Kurono Tokyo Grand Series 2024 Anniversary Reiwa CB003G

Kurono Tokyo was founded in 2019 to give collectors access to the work of Japanese independent watchmaker Hajime Asaoka, a certified Gendai No Meiko Master, at more accessible price points. Every release since has sold out at launch. The brand has been nominated at the Grand Prix d’Horlogerie de Genève in 2020, 2022 and 2023, and individual Kurono pieces have shared the stage with Asaoka’s handmade atelier works at Phillips, Christie’s and Sotheby’s.

The 2024 Anniversary Reiwa is the most complex piece the brand has ever produced, and the last of its kind. The Reiwa was first introduced in 2019, brought back one final time for Kurono’s fifth anniversary, and will not be made again. Inspired by Ruri-Numa, a volcanic lake whose water carries a rare lapis-green pigment, Asaoka set out to capture a specific colour transition on dial: metallic lapis-green at the periphery bleeding into a deep black mirror at the centre, achieved across a single cylindrical dial plate with steep curvature at the perimeter. Two entirely separate finishing operations, one surface. In 2019 the yield was already considered low. For this edition, with its far greater colour contrast, only 5 in every 100 dials passed inspection. Each hand is mirror-polished and bent by hand to follow the dial’s exact curve. The 7mm case is entirely high-polished, a hallmark of Japanese haute horlogerie, and signed on the caseback with Asaoka’s personal seal. This example is brand new and unworn, acquired directly at release.