I was really intrigued by their design and really liked the murakumo but after looking through their website I got quite “weary”.

To start with their lead times are currently 132 to 144 months, with a 45% deposit. That seemed a bit insane to me but I thought it might be understandable since their a small operation and if everything is done by hand.

However, reading along, literally every single part of their watches are made by outside companies, case, movement, hands, dial. They only seem to do the assembly and finishing, along with design I’d presume. And the watch has a closed caseback, so the movement finishing doesn’t even matter.

I don’t mind a company not using in-house movements. And I expect a microbrand that costs a couple hundred, maybe a few thousand, to only do assembly and finish. But for 20k+, I’d expect at least some manufacturing actually being done by them. I also don’t really understand the ridiculous lead times, in that case. I’ll give them credit though, as their extremely transparent on their website about everything.

I was really excited by their watches but the more I read, the more disappointed and turned off I got. Am I completely wrong here? Would love to hear if anything actually has one of their watches. Or just some opinions.

  • ilkless@alien.topBEnglish
    1·
    1 year ago

    It is in that tier of esoteric independent watchmaking that is for those who don’t just buy a watch – they buy a maker and the story.

    Outsourcing to specialists is actually a historical legacy of Swiss watchmaking before industrialization. Even now there are small independent workshops or artisans obsessively dedicated to making 1 aspect or component used in watchmaking for B2B clients.

    The prime example is Jean-Pierre Hagmann for watch cases. Google his client list before he went in-house at Akrivia.

    What is absolutely insane with the Kikuchi is the hand-done black polishing of the case and hands. Let me put it this way, even Patek only does this for some small movement components. These guys are doing the same, at an even higher level of artisanship, for an entire watch case and intricate large watch hands.

    This tier of watchmaking is for people with the sort of spare time, inclination, disposable income to travel to Switzerland at a whim with their other watch buddies with 3-500k in essentially bespoke time-only watches from esoteric indies that cost more than a Patek high complication, bundled up in a watch roll, wining and dining the likes of Vianney Halter or Voutilainen.

    • JeffTheExodon@alien.topOPBEnglish
      1·
      1 year ago
      • they buy a maker and the story.

      I guess that might be a bit that I’m missing. My first priority is the watch itself, the makers story, ideology, etc comes later. I just think that too often companies use a lot of fuff to distract from the actual product.

      Focusing on one part of the watch to absolut excellence is something I completely understand. And their black polishing is most definitely gorgeous. But I think the whole of the watch should still be considered and I think in this case other aspects of the watch suffer a bit. I’m sure tastes and points of priority differe but a well finished movement is just a must-have for me, for a dress watch at this price point. And I’d be completely fine with seeing a well finished voucher movement, their great. But hding it a away is just not something I personally understand.

      I gotta say, you kind of loose me in your last paragraph. It sounds a bit pretentious and like something, I’d roll my eyes at in a hodinkee article. It’s still just a watch we’re talking about here.

      Just seems like it’s not the brand for me. Appreciate your insights.