrections

The public correction mailbox has not yet been recorded as tested end to end. Read the reporting format and retain your evidence until receipt is acknowledged.

Read the corrections policy