The Kurono range has received much success as a microbrand but do not be fooled - they are anything but micro.
The "Grand" series of the Kuronos all come with an Urushi dial. The first to be released was the Grand Akane '茜' (red) in late 2020, followed by the Grand Hagane '鋼' (brown) in late 2021 and the latest Grand Mori '森' (green) was just released in May 2022 as an anniversary piece. Japanese lacquer comes from the sap of the urushi tree which has its origins from China. Over time, the Japanese created their own styles and designs to elevate Urushi lacquerware to an artform.
In fact, the decorative technique has many names (different styles) one of which is also called maki-e (蒔絵), an artform perfected by the Japanese artisans. In maki-e, gold or silver dust is sprinkled into the still wet lacquer to create a pattern - maki-e is found in the Tamenuri maki-e box from Kurono.
The urushi sap that comes from the urushi tree is tapped when an incision is made on the bark of the tree. The sap flows from the cut and is collected. In fact, the raw sap is poisonous when exposed to humans. But over the centuries, tappers have harvested and learnt to handle the raw lacquer safely. The raw sap goes through a process of dehydration and filtration to achieve a clear transparent liquid, ready to be applied as a coating.
With the Grand series, the dial is gold plated and motif printed onto it before the urushi is applied. In this case, I believe they use the urushi-nuri (漆塗) technique which means "lacquer coating." According to their website, several layers of urushi coating is applied before the dial is considered complete.
One of the characteristics of the urushi dial is its high reflective surface as can be seen from the photos below.
Application of the urushi is but the first step in a long process of coating and curing. After the application of the lacquer, each dial is cured for about one month. They are allowed to dry in very specific conditions - a temperature and humidity controlled environment is critical.
Once the urushi is dried, a whetstone is used to smoothen the dial and this is done by hand. Once smoothen, another layer of lacquer is added again by hand. This time, a piece of paper is dipped into the lacquer and slowly applied onto the dial and the resulting dial is allowed to dry for a week.
The final process is one of polishing to achieve the high reflective surface - a fine abrasive paste is dapped onto the dial and the artisan uses their hands and fingers to polish the dial to a high shine.
Three iterations later, we see three different timepieces - all with urushi dial but with different motif and numerals/markers. Even while you clearly examine the Grand Akane and Grand Mori, although they use similar Arabic numberals, they are slightly different. The numerals on the Grand Mori are slanted ever so lightly compared with the Grand Akane. And of course, the Grande Hagane is totally different altogether - adopting "Koji" style character similar to Chinese Han characters. For those who read and write Chinese, you will recognise characters 11 and 12.
For the Grand series, the case back is also different from the regular releases.
Above the case back of the Mori (regular)
Above the case back of all the Grand series
Urushi dials are definitely something special. But that's where the specialty ends - the timepiece still comes with the Miyota automatic movement Calibre 90S5, sapphire glass, 37mm 316L high polished steel case found in the "regular" Kuronos.
Of the three Urushi variants, which is your favourite? Grand Akane, Grand Hagane or Grand Mori?
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