Independents to Watch: Kurono Tokyo is the Worst-Kept Secret of the Independent World
Pulling designs from nature, Kurono Tokyo is creating affordable masterpieces that deserve all the recognition they can get.
Study nature, love nature, stay close to nature. It will never fail you. —Frank Lloyd Wright
There is something intrinsic in all of us that connects us to specific designs and creations. Watches have an unbelievable ability to connect people through their history, design influence, materials used, as well as our innate human need to control the one thing that is out of our control: time.
And no one balances this human connection through design better than Kurono Tokyo and its creator Hajime Asaoka.
The design language.
Sometimes you can just look at a painting, hear a song, or simply put on a watch to fall in love with it. You don’t need to know the specs, the story, and all that went into its creation, you just know you love it, and that is exactly what happened when I first encountered Kurono Tokyo watches. But what I needed to find out is exactly why I fell so head-over-heels for this company because it is not my normal modus operandi.
When researching Kurono Tokyo for this article, I came across a video of its lead designer Hajime Asaoka describing his love for fishing and how standing at the edge of the ocean with the horizon in front of him inspires him to create. He said, “It is astonishing and makes one feel humble toward nature. It refreshes the mind.” He goes on to say that “nature is the teacher. At first glance, nature seems to be a complex system. However, there is no waste, there is harmony in everything.”
It is known, and far from revelatory that many artists look to nature for inspiration. Whether it is the subtle curve of a sea shell or the hard edges of a fallen leaf, artists throughout history have turned to the world outside our walls to help in the creation of what we deem beautiful.
And despite our grade school teacher’s ardent desire for us to believe that beauty is in the eyes of the beholder, it is clear that beauty is programmed into us, and what we deem beautiful is an innate instinct that has long been in our DNA.
Lance Hosey of the New York Times wrote a column describing beautiful design as an evolutionary imperative for human existence and how we are programmed to love “beautiful things.”
Certain configurations or designs possess a universal allure. We are inherently drawn to these designs and configurations found in the natural world: along coastlines and riverways, in the intricate formations of snowflakes and leaf veins, and even within the intricate network of our lungs. To rephrase from the perspective of a biologist, beauty lies encoded in the genes of the observer – the genome defines our sense of home.
It is this design that echoes nature which has allowed Kurono and Asaoka to shine.
The man behind the watches.
Asaoka’s story starts when he graduated from the Tokyo University of Arts in 1990 and established the Hajime Asaoka Design Office in 1992. As his business grew, his clientele started asking about the potential for having Aosaka design them a watch. Having been interested in watches since junior high when his father gifted him a Citizen, he delved deeper into horological studies, eventually purchasing a copy of George Daniels Watchmaking to teach himself watchmaking beyond the design phase.
Asaoka started producing watches in 2005 but it wasn’t until 2009 that he dropped the prototype Tourbillon #1, which was the first Japanese-built tourbillon wristwatch ever.
Fast forward to today and Hajime Asaoka is one of Japan’s most celebrated watchmakers. His namesake watches are all hand-designed, assembled, and finished by Asaoka himself, but these come with the expected price tag and wait time.
The unfortunate reality for many independent watch enthusiasts is that for many it has become a spectator sport. With many wait lists approaching multiple years and prices approaching high 5 to 6 figures, one can rarely get their hands on these one-off masterpieces.
Asaoka, in turn, created Kurono out of a desire to make a watch he could wear himself as his bespoke watches are all spoken for and essentially unavailable for many years to come.
The watches.
His watches echo the concept that nature appears to be simple but is far from it. Yet when one pulls back from the minutiae and chaos in which nature revolves, one can find solace and comfort in the harmony in how everything works together.
There is no difference in the designs of Kurono Tokyo watches. They brilliantly create simplicity in the inherently complicated world of watches. And I believe, although my answer may change by the minute, it is in this ‘ordo ab chao’ that Kurono truly shines among the rest.
Kurono essentially has four lines/series: The Complications, Grand, Classic, and Special Projects. All of which are currently sold out on their website.
Each series presents a handful of different watches with varying complications and dial designs, however, all inspired by vintage aesthetics, size, and in alignment with nature.
The Complications.
There are three GPHG nominations in the Kurono’s Complication catalog. They include The Chronograph 1, Calendrier Type 1, and the GMT 1. In this series, there is also the Chronograph II in both white and black, which Asaoka declared was his favorite design and the most difficult to create as he looked to honor the chronograph masterpieces of the past.
The Chronograph II White, nicknamed “Shiro” is described as “sophisticated simplicity” according to their website. This watch went through a drastically longer prototype period than others in the collection and from it, they were able to accomplish a higher visual definition and greater depth of field due to a thicker lacquer, and incredible light refraction from the concentric guilloche and parallax overprinting. The brilliance of the white dial was achieved by fine sandblasting followed by silvering.
And despite my previous rhetoric regarding design, the movement is nothing to thumb your nose at either. Asaoka opted for the NE86 mechanical chronograph caliber, crafted by one of Japan’s highly regarded movement manufacturers. Recognized by Seiko Instruments Inc. as its latest flagship chronograph movement and succeeding the 6S, this premium caliber comprises 311 parts, integrating classic chronograph features such as a column wheel, vertical clutch, and a “magic” lever winding system. Notably, it incorporates a distinctive three-pointed hammer system that initiates, halts, and resets all three wheels simultaneously, enabling continuous advancement of counters rather than occurring solely at one-minute intervals. Moreover, unlike the conventional method of driving minute and hour counters from the chronograph seconds wheel, each counter is independently powered by its clutch, enhancing accuracy and ensuring prolonged durability. With a power reserve of 45 hours, this mechanical marvel stands as a testament to precision and endurance.
The Grand Series
In this series, I have a clear-cut favorite. The 2022 Anniversary Grand Mori is a stunning time-only 3-hand watch but it’s the dial that makes even the most particular collector swoon in amazement.
The 2022 Anniversary Grand Mori showcases a handmade urushi finish over a gold-gilded dial and truly embodies the principle of “nature is the teacher” – a philosophy close to the heart of Asaoka. Drawing inspiration from the forest canopies, the dial’s pattern mirrors the gentle unveiling of sunlight through layers of trees. The metallic green hue of the dial not only captures the essence of foliage but also accentuates the intricate details of the pattern from different angles and lighting conditions, creating an enchanting visual experience with every gaze.
Few artisans at the master level continue to practice the ancient art of urushi craftsmanship in Japan. From crafting unique self-cut tools and meticulously preparing materials to the precision in applying urushi on the dial and the final polish done by palm and fingers, each handmade urushi dial demands months of dedicated effort. With a history spanning over 10,000 years, urushi has been a revered lacquer in Japan. The sap extracted from lacquer trees undergoes refinement and coloring with pigments and other elements, resulting in a product celebrated for its exquisite finish and enduring quality.
Urushi possesses a subtle yet distinctive characteristic – exposure to natural and UV light causes it to gradually brighten over the years due to moisture loss, adding a unique dimension to its allure.
This watch is truly one that was inspired by nature and made directly from nature.
The Classic Series.
Outside of the Chronograph II these watches are probably the most well-known and circulated online. The most prominent being the 2021 Toki “Salmon” dial. However, when you see this watch in the flesh it is far from just a salmon dial time-only watch.
A captivating radial sunburst design graces the dial, emanating a remarkable spectrum of metallic coral hues that span from “deep crimson to vibrant vermilion red.” In specific lighting scenarios, a subtle hint of purple emerges, adding to its allure. The color palette of the Toki dial draws inspiration from the Japanese crested Ibis, a symbol of good fortune and happiness. The bird’s feathers, reminiscent of the colors of a rising sun, influenced the distinctive shades that adorn the dial, creating a symbolically rich and visually stunning timepiece.
When developing this watch the ultimate color outcome remained unpredictable, evolving as the shade dynamically shifted based on the paint thickness, revealing itself only after physical application. Engaging in countless samples and experiments involving varied paint thicknesses and mixes, Asaoka persistently refined the gloss layer and other watch elements until they met his exacting standards. Under white light, the dial’s purplish-coral tones command attention, while yellow light enhances its golden hues, transforming its appearance from playful to refined. The meticulous adjustments result in a dial that captivates with its nuanced color interplay under different lighting conditions.
The Special Project Series.
This is a run of 34mm Art Deco-inspired time-only watches that stand out among the rest of Asaoka’s lineup. Each color variation features a bulls-eye design and gives off the feeling you are wearing a new old stock piece. Everything about this watch from the name to the dial was meant to honor and project simplicity at its finest, but its creation and manufacturing were far from simple.
Crafted from 316L stainless steel, the 34 mm case distinguishes itself through a meticulous forging process, a consistent practice across all Kurono models. The die-pressed case, a result of this forging technique, boasts increased density, hardness, and overall robustness.
There are generally two types of forging methods and each presents their advantages. Hot forging facilitates shaping, especially on harder metals, as they soften under heat. On the other hand, cold forging achieves tighter dimensional tolerances and superior surface finishing.
Kurono employs cold forging for its cases, compressing micro air bubbles in the metal and minimizing visual imperfections on the polished surface, resulting in an almost mirror-like case.
The dial of the timepiece is curved down towards the edge, a departure from the flat dial preference of modern general-purpose movements. To accommodate this, Asaoka ingeniously designed a dial profile tailored to work seamlessly with the movement. The hour and minute hands, along with the Arabic numeral indices, feature meticulous luminescent application, a design innovation that involved close collaboration with the supplier to ensure stringent quality control.
Buying Controversy
If I have any grievance with Kurono it has to do with their availability and ordering process. Buying a Kurono is akin to getting your name on the list at Lucali’s. You have to be in the know and at the right place, at the right time. It’s not uncommon for a company to make a limited edition or limited run of a watch. But what Kurono does is open up pre-orders for 10-minutes only and produce as many watches as orders received. They also do not number their watches, or release the amount made to dissuade flippers.
I appreciate the sentiment and goal of trying to rid the buying pool of speculative purchasing, but a 10-minute window creates a logistical logjam for any potential buyer. In turn this has forced secondary prices to skyrocket over MSRP. At the time of writing roughly 86% of the Kurono watches for sale on Chrono24 were listed for more than double the original cost.
Traditionally Original Style
I have a friend who stands by the statement that originality is dead. And I have to say in our over-connected world he would be right 80% of the time. But every so often someone comes around who creates truly original art. Art that transcends generations and finds its place in the hearts and minds of discerning collectors everywhere. Despite Kurono being young in the grand timeline of horology, they have created timepieces that will stand up to the bigger watch houses. They create watches that honor the past but forge a new path into the horological future.
When asked about his growing notoriety and burgeoning legacy, Asaoka responded, “I want to be remembered as a person with a stylish way of thinking.”