Worn & Wound
Kurono Tokyo Goes Small with Four New Limited Edition Watches
This is one for the “better late than never” file. Last week, Kurono Tokyo launched their latest collection of watches, a series of four sector dials that quickly sold out after being made available on Friday morning. These watches, sized at just 34mm, are part of the “Special Projects” series that Kurono has undertaken, which seem to be personal labors of love from watchmaker Hajime Asaoka. On the webpage where these watches were announced, he writes about his own preference for 34mm watches, and not being sure of their mass appeal. When Kurono last experimented with a 34mm case size, the watches quickly sold out at a pop-up event, and that inspired Asaoka to make another run, in a new batch of colors. The near immediate sell out of this new collection would indicate to most observers that he’s onto something. I’m a big fan of Kurono and enjoy that they produce watches in a more traditional size. It just seems to suit Asaoka’s design sensibilities – it’s tough to imagine the Toki, for example, being nearly as appealing in a 40mm case. That said, 34mm is a little small for me, but I have a big wrist, and the 37mm cases that Kurono favors are at the low end of my sweet spot. That means that a lot of people with “average” sized wrists will probably find 34mm to be a nice fit if they’re going for a more classic and subtle look. Kurono cases are always designed in such a way as to maximize comfort and wearability, which I think can largely neutralize ...
