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

Product Information

The cases of their watches are incredibly complex and superbly finished, and house sourced Swiss made ETA movements further customized by themselves, but don’t expect their timepieces to be cheap. Equipped with a Seiko quartz movement, the KUOE OLD SMITH / 90-001 watch is available with a choice of bar index dial or Arabic index dial. The technologies used in the creation process are nothing but high end as well, and the brand simply represents the best of what Seiko’s over a century of experience in watchmaking has to offer. 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.

Grand Seiko watches include some of the greatest marvels of the mechanical watch world, and are certified with a standard of precision that exceeds even the Swiss COSC in its strictness. Credor is a name few have heard of. But their creations are some of the best kept secrets of the Japanese watchmaking industry. The brand is actually part of Seiko, and it’s their show-off child, born in 1974 from a desire to display the best of Seiko’s craftsmanship and horology know-how.He went on to develop an in-house tourbillon in four years. If that’s not an impressive feat, we don’t know what is.

With a case size of 35mm it sounds like its probably a bit on the small side but the cream dial on this example visually doesn’t make it seem that the watch is undersized on my 7 1/2” (19cm) wrist. 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. I've had it on my wrist or bedside table for 24 hours now and the NH35 movement is running at PERFECT accuracy. It has not gained or lost a second since I set it! I don't expect that to last, mechanical movements in my experience do drift as they settle in, but I'm sure it will be more than acceptable whatever happens. Setting it did show some slop in the mechanism, with the hands jumping around a bit as you tried to set things, but I gather that's normal for this movement.Their pieces aren’t by any means spectacular, but pleasant mechanical timepieces that are characterized by reliability and a beautiful simplicity.

The KUOE Royal Smith/90-004 watch comes with a luxurious Italian leather strap with a gloss finish. The Royal Smith/90-004 model is limited to 50 pieces of each color. The fact that every component is manufactured in Japan makes this a unique and interesting piece, because of its blend of artistry and practicality it is the type of watch that could easily become a favorite in anyone’s collection. Kuoe comes from Kyoto and seems more grounded in the traditional, with retro inspired watch designs, pleasant aesthetics, and discreet case sizes. They source their movements from Japanese brands, and put much value on making do with everything local. This review is of the second watch design that Kuoe had to offer, the ’Old-Smith 90-002’ this piece has a decidedly military flair and is strongly reminiscent of the British Ministry of Defence contract watches that were issued en mass to the British armed forces from the 1940’s to the 1990’s and in some cases still to the current day. 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. CitizenHaving owned the Old Smith for that last week I continually found myself admiring the finesse of its tiny subtle design details that started bringing to mind the traditional Japanese art of ’Netsuke’. Future Funk is about the quirky aesthetics, about unique timepieces that look like nothing you’ve seen before. They blend the LED displays of the ’70s with retro futuristic designs, and they do it extremely well. Their watches seem designed with the space explorers in mind, rather than your average earth inhabitant.