From Kurono to Chrono

The design cues on the Kurono series was what got me hooked on the brand. And to make it an even more compelling purchase, the price point was not overly prohibitive.

The year was 2019 and my first encounter with the brand was when my SA and friend from Sincere told me about this limited edition piece - designed by Mr. Hajime Asaoka, made specifically for Sincere Fine Watches. It was limited to 50 pieces and the dial colour was called "eggshell". He sent me a picture and it looked amazing! I was sold on the timepiece and the brand!

Then when Instagram started popping up with images of the Kurono Midnight Blue, I took a leap of faith and ordered one for myself. This was a start of a journey I would enjoy with the brand - unintended but one I was happily into.

While I ordered the Eggshell from Sincere first, funny thing was that the blue dial arrived before the eggshell did. So I was enjoying the blue sunburst dial. The 37mm stainless steel case is made from 316L high-polished stainless steel. I initially thought 37mm would be a tad small but having owned the series, 37mm is good for my puny wrist.

As with these sunburst dials, a different angle gets you a different hue. Lovely blue depending on lighting condition.

What's the difference between the two? The biggest difference is in the dial - one creamy (almost lacquered) and the other sunburst. Both were limited to 50 examples. In fact, when they released the Midnight Blue, they also released a Mystic Grey which regrettably I did not purchase.

Both timepieces comes with a close case back and housed inside is a Premium-grade Miyota 90S5 automatic movement. All their earlier pieces comes with black calf leather strap and water resistant to 3 ATM.

What I like about the Kurono are the details to the design and the level of finishing at this price point.

The 12 o'clock marker and the railway tracks are nicely polished and finished.

And the slightly bent seconds and minute hands

The minute hand shown above...

And the seconds hand nicely curved at the tip.

Shortly after I acquired the blue and eggshell, Kurono released the Reiwa series to commemorate the transitioning to a new Emperor and therefore a new era named "Reiwa". For this series, two timepieces were released - one in Copper and one in Grey.

At the time of launch, I had wanted both the Copper and the Grey (as a pair) but alas, I did not know you could only buy one of two... lost out on the Copper and ended up only with the Grey.

Disappointed that I had missed the Copper, I started to find out more about the brand. It was at this time that I realised that there was the Japan Domestic Market (JDM) version - not Kurono but Chrono. What's the difference you may ask between the international and JDM version. The logos are spelt differently - "Kurono" and "Chrono".

"Kurono" (in Japanese Character) above for the international market and "Chrono" below for the Japan Domestic Market.

While the watch dials are similar, the only difference is in the logo. Hence, my "pair" is the odd pair of Kurono Grey and Chrono Copper.

Down the slippery road of JDM... I shall leave it here and make another post on the JDM models I have in my collection. Plus, the Chronographs too. All that will be in a separate post coming soon.