KUOE

For a while now I’ve seen pictures of beautiful vintage inspired watches with the unwavering quality of the Japanese. Kuoe Kyoto started in 2010 by Kenji Uchimura, while studying in the United Kingdom, he entered an antique shop and fell in love with watches that were on display, a line of watches from the 1940 to the 1970s.

With the inspiration of these watches Kuoe Kyoto was started. The inspiration is extremely evident when you look at their watches, but also paying homage to Kyoto and its simplicity and heritage.

On my last trip to Japan I spent a couple of days in Kyoto just so I can visit their flagship store. So I made my way to the Tohbeh Building in Kyoto and was surprised by the crowd, the store was PACKED and rightfully so. You walk in and there are tables filled with every model and every strap/bracelet available to build the watch you want, and that’s something that makes Kuoe special. 

After doing my homework before I walked into the store I had already made up my mind on which model I wanted and how it would look like when I am standing at the cashier.

That decision was easy, I went with the Old Smith 90-002. I chose the 35mm case size rather than the 38mm case size because I wanted it to be true to the vintage look. When it came to the dial color out of the options available (Cream, Black, Blue and Green) I was a bit torn between the black dial and the green dial. Should I stay true to the vintage motif of the watch especially when it comes to the 90-002 with its visual cues coming from military watches, or go in a different direction and go for something different, which is exactly I did. I went with the green dial. The indecision kept growing if I’m being frank, because it was either get the watch one a brown leather strap or on a five-link bracelet, but my love for having my watch on a bracelet rather than a leather strap because its easy to get a strap than it is to get a bracelet that fits a watch. 

Let’s talk about the watch. The watch is a 35mm polished case, with a minimal bezel and something hard to find in the price range of the watch, a sapphire crystal with AR coating. The dial is in a rich green color with a deep grain textured dial making it pop in every angle you look at it. The dial has Arabic numerals in a cream color to keep with vintage motif, and painted orange lume on the indices, hands and the lollipop style seconds hand. The five-link bracelet is a straight end link of bracelet. Powered by the reliable Seiko NH35 automatic movement with a hacking seconds function available and a manual winding function. I am surprised by the quality of the watch the case is solid the bracelet is good and the watch does not feel cheap at all!

The watch looks beautiful on the wrist and just perfect on the wrist in any and every angle. The contrast of the white numerals on the green dial especially with textured dial just makes the watch beautiful.  Every time I put the watch on my wrist I appreciate the attention to details the Japanese put in their craftsmanship. It’s a simple design that speaks true to Uchimura-san’s vision and love for vintage watches.