Since there isn't a lot of info here about Kuoe watches, I thought there might be interest in a Week On The Wrist update. KUOE is a Japanese watch brand founded by designer Uchimura in 2020. The brand’s classic styled wristwatches take inspiration from the antique hand-wound watches from the 1940’s to 70’s era, made in England. The first model from the brand, the Old Smith 90-001 was launched in April 2020. Presently, the brand offers four collections: Old Smith 90-001, Old Smith 90-002, Royal Smith/90-004 and Holborn. These high quality made-in-Japan watches comes in affordable price range. The brand itself handles all business activities including design, production and sales of its watches to reduce the costs. Every KUOE watch comes with one year manufacture warranty. KUOE OLD SMITH / 90-001 In terms of movements, they do source them from the likes of Seiko and Miyota. When it comes to design, they’ve got solid choices, from automatic chronographs to solar powered pieces, Bauhaus designs, and square shaped dress watches. And the most important price is their accessibility, allowing people to enjoy unique timepieces without breaking the bank. The brand started from the idea of blending the future with the past, an idea reflected in their name, which is composed from mirai (future) and kako (past).

Most Japanese watch brands strive to keep things local as much as possible, helping the local economy through using local materials or employing specific craftsmen from the respective area. Knot follows the same idea of keeping things in Japan, but without focusing on one specific area. Japan is well known for their amazing craftsmanship in almost all areas, and the watch world makes no exception. Japanese watchmakers instill into their watch collections the same values that Japan’s culture instilled into its people a long, long time ago. Kuoe is a Japanese brand out of Kyoto, founded in 2020 but conceived nearly 10 years prior. The brand seeks to recapture the elegance and simplicity embodied by watches from the 1940s to 1970s. The brand now has three models, the Old Smith 90-001 and 90-002 (reviewed herein), and the recently released Holborn. None of the models exceeds 35mm, staying true to their vintage inspiration. Their collections are large and diverse, with a big focus on the vintage and the classiness that watches of the past boasted. They tend to be more conservative than other well established brands, but they do have their particularities, the little details that Orient fans are always expecting from their watches. He went on to develop an in-house tourbillon in four years. If that’s not an impressive feat, we don’t know what is.Citizen is another one of the big four watch brands of Japan, a watchmaking powerhouse the world knows so well. The probably less known thing about them is their philosophy that every citizen of the world deserves to wear a high quality watch on their wrist, which is what the brand’s name stands for. Their inexpensive watches were also tough and resistant to the every day wear and tear, a quality much appreciated all over the world. You surely remember your first childhood watch. If you had one, it was probably a Casio. And very likely one with a calculator. Later on, everyone would want a Casio watch with a digital calendar, which the brand was the first to create. Naoya Hida is similar to Hajime Asaoka in that it’s a high-end independent watchmaker that brings to life excellent handcrafted timepieces in very small batches, only that it’s a lesser known name in the industry. The stainless-steel bracelet tapers from 18mm to 16mm and is of very good quality. It features push pins and a twin-trigger fold-over deployant clasp with three micro-adjustment holes. The five centre links are polished, but the outer links are brushed. Initially I didn’t like the bracelet as it has flat end links. However, after just a couple of days on the wrist, my opinion changed. It’s comfortable, fluid, looks good, and for some reason once on the wrist the straight end links stand out a lot less. Plus, a watch of the period probably would have had straight end links. That said though, I think the watch looks best on tan leather, but it’s great that KUOE gives you plenty of options and you could have some real fun here experimenting with different watch straps. A tan colour top-grain waxy leather would look great for a more casual vibe.

Having owned the Old Smith for that last week I continually found myself admiring the finesse of its tiny subtle design details that started bringing to mind the traditional Japanese art of ’Netsuke’. Their brand’s purpose is to create the “ideal imaginary watch” by bringing together two contradictory ideas, one being the abstractness of metal that goes beyond its functional and practical aspects, and the other being precisely the practicality of a tool watch. The indirect drive seconds hand of the Miyota movement was disconcerting at first, but I've gotten used to it: it "stutters" when the watch is shaken, but that doesn't affect accuracy. The rotor is also noisier than I'm used to, and the sound it makes when the watch is shaken can be a little disconcerting as well. As I expected, the movement is "settling in" and now runs about -3 spd; still quite good so no complaint there. If you do hand-wind the watch, the action is smooth as silk. I've worn it three times now during hard rowing-machine workouts and that, at least, hasn't phased it. The case is really nothing to get too hyped about. Polished all over. Branded crown. Big vintage-style dome. The small dimensions and curved lugs mean it’ll be at home on all but the largest wrists (which may make it look a bit too dainty). While my wheelhouse is definitely 38mm-42mm, I find a certain charm in watches smaller than that, which adds a bit to the wearing experience. Although not remarkable, there’s also nothing to complain about here. And it lets the dial do all the talking.There is the possibility to add a ‘sapphire’ crystal which is a nice (but expensive) option, additionally there is a leather strap and a steel bracelet also available. The elegant and perfectly proportioned leaf-style hour and minute hands have a slight crease running longitudinally down the centre, and the simple, lancet-style seconds hand features a lollipop counterweight. Kikuchi Nakagawa is another small and independent watchmaker from Japan, a shared vision of two men who started their journey in other disciplines before finding their passion for making watches.

So now we have that out of the way, let’s take a closer look at the specs and details… The Royal Smith 90-008 Case Today, Seiko is one of the biggest watch manufacturers in the world, with the capability of producing their own movements, parts, and components, something few brands can actually do. While their minimalistic divers share similar traits to most other divers in the watch world, their chronographs look unbelievably unique, breaking rules and going beyond your expectations. The cases of their watches are incredibly complex and superbly finished, and house sourced Swiss made ETA movements further customized by themselves, but don’t expect their timepieces to be cheap.

KUOE Holborn

Seiko is probably the most renowned Japanese watchmaker, and it shouldn’t come as a surprise that it’s our number one entry. They were the first to built a quartz watch, leading the quartz revolution, and offering the world a more affordable timekeeping tool, so that everyone could put one on their wrists. Credor is a name few have heard of. But their creations are some of the best kept secrets of the Japanese watchmaking industry. The brand is actually part of Seiko, and it’s their show-off child, born in 1974 from a desire to display the best of Seiko’s craftsmanship and horology know-how. The fact that every component is manufactured in Japan makes this a unique and interesting piece, because of its blend of artistry and practicality it is the type of watch that could easily become a favorite in anyone’s collection.