Kurono 2024 Anniversary Reiwa

On the 5th Anniversary of the brand, the folks at Kurono Tokyo released the ‘Ruri-Numa’ (瑠璃沼) under their Grand Series.

The green on the dial is what Kurono calls, a blend of lapis-green metallic colour which I absolutely love. I am not a "green" person but this green is exceptional. Love it!

According to their website, the dial is probably the most difficult they have encountered to date as they need to ensure the right contrast and right hue.

The centre of the dial is a pitch black, almost lacquer like... at the right angle, the reflective surface is obvious. The only other time they have done this combination is with the first Reiwa Copper back in 2019.

Details are not lost on this last version of Reiwa too - well polished indices...

And the comparison of the seconds hand underside finishing...

And another angle showing the counter point on the seconds hand... certainly well finished and polished - three ticks!

There is everything to like about the Anniversary Reiwa - the colour, the finishing and the overall aesthetics.

Fully sold out within minutes of launch, the 2024 Anniversary Reiwa is definitely a timepiece worth its weight in gold. I hope you like the photos of the Reiwa.

Kurono Chronograph 3 - Hisui

As many of you may know, I am a big fan of Kurono timepieces. Needless to say, I have the full range of the Chronographs starting with the black and white versions.

The latest release by Kurono (receiving in December 2023) is the Chronograph 3 otherwise named the Hisui.

Hisui in Japanese refers to a special jade stone also known as Itoigawa Jadeite. Apparently, it is unique to Japan but commercial mining for Hisui is prohibited. The only way one can get it is through picking them up as loose stones along streams and the good folks at Kurono has included that as a gift. That's thoughtful of them.

I really love the green hue of the Hisui. Coupled with the white and light green subdial, this is perhaps one of the most attractibe Kurono Chronograph.

Overall finishing of Hisui is also good for a timepiece at this price point.

Here's the Chronograph 1 Mark.2 with a brown and chocolate dial (below)

And this the Chronograph 2 White (below)

And the "original" Chronograph 2 released in 2021.

And now the Hisui...

For me, the Hisui is the most attractive of the lot. I am not one for green but this shade of green is charming.

So which one is your favourite Kurono Chronograph?

Kurono Grand Series - What's Your Favourite

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?

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.