After decades of Japanese watches being a relatively niche thing for any collectors outside of Japan (a Seiko dominated, budget-friendly quartz market), the rest of what the country has to offer is finally opening up to us. In Japan, as in Switzerland, there is a deep culture of craftsmanship and abiding love of the search for perfection. Match that with a refreshingly different design language to the one we’re used to in Europe, and the rise of Japanese watches is pretty inevitable.
”Japanese watch companies play an outsize role in the industry, and companies like Seiko and Citizen supply many of the movements for interesting and unusual watches produced worldwide,” says well-known watch collector Mark Cho of Drake’s and The Armoury. We only have a glance at any cool microbrand sporting a Seiko or Citizen Miyota caliber to prove it. “Given the country’s emphasis on craft and aesthetics, it is no surprise that Grand Seiko is becoming a real competitor to Rolex, and small, artisanal producers such as Naoya Hida and Masa’s Pastime are ushering in a new era of handmade watches. I am particularly impressed by their deep understanding of proportions in design. It is a subtle sense but incredibly important to the final product,” adds Cho.
With a Grand Seiko flagship shouldering up to French greats like Louis Vuitton in Place Vêndome in Paris, now’s a good time to add a far eastern flavour to your watch collection.
Seiko Prospex ‘Clearwater’ Blue Marinemaster SJE099J1
Reviving a cult-classic name like the Marinemaster is always risky, but Seiko has a way of future-proofing its past. Sporting a raffish steel bracelet, there’s three options all with deep ocean vibes –the delicately sky blue striated dial with a cheeky date window at 4:30 being our pick. ln a more ergonomic 39.5mm case, it reminds us how much we love dive watches for their tough-as-nails cachet as much as anything. £2,990. At seikoboutique.co.uk
Kikuchi Nakagawa Murakumo
