A-1b Red Mars Annecy
Est. $600 USD
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It's a specially customized version of the A-1b, and one and only. - The Red Urushi- This dial is made on our original Japanese washi dial. I applied several layers of Urushi, Japanese lacquer. Which can be taken out of Urushi tree, but one tree could only produce 200 g in a year. Therefore some call it "blood of tree". Urushi is also an important base of the Kintsugi repairing as well. -Photo of Yu Ando applying Urushi, taken by Kintsugi Japan EU Branch After each layer of Urushi you have to wait until the applied Urushi hardens, in a "室 /muro" a space made for hardening. Urushi requires a warm temperature and humidity around 80 percent, and a few days of time in that space. After each Urushi application and hardening process is sanding, using sandpapers 800 grit to 10000 grit, depending on the surface texture I wish to achieve. Then the next layer of Urushi will be applied. As for this piece, I left some parts of the surface to be more bumpy, and this reminded me of the red planet, so I named it Red Mars. "Annecy" is a name of a city in Southeastern France, and I was invited to exhibit my watches in 2025, and this watch was made for it. The Price and Philosophy The price of this watch is high mostly due to it having the Urushi dial, and this watch being piece-unique. It takes a lot of time and effort, and that is what you see in the price. I want to keep this Urushi tradition and history alive and pass it on to the future generations, by using Urushi, and let people know about Urushi. I understand that some people would not want to spend certain amount of money for "a basic movement" such as this Seiko Instruments / TMI NH38 Automatic, and prefers a Swiss movement etc. But my philosophy here is to provide something of a value as affordable as possible: ...the challenge and the goal for the Deutsche Werkbund was to produce high-quality product with contemporary design at an affordable price, for many, and not only a few. That is the sense, and the thinking behind the Deutsche Werkbund- Martina Etti, Head of International Sales Nomos Glashütte, 2018 The NH series is popular worldwide and, possibly the most ubiquitous automatic movements in the world. It is a design that is highly reliable due to its lack of unnecessary elements, robust, efficient, free of ornamentation, and capable of being mass produced and sold affordably. And the very fact of its widespread use serves as proof of its functional beauty, reliability, practical elegance, and excellence as an industrial product, echoing the principles of the German Werkbund and the Bauhaus. And the combination of the trustworthy mass production movement, allows this watch to have the hand-crafted elements without making it too expensive. Also the cost wise, the maintenance / repair / replacement cost for the NH movement would be lower than of the Swiss. Also I would like to note that this watch was put together in Finland, by a Finnish watchsmith. Dial: Unique dial, Japanese natural Urushi applied by Yu Ando on our Japanese Washi paper dial Case: A-2 Assembly: Assembled by a Finnish watchsmith, in Helsinki, Finland Movement: Seiko Instruments / TMI NH38 Automatic Strap: Hand-made in Austria, Hirsch OSIRIS Calf Leather with Nubuck Effect Beige