Darren shares his profound journey of acquiring a bespoke timepiece from independent Japanese watchmaker Masahiro Kikuno, a watchmaker celebrated for his traditional, hand-crafted approach. This article details the customization process, the unique artistry of Kikuno's work, and the personal connection forged during the creation of his time-only watch. It offers a rare glimpse into the world of true independent horology and the meticulous dedication behind each unique piece.
Hello all.
I hope everyone enjoyed the holidays and 2015 is off to a good start. For me personally, my year began quite well indeed as my (relatively) long awaited timepiece from Masahiro Kikuno made its way from Japan to the United States and safely onto my wrist.
I first learned of Mr. Kikuno's work reading Ken's wonderful post a few years back introducing the Purists to a talented new watchmaker plying his craft in a country where true independent horology seems to have just recently taken hold. As an admirer of those able to create watches with their own 2 hands, often imbuing the resulting timepieces with traces of the watchmaker's personality and/or culture, I took particular interest in what I saw of the early work coming out of Mr. Kikuno's workshop. His work, at least to my eye, was his and his alone. I was also drawn to the fact that he created virtually the entire timepiece using traditional tools and machinery - even in the scans online one could see the character in his timepieces.
But, as I tend to gravitate towards time-only watches with few or no complications, Mr, Kikuno's "Paper Crane", while fascinating both visually and intellectually, was a timepiece to be admired from afar. As luck would have it, however, soon thereafter Ken introduced us to a simple watch which was then still in the prototype stage. This led to an intrepid e-mail to Mr. Kikuno to see what might be possible, which in turn led to an initial response from Mr. Kikuno's trusted assistant Kenny (who proved invaluable in translating my requests and Mr. Kikuno's responses, and more generally in pushing the project forward). I learned I could customize the dial (bronze within the small seconds register), crown (18k gold rather than stainless steel), the chapter ring applied markers, and various other aspects of the watch. I was sold......
My order was placed towards the end of 2013, and I was told the watch would be ready towards the end of 2014. Throughout the year communication was excellent with updates and scans coming in on a regular basis. One of the more interesting updates along the way was a note suggesting that Mr. Kikuno had ceased taking any further new orders for his time-only bronze watch, as each one simply took too long to create and he had other exciting projects calling to him. Apparently I had gotten in just under the wire. Lucky!
A couple of weeks ago I received the wonderful news - this time from Goro, another wonderful assistant to Mr. Kikuno - letting me know that my timepiece was complete and would soon be on its way. I was also told that my Kikuno timepiece is, at least for the time being, the only example of one of his timepieces within the United States and, if my understanding is correct, anywhere outside of Japan. That will undoubtedly change as Mr. Kikuno continues to gain much deserved notoriety, but the next examples to arrive on this side of the pond will be other models. I believe the total run for his time-only watch ended up around 8 watches.
My first impressions??? I could not be happier with the timepiece. Mr. Kikuno's workmanship and attention to detail are evident throughout the watch. The manually-blue'd hands are bold, striking and perfect against the backdrop of the patterned dial. The shape of the case is also a bit different, and works quite well with the feel of the watch. And what can I say about the dial? I simply can't stop staring at it. The center portion of the dial, I'm told, took at least a week to complete by itself. I truly feel fortunate to be able to marvel at this timepiece (and, of course, wear it).
So, without further delay, here are various scans showing the creation of the case from a single block of bronze, the creation of various movement components and, of course, the countless hours that go into creating, hammering, refining and ultimately finishing the mesmerizing "Mokume-Gane" dial.
Hope you enjoy.
Here are some scans showing all of the painstaking steps that go into creating the Mokume-Gane dial using traditional methods:
And. finally, all of this hard work yields......
Hope you enjoyed this glimpse into my journey.
I understand Mr. Kikuno has something new he will be unveiling at or around the time of Basel - I can't wait to see what it is. In the meantime, I'll continue to enjoy the one on my wrist.
Darren
