Worn & Wound
Review: the Debut Releases from Kiwame Tokyo
One of the most unexpected but delightful trends to emerge in watches over the last few years is the rise of the “Japanese Calatrava” style watch. Even if you haven’t heard this term thrown around, you probably know exactly the type of watch I’m talking about, as there have been several that have emerged relatively recently. The small dress watches made by Kurono Tokyo are an obvious example, and perhaps the genesis of it all. Brands like Kikuchi Nakagawa and Noaya Hida are also part of this conversation at the more luxurious end of the spectrum, and of course there are a variety of affordable watches that sit nicely in this category or are tangential to it, like Kuoe and Orient (which admittedly has been doing this for many, many years). I like this trend because it feels like a small segment of the watch world is pushing back on the dominant force in watches over the last decade: the vintage inspired sports watch. I’m no hater – I own a few vintage inspired sports watches and can appreciate the good ones, but they are so ubiquitous it’s tough to see them as anything but generic. The simple Calatrava style watches coming out of Japan are of course similarly generic, but are a welcome flip side to the sports watch coin, and I like the idea that someone entering the hobby now might find themselves down a rabbit hole of small dress watches as opposed to Submariner-style divers. I’d be very curious what that collector has in their watch box five or ten years...
