Whether it is the artistic discipline of ikebana or the mindful application of wabi-sabi, the Japanese have a particular way of doing things that sets them apart from the rest of the world. It is an endlessly fascinating aspect that extends even to the timepieces they create.
Uniquely Japanese elements seep into every creation, be it from a major name like Seiko or an independent watchmaker such as Naoya Hida. Both command a cult-like following for their craftsmanship comparable to, if not better than, their more famous Swiss counterparts. The creative artistry often leaves one in complete awe—think a minute repeater replicating the sound emitted by a traditional wind chime or the highly prized urushi lacquer using sap from a tree.
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This year, there are three timepieces by independent Japanese watchmakers among the finalists at GPHG, touted as the Oscars of watchmaking. Let’s get acquainted with the watchmakers and their nominated timepieces.
Hajime Asaoka
Hajime Asaoka
Men’s nominee: Tsunami “Art Deco”
The most famous name among the three, Hajime Asaoka is a self-taught watchmaker who has been making watches since 2005. Proving to be a natural talent, he would release an original tourbillon wristwatch, the first from Japan, only four years later. Asoaka is a member of the Académie Horlogère des Créateurs Indépendants, a community of independent watchmakers committed to the preservation of traditional watchmaking and the development of new talents.
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Hajime Asaoka Tsunami “Art Deco”
Asaoka is nominated for the Tsunami "Art Deco", a charming 37mm steel watch with a dial of vertically contrasting silver, azure, green and blue complemented with handmade and black-polished hands. The seconds counter at 6 o’clock elevates the overall aesthetics with its Zen garden-inspired radial guilloché.
The manual-winding movement is endowed with a 40-hour power reserve courtesy of its large 15mm balance wheel, a trademark of Hajime Asoaka. The wheel hides a ‘secret’ posing method that allows for symmetrical oscillations without peripheral weights.
Jiro Katayama
Jiro Katayama (Photo: otsuka-lotec.com)
Challenge nominee: Otsuka Lotec No.6
Product designer Jiro Katayama worked in the automotive industry until he purchased a lathe machine through an online auction. Since he couldn’t produce a car in his kitchen, he decided to try his hand at making watch cases. The work intrigued him so much that he started teaching himself how to make watches through Google and YouTube. He sold his first watches in 2012, under the name Otsuka Lotec.
Otsuka Lotec No.6
The Otsuka Lotec No.6 features a fan-shaped meter with retrograde hour and minute hands rotating on a single axis, ensuring that the hands return to ‘0’ simultaneously when they reach ‘12’. Nominated in the Challenge category for watches retailing at CHF3,000 (about US$3,543) and below, the industrial chic design alludes to Katayama’s background in automotive design.
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Kazuo Maeda
Kazuo Maeda Heures Universelles
Men's Complication nominee: Heures Universelles
Little is known about Kazuo Maeda, but on his website, he states that his goal is “to design impactful, consequential timepieces, each pioneering in complexity and materials”.
Heueres Universelles is a world-timer that reimagines watchmaker Louis Cottier pocket watch designs. Interestingly, the cities are named according to how they were known at the height of the Art Deco era in the 1930s. The names are grand feu enamelled on the bezel on a case of tantalum-tungsten alloy, the first time the highly durable material is used in watchmaking.
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