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Hajime Asaoka Atelier visit #2 - A Surprise!

Dec 20, 2012,10:32 AM
 

Here is the project he had been working on (thus, delay in launching the 16mm balance wheel watch) and it is time to let the world see what it is.

This is the collaboration watch with Mr. Takashi Murakami - well known artist, same school as Mr. Asaoka and a good friend of his.  MSRP is not known yet, LE of probably 10 or less.  Base model is his first publicly launched SS case Tourbillon (displayed at Wako).


















"Death takes no bribe"
































42mm



And here are his personal collection.  He has a good taste.
















One of the most beautiful 30CH I have ever seen.




Lange as a reference for finishing.


Venus 178 inside.


Cool.


He "adjusted" the wrong pairing of the gears (corrected the individual parts slight "error" - back then the parts were not as precise as they are today).




As for when or how, I will try to keep you posted (or PM to remind me).

Thanks!

Ken
 This message has been edited by KIH on 2012-12-20 10:37:27 This message has been edited by KIH on 2012-12-20 10:38:43


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Thanks yet again, Ken...

 
 By: pplater : December 20th, 2012-15:03
The watch may not be to everyone's taste, but it has a lot going for it. The quality of the lettering on the dial, particularly, is extraordinary. Great photos. It is also interesting to see what watches a watchmaker collects - you did well to think of it... 

I have been following him since ....

 
 By: dreamer8 : December 20th, 2012-17:59
you brought him to our attention. IMHO a great collaboration with famous "pop" artist Takashi Murakami. ( who also collaborated with Louis Vuitton ). I like it a lot. Thank you for bringing the details of this watch to life Ken. I found this vid of the to... 

Audacious comes to mind....

 
 By: Sandgroper : December 20th, 2012-19:29
love the workmanship, the details on the dial, the writing is sublime, what is it? Chinese Lacquer? How do they apply it so to be as even and sharp? Love the little smileys in the eyes of the skulls, very creative minds indeed. Probably not my next purcha... 

The ink uses Japanese Lacquer...

 
 By: KIH : December 21st, 2012-09:33
... according to him, Japanese Lacquer has the strongest surface tension in the variety of inks and shows the best result in the smooth thickness as well as flatness of the letters. Those letters are printed (several times, I assume) by the machine he mad... 

Thank you Ken, very interesting. Cheers. Francois [nt]

 
 By: Sandgroper : December 21st, 2012-17:47

nice Rocky watch! [nt]

 
 By: MattS : December 21st, 2012-00:35

'Nice' memento mori (sounds Japanese)

 
 By: ztirual : December 21st, 2012-02:10
but my preference goes for the 16mm- Many thanks KIH best Z'

Interesting collaboration

 
 By: Mark in Paris : December 21st, 2012-02:44
Maybe not something I would choose for myself but being his own boss allows him many possible interesting LEs (I wish). Thanks for the "bonus" Ken. Cheers, Mark

CORRECTION!

 
 By: KIH : December 21st, 2012-03:32
.. each piece will be "piece unique" and this "series" will be limited to probably equal or less than 10 pieces. So, each piece has its own unique dial design and you could collect them all or.... :-) Stay tuned! Ken

Cool watch, I like it.

 
 By: VMM : December 21st, 2012-04:55
NIce dial and movement, would wear it anytime. Maybe Tim Burton would like to buy one for himself. Thanks for sharing this interesting timepiece. Vte :)

Thanks! Pure Otaku style, yeah... The "Côte de Tokyo", are just asthonishing!!! [nt]

 
 By: pifpaf : December 21st, 2012-06:48

What's the diameter of the watch

 
 By: cen@jkt : December 21st, 2012-11:50
It looks a bit big... cen@jkt

42mm....

 
 By: KIH : December 21st, 2012-16:05
.. and the relatively thin bezel may make the watch wear bigger than it actually is. Ken

I quite LOVE this watch. Thanks! (nt)

 
 By: ei8htohms : December 24th, 2012-21:34
Nt

One of the first things that came to mind...

 
 By: samir530 : January 26th, 2013-11:46
...when I saw this special watch was that its design - with the skulls, the gothic lettering, the smiling faces in the eye sockets, etc. - have similar artistry and motif to that found in a lot of Japanese anime. The popular series, Death Note, which was ...