Releases by Kurono, Louis Erard, and MAD Gallery routinely sell for over their initial retail price on the secondary market. That demand being transferred from exclusive, high end, and very low production watches to much more affordable but still quite limited watches has led to what can only be described as some extremely predictable results. Naturally, that is not always the case, but it happens frequently enough that I suspect these watches are often sought after not only by value conscious enthusiasts on a budget, but also well heeled collectors of the “real thing,” the watches that made these independent watchmakers so in-demand in the first place. One of the remarkable things about the Kurono watches and some of the other similar collaborations and releases we’ve seen involving high end independents is just how much of that core design language makes it into the less expensive and more accessible product. And I can certainly own a watch with the Bunkyo Tokyo wordmark on the dial, a shorthand for Asaoka’s Kurono brand, which consists of watches that retail for a fraction of the price of one of the indie watchmaker’s bespoke pieces.įor fans of independent watchmaking who can only view it as a spectator sport, this is a wonderful development, and I’ve often thought about which of my favorite indie watchmakers and brands I’d like to see collaborate with a more mainstream brand or otherwise take a trip down market so the rest of us can get a taste.
I hold out hope, however, that I might own a watch like the one Halter made with Louis Erard, or something with the MAD Gallery stamp of approval on it, which is close enough (for me) to the insanity of an MB&F. What I’m talking about is the burgeoning practice of exclusive, high end, independent watchmakers lending their design language, name, and sometimes even their branding to watches that are affordable to the average collector.īarring a dramatic change in my personal financial situation, I’m not likely to ever own a Vianney Halter, or an MB&F, or a watch with Hajime Asaoka’s name on the dial. As some might expect, I’m not a big fan of uniformity or groupthink in our hobby, but this is an area that I’d be happy to see take off in a bunch of different directions, with mass participation by literally anyone in the space. Kurono Tokyo is part of a trend that is currently one of my favorite things in watchmaking.
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