I met Hajime Asaoka at Baselworld in about 2017 and was immediately impressed by this humble independent watchmaker from Tokyo. After graduating from the school of Fine Art in the design department of the Tokyo University of the Arts he taught himself watchmaking, eventually becoming a member of the prestigious AHCI. He creates a very small number of superlatively made timepieces with flawless movements and dial finishing whose prices, when you can find them, range between AUD 35’000 and AUD 185’000…

In 2019, Hajime sought to introduce a more affordable watch line to the market to satisfy the many fans of good Japanese watch design with a more modest budget, hence the Kurono brand (Now marketed under Kurono “Bunkyo Tokyo”, after the Bunkyo ward in central Tokyo). He quickly found that his watches were being snapped up by collectors each time he released a new model, and had to introduce a sales model whereby new watches were released during a very limited time window (10min for example) but without numbered Limited edition serial nos, thus avoiding the mad speculation that flippers were indulging in with his great-value-for-money watches. The first models where simple time-only watches with superb strikingly coloured dials (see Kurono Tokyo “Toki” model also for sale by Geneva Blue) however the more recent renditions have included complicated triple calendars and stunning chronographs such as this one.

The “HISUI” takes inspiration from a piece of natural jadeite collected along the coast of Itoigawa years back. The white-green Itoigawa jade (or 'hisui') is unique to Japan, and constitutes all jade used in Japan since the Jomon period 7,000 years ago. Because jade mining is banned domestically, Itoigawa jade can only be picked up as loose stones that have been washed down by streams from the mountains, to the pebble beaches of the Jade Coast.

The chronograph 3 HISUI is highlighted by a jade-green band around the primary indices. Pointillism technique was applied for the jade-green radial to deliver an expression of the stone texture of jadeite. It is then imbued with micro-metallic particles to mimic the mineral inclusions in raw jade. A final coat of clear glossy lacquer is then applied to seal it.

The subdials at '3' and '9' are guilloche-engraved radially and finished in light turquoise. Together with the slightly off-white lacquer dial, these three textures and colors come together beautifully to portray the Itoigawa jade.

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