Time+Tide
New releases from Bell & Ross, Ōtsuka Lōtec, Oris and more
You can never have 222 many watch releases in a week...The post New releases from Bell & Ross, Ōtsuka Lōtec, Oris and more appeared first on Time+Tide Watches.
Results for Otsuka Lotec
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Time+Tide
New releases from Franck Muller, Seiko, Otsuka Lotec and more
2024 kicks off with an independent-dominated collection of releases.The post New releases from Franck Muller, Seiko, Otsuka Lotec and more appeared first on Time+Tide Watches.
Monochrome
Hands-on – The Otsuka Lotec No.8 Refines Jiro Katayama’s Industrial Language
We wouldn’t go as far as to say that there’s something fundamentally different about the way Jiro Katayama approaches watchmaking. After all, industrial design, be it cars, instruments, or machinery, has inspired and defined quite a few independents. Still, most start from horology and branch outward, yet the mind behind Otsuka Lotec comes directly from […]
Time+Tide
New releases from Ōtsuka Lōtec, Doxa, Grand Seiko and more
In this week’s selection, Japan takes centre stage, with a new Ōtsuka Lōtec and a special limited-edition Grand Seiko...The post New releases from Ōtsuka Lōtec, Doxa, Grand Seiko and more appeared first on Time+Tide Watches.
Time+Tide
Breitling teams up with Collingwood Football Club, Ōtsuka Lōtec debuts its No. 8, TAG Heuer names new CEO
Breitling Oceania was not going to let the USA have all the fun, cementing a new AFL partnership with the beloved Collingwood Magpies club.The post Breitling teams up with Collingwood Football Club, Ōtsuka Lōtec debuts its No. 8, TAG Heuer names new CEO appeared first on Time+Tide Watches.
Video
ARTEL ROTEC V2 Blue Forged Carbon Case In-House Swiss Automatic Big Date Power Reserve RM Homage
Worn & Wound
Otsuka Lotec Introduces the No. 8, a New Design Inspired by Abbey Road Mixing Consoles Featuring Jumping Hour and Retrograde Minute Displays
Otsuka Lotec has emerged as one of the most exciting Japanese independent brands, a corner of the enthusiast world that is greatly expanding at the moment. Otsuka Lotec has found a niche with (mostly) affordable watches with a steampunk aesthetic, with lots of exposed gearing and an overtly mechanical look and feel. I’m an owner of the No. 5 Kai, and it’s one of the most satisfying watches in my collection – there’s really nothing else quite like it, at least under $10,000. Prior to this week, the latest release from the brand was an ultra high end complicated piece with a tourbillon and chiming mechanism with a retail price soaring into the low six figures, but they’ve returned to earth with the all new No. 8, which once again combines complications unexpectedly and gives the wearer a unique view of the mechanism inside. Like the haute horlogerie adjacent No. 9 linked above, the No. 8 features a square case fashioned from stainless steel. Time is read via a jumping hour display on the left side of the dial, and a retrograde minute display on the right (there is also a running seconds indicator at roughly the 12:00 position). Figuring out how to read the time when you first encounter a watch like this is part of the fun, but once you grasp what’s going on, it’s quite intuitive. The current hour and minute are easy to see at a glance if you look for the red indicators that correspond to each. A video posted on Otsuka Lotec’s YouTube channel makes the drama...
Hodinkee
Introducing: The Otsuka Lotec No. 8 (Live Photos)
Inspired by the mixing consoles of the iconic Abbey Road Studios, the new Otsuka Lotec No. 8 features a uniquely inventive design.
Monochrome
Introducing – Otsuka Lotec Presents its New Creation, the No.8 Jumping Hour and Retrograde Minute
Otsuka Lotec… The Japanese brand (or should we call it an atelier) that makes some noise in the global watch collecting community, despite being unavailable outside of Japan – which might partially explain its popularity. A true JDM sensation, Otsuka Lotec is the brainchild of Jiro Katayama, a car designer turned self-taught, independent watchmaker, specialised […]
Time+Tide
Ōtsuka Lōtec bursts through the affordable barrier with the epic, tourbillon-equipped and chiming No. 9
The Ōtsuka Lōtec No. 9 becomes by far the most expensive watch by the young brand, but also the most complicated.The post Ōtsuka Lōtec bursts through the affordable barrier with the epic, tourbillon-equipped and chiming No. 9 appeared first on Time+Tide Watches.
Worn & Wound
Ōtsuka Lōtec Debuts the New No. 9, an Experiment in Haute Horology
Ōtsuka Lōtec had a viral moment over the weekend with the surprise launch of the No. 9, the latest creation from the Japanese microbrand headed by designer and watchmaker Jiro Katayama. These watches have captured the attention and imagination of enthusiasts worldwide for their unique steampunk aesthetic, filtered through a unique Japanese industrial design perspective. Up until now, their watches have been defined by interesting complications (wandering hours, retrograde displays, etc.) at ultra competitive price points topping out at around $5,000, and being genuinely difficult to obtain outside of Japan thanks to extremely limited production and simply not being offered to en masse to those outside the country. With the No. 9, it certainly appears that Ōtsuka Lōtec will continue to make watches that are tough to obtain, but they’ve thrown the pricing structure out the window with this release, offering up a far more complicated watch than anything they’ve previously attempted. The No. 9 is a rectangular watch in a stainless steel case measuring 41.3mm by 26.4mm. It’s 10.35mm tall, which makes this a quite compact package, and all the more impressive given the mechanical complexity. Going through the list of features and mechanical complications here is going to be a bit like the Stefon sketch on SNL (“This watch has everything…”) so let’s just embrace it: across 278 components, this watch features a tourbillon, a jump hour, “rewinding minutes,” a...
Monochrome
Introducing – Jiro Katayama Releases the Otsuka Lotec No.9 with In-House Tourbillon, Striking and Jumping Complications
As of now, and given the noise this brand has made in recent months, most seasoned watch enthusiasts are likely familiar with the work of watchmaker Jiro Katayama, the man behind Japan’s sensation, Otsuka Lotec. A brand that focuses on original displays and industrial designs, we have, over the past few years, covered the No. […]
Time+Tide
The Ōtsuka Lōtec No. 5 Kai is Jiro Katayama’s latest innovative creation, but is it a step in the right direction?
Wandering hours and a wild crystal make this one a real looker.The post The Ōtsuka Lōtec No. 5 Kai is Jiro Katayama’s latest innovative creation, but is it a step in the right direction? appeared first on Time+Tide Watches.
Monochrome
Introducing – Japanese Watchmaker Otsuka Lotec Presents the No.5 KAI, With Satellite Hour Display
A not-so-young-brand that only appeared recently on the international scene and an independent watchmaker that we’ve named Japan’s new sensation, Otsuka Lotec is the brainchild of watchmaker Jiro Katayama. Even though these watches are extremely hard to get outside of Japan (yes, that means pure JDM coolness), the brand has started to gain recognition and […]
Hodinkee
Hands-On: Why This Brand You Can Only Get In Japan – Ōtsuka Lōtec – Won GPHG's Challenge Prize
The Ōtsuka Lōtec No. 6 might be one of the hardest watches to get this year, as a fun and surprising piece of affordable steampunk watchmaking.
Monochrome
Hands-on – The Otsuka Lotec No.7.5, a Japanese Artisanal Watch in a Class of its Own
Jiro Katayama, a car designer turned self-taught, independent watchmaker from Japan, is quickly gaining popularity with his brand, Otsuka Lotec. Despite the brand’s limited distribution – exclusively within Japan – enthusiasts worldwide are drawn to Katayama’s craftsmanship and industrial-meets-steampunk watch aesthetic. Travelling to Japan to secure one of his coveted timepieces, be it the retrograde […]
Monochrome
Hands-on – The Updated Otsuka Lotec No.6 by Japanese Watchmaker Jiro Katayama
In May of this year, we introduced Jiro Katayama, an independent watchmaker from Japan, and his brand Otsuka Lotec, which, despite its distribution being limited exclusively to his home country, has gained recognition across the continents. We had the pleasure of experiencing one of his models, the recently updated Otsuka Lotec No.6, and here are […]
Monochrome
Portrait – Watchmaker Jiro Katayama, the Man Behind Otsuka Lotec and Japan’s new Sensation
Some brands want a global presence, while others are perfectly happy to focus on a much smaller part of the world. Such is the case for Jiro Katayama, a Japanese watchmaker who produces watches under the name of Otsuka Lotec. This low-key but high-impact independent watchmaking atelier has been making the rounds online despite selling […]
Fratello
Hands-On With The Otsuka Lotec No.7.5 - A Jump-Hour Watch With Monochromatic Swagger
As a keen observer of the independent side of Japanese watchmaking, I felt honored when Precision Watch Co. reached out on behalf of Jiro Katayama. Katayama-san is a small-scale watchmaker I have been following for a few years. What I find fascinating is his self-taught watchmaking, a quality he shares with Hajime Asaoka that beggars […] Visit Hands-On With The Otsuka Lotec No.7.5 - A Jump-Hour Watch With Monochromatic Swagger to read the full article.
Hodinkee
Introducing: Ōtsuka Lōtec Goes High Complication With The New 'No. 9'
Indie (and previously affordable) star Jiro Katayama's brand announced the unexpected, with a tourbillon, sonnerie au passage, jump hour watch in a surprisingly compact shape.
Hodinkee
Introducing: The Ōtsuka Lōtec No.5 Kai
The next chapter in the non-conformist horological creativity of Jiro Katayama.
Monochrome
Introducing – Naoya Hida Presents its 2026 Collection, Incl. a Valjoux 23 Chronograph
It is no secret that Japan is becoming one of the most productive hubs for high-end independent watchmaking, with names such as Hajime Asaoka (also behind Kurono Tokyo and Takano), Jiro Katayama (Otsuka Lotec), Daizoh Makihara, and Norifumi Seki (Quiet Club) gaining incredible traction in recent years. Another name that cannot be forgotten is Naoya […]
Monochrome
Introducing – Volumes by Simon LeFrancois Explores Shapes and Materials
Indie watchmaking is very much on the rise, and we see a surge of cool new watches high and low. From the ever-intriguing industrial wonders of Otsuka Lotec to the ultra-artisanal The Owl by L’Atelier Bernards, it all seems to find its audience across the globe. Yet some of these low-volume watchmakers are challenging to […]
Worn & Wound
Inside the Watch Box: Collecting Goals for 2026
If I’m looking back at 2025, it feels like the year I really embraced independent brands across price points. If you’ve listened to the podcast, talked to me at a watch event, or read between the lines of many of the articles I’ve written over the last few years, you’ll know that I’ve become increasingly bored with “big” brands and the new watches they push out to market on predictable release cycles, year in and year out. 2025 was the year that that boredom and frustration really made an impact on the purchases I decided to make. I won’t lie: I went a little overboard on new watches last year. Not having children, owning a car that’s fully paid off, and living in a world where retail therapy is often the most reliable form of comfort will do that to you. In the last year, I picked up new watches from Ming, Otsuka Lotec, Arcanaut, Louis Erard, Selten, Typsim, Christopher Ward, Nomos, and Arken. I’m happy to say that every single one of them is a little weird (Or special? Maybe that’s a better word.) and I’m very pleased to say that in just about every case I have some personal connective tie to the brand or the people behind it. That’s a thing that has become almost essential to me as I consider a new watch: I want to know the people who made it, understand their philosophy, and, if I can, develop an ongoing relationship with them. That’s a goal that’s easier to meet now than ever given the ease with which we all connect on social media, at ...
Worn & Wound
Introducing Kiwame Tokyo, a New Japanese Microbrand
The independent watch space in Japan is one of the most interesting in the world right now. There have, of course, always been a lot of great watches coming out of Japan, but the last few years have seen a real surge in enthusiast focused releases from brands at literally every price point, and they’ve been redefining what a Japanese watch looks and feels like. We recently covered the latest release from Ōtsuka Lōtec, a daring haute horology experiment with a six figure price tag, and this year also saw the unveiling of Naoya Hida’s first perpetual calendar, which, for me personally, is still one of the very best watches I’ve laid hands on in 2025. These watches, and others, make for great examples of the breadth of Japanese watchmaking, but not everything new and interesting is prohibitively expensive. Case in point, Kiwame Tokyo, an entirely new brand that recently came across our radar. Kiwame is the brainchild of Masami Watanabe, a 30 year veteran of the watch industry who began his career importing luxury watches from European brands to his native Japan. Over time, he also became interested in the burgeoning microbrand scene, and the stated goal of Kiwame is to create a “truly Japanese” microbrand that captures the refinement and craft that is often associated with Japanese design principles. Kiwame debuted their first two watches only a short time ago and they quickly sold out of each 99 piece limited edition (an additional run is promised for Novembe...
Monochrome
Portrait – From Tokyo comes Masa & Co, An Unexpected All-Round Watch Atelier
It seems like more and more, we’re uncovering new gems from the land of the Rising Sun. There seems to be a real surge in exciting independent watchmaking with an eye for tradition, craftsmanship and creativity in Japan, and we are loving it! Brands like Otsuka Lotec, Kurono Tokyo and Quiet Club are just a […]
Worn & Wound
Tempo Rubato: the World’s First Mechanical Wrist-Metronome by Gaku Okada
I first came across a short video of the Tempo Rubato metronome on Instagram. Before I could message my contact in Japan who posted it, I already had an email waiting for me in the inbox from him introducing this wrist metronome device and its creator to me. I exchanged emails to understand Gaku Okada’s background and details of his wrist metronome. Okada was born in 2002 in Hokkaido and was influenced by music from an early age, especially jazz drumming. Unlike many watchmakers, he did not cultivate a specific interest in watches, however he did develop a knack for making complex mechanical components. After graduating from high school, his skills brought him to Hiko Mizuno College of Jewelry, for watchmaking classes. During his freshman year, Okada developed the concept of a mechanical wrist metronome. This idea originated from his practical need as a jazz drummer, as he frequently sought a method to quickly and accurately establish tempo before performances. Although electronic metronomes were readily available, he wanted to create a compact mechanical device that could be worn as a watch. As a student at the watchmaking school, Okada started part time work at the Precision Watch Tokyo company, working with watchmakers Hajime Asaoka and Jiro Katayama. Asaoka is a well known master watchmaker and the creator of the Kurono Tokyo and Takano brands. Katayama is the founder of the popular Otsuka Lotec brand. Under their mentorship, Okada developed his skills and acquir...
Fratello
Multiple Displays: Are They The Coolest Thing Since Tourbillons? - Examples From MB&F;, Vianney Halter, Cartier, And More
Even if I do favor the cool expressions of indie brands, the majority of my watches are traditional. But my €2K Otsuka Lotec got the strongest reaction I’ve ever seen at Geneva Watch Days this year. As usual, I was trying to wear an inoffensive but interesting watch. I didn’t want it to clash with […] Visit Multiple Displays: Are They The Coolest Thing Since Tourbillons? - Examples From MB&F;, Vianney Halter, Cartier, And More to read the full article.
Quill & Pad
Karel Rotation By Independent Czech Watchmaker Ludek Seryn: Symmetry In Perfect Harmony – Reprise
To maximize his chances of being invited to exhibit with the AHCI at Baselworld 2019, independent Czech watchmaker Ludek Seryn felt he had to come up with something really outstanding: a watch that would bring him attention from both his fellow independent watchmakers and watch aficionados. With his creative Karel Rotation, it looks like he did just that.
Deployant
Review: Independent Rotation – The Ludek Seryn Karel Rotation
We bring you the details and our thoughts on the new Karel Rotation by talented Czech watchmaker and new AHCI member Ludek Seryn.