From Kyoto to Kuwait Kuoe Old Smith 90-001 Tokei Ronin Edition

I’ve known about this collaboration since its inception, and it’s been tough keeping it a secret. I’ve talked about Kuoe in my past blog post, and the whole experience of purchasing my Kuoe Old Smith 90-002 from their Kyoto Boutique. It was truly an experience that I enjoyed, but I wasn’t the only one to enjoy that experience. My dear friend Salem Al-Mutawa, aka Tokei Ronin, who I have mentioned numerous times on here about being my watch addict enabler, felt the same way when he visited the Kuoe Boutique in Kyoto.  That’s when it clicked with him, two bring the two cultures together, and attempt at a collaboration between his vision of a watch he had in his head and Kuoe, bringing Kyoto and Kuwait together.

I’ve known about Salem’s love for the Seiko Spirit SCVE003 (AKA the ‘Rising Sun’) and the Blue Dot variation as well, hell he wasn’t the only one who found the beauty in these watches and simplicity in its design. I leaned more towards the ‘Rising Sun’ due to it being the colors of the Japanese flag. Those two watches were the inspiration for the Tokei Ronin’s collaboration: with 35 pieces for the red version 25 pieces for the blue version.

This photo is taken by my dear friend @urwrist

The model of the watch is the Kuoe Old Smith 90-001, powered by the Seiko VD78A quartz movement. Sitting at 35mm case size making the watch sit perfectly on my wrist. The dial for both watches is in a clean white color, with applied polished indices, with only one difference between the two being the color of small seconds hand sub-dial, one in red and one in blue. Kuoe didn’t just leave the sub-dial colored, but it has this beautiful rippled effect making the colors pop even more. Both watches are on a black Italian leather strap to pull everything together nicely.  Featuring a sapphire glass that makes the details in the watch more visible.

Both watches have something unique that Kuoe has never done before, and that’s having Arabic language on the watch. Kuoe and Kyoto written on the dial in Arabic, also in Arabic is: -

·       Made in Japan on the dial and the case back

·       Quartz Movement on the case back

·       Tokei Ronin Limited Edition on the case back

·       50m Water Resistance on the case back.

·       Kuoe on the case back and the crown

Sub Dial and Arabic writing

Kuoe Old Smith 90-001 in red

Kuoe Old Smith 90-001 Case back

Kuoe Old Smith 90-001 in red

But the bridge between both cultures goes further, with the name of the owner and the number out of 25 engraved on the case back in Katakana. This isn’t just a watch it’s a statement towards the deep connection between the two nations that date back to 1958.

This is my second Kuoe watch and the experience of owning it may be different from purchasing it at the boutique, but owning a watch that is part Japanese and part Kuwaiti makes this watch extremely special, not just for me but for my dear friend Tokei Ronin as a big step forward for him and his vision.