KUOE Old Smith 90-002 No-Date, Automatic NH38 Movement, Black, Replacement Belt Included, sliver, ミディアム

Product Information

The ‘Old Smith 90-002’ manages to capture a major part of the design language of the MoD specification but then goes beyond that and does something very unique it adds a very Japanese level of detail, craftsmanship and artistry. Seiko is probably the most renowned Japanese watchmaker, and it shouldn’t come as a surprise that it’s our number one entry. They were the first to built a quartz watch, leading the quartz revolution, and offering the world a more affordable timekeeping tool, so that everyone could put one on their wrists.

Citizen is among the most powerful watchmakers of Japan, winning its place during the ’70s, when they became one the few to produce inexpensive and highly accurate quartz watches, offering them to the entire world. Two things often suffer when we start dealing with more affordable watches. The first is case finishing. The second is lume. And the Kuoe Old Smith is no exception to this rule. When I asked, I was only told the lume is Swiss and “SO-2.” I’ve never heard of that but based on the results, we aren’t dealing with a Super-LumiNova equivalent here. Indulge me, though: the lume is about as bright as one might expect on the vintage watches from which the Kuoe takes its inspiration–so maybe it’s intentional! (It’s probably not.) Kikuchi Nakagawa is another small and independent watchmaker from Japan, a shared vision of two men who started their journey in other disciplines before finding their passion for making watches.It was there, in that shop, that Uchimura found the strong appeal of classic design. Deeply influenced by this experience, Uchimara was inspired to create a classic design watch brand of his own, with the belief that something that is truly classic will be loved and revered universally around the world and across generations. Japan is not a country that you necessarily think of when it comes to boutique or micro brand watch manufacture, yet about 3 years ago Mr Kenji Uchimura launched his own micro brand watch company, with watches entirely manufactured in Japan.

Naoya Hida is similar to Hajime Asaoka in that it’s a high-end independent watchmaker that brings to life excellent handcrafted timepieces in very small batches, only that it’s a lesser known name in the industry.These high quality made-in-Japan watches comes in affordable price range. The brand itself handles all business activities including design, production and sales of its watches to reduce the costs. Every KUOE watch comes with one year manufacture warranty. KUOE OLD SMITH / 90-001 They try to connect the entire country in their watchmaking process, using materials from several regions and a wide variety of crafts and specialists. The result is that their watch designs are inspired by the entirety of Japan as a country and culture, without being limited to a specific region. After graduating university, Uchimura began working for a watch company in Kyoto –a city steeped in Japanese tradition. For a few years, he gained experience in the business and learned more about watches until he was ready to launch a sub-brand which was dedicated to his idea of introducing the classic design he had seen in those antiques in London into new models of wristwatches.

His creations are incredibly well made, taking design cues from the watches of the 1930s, boasting that old school elegance and beauty that contemporary watchmaking has almost lost. Inspired by antique watches of the 1960’s, this timepiece features a smaller, 35 mm diameter, dome glass and ivory dial. Vintage styled, this sleek and minimalistic watch can be worn by both men and women. Their pieces aren’t by any means spectacular, but pleasant mechanical timepieces that are characterized by reliability and a beautiful simplicity. The indirect drive seconds hand of the Miyota movement was disconcerting at first, but I've gotten used to it: it "stutters" when the watch is shaken, but that doesn't affect accuracy. The rotor is also noisier than I'm used to, and the sound it makes when the watch is shaken can be a little disconcerting as well. As I expected, the movement is "settling in" and now runs about -3 spd; still quite good so no complaint there. If you do hand-wind the watch, the action is smooth as silk. I've worn it three times now during hard rowing-machine workouts and that, at least, hasn't phased it.Orient is one of those big and well known Japanese watchmakers. It’s on par with the likes of Casio in terms of production capacity, only that Orient creates mechanical watches, and not digital ones. There are a few well known Japanese brands that produce watches for the mass market, like Casio, Seiko, and Citizen, but these aren’t the only ones. Citizen