Kurono Tokyo Anniversary Toki Review

With the latest Kurono Tokyo Anniversary Reiwa opening for orders this week, it seemed like a good time to review my Kurono Tokyo Anniversary Toki, which I ordered back when released in 2021. 

During the pandemic in 2020, I spent a lot of time reading (and writing) reviews on the Fifth Wrist website and listening to their podcasts, which introduced me to the wonderful world of independent watchmakers. It was fascinating to learn about the hand-craftsmanship that Smith, Dufour, Rexhepi, Sarpaneva, Voutilainen, Habring, and others put into their pieces. Of course, George Daniels was often referenced, and so I also bought copies of Watchmaking and The Art of Breguet to pore through, and also watched the documentary The Watchmaker’s Apprentice, about Roger W. Smith and his apprenticeship to Daniels.

Somewhere in this time, I also learned of Hajime Asaoka, the Japanese independent watchmaker who taught himself how to make watches by studying Watchmaking. Living in a city where many of our older public buildings feature art deco design, I loved the art deco inspiration in Asaoka’s work. (In fact, I had sketched out designs for a watch based on a local art deco light fixture that featured an applied ring with bisecting hour indices and leaf hands -- which I would later discover are all features of the Kurono anniversary series.)

Although I am not likely to ever be able to afford a piece from the main line of most independent watchmakers, I was excited to learn of the subbrands offered by watchmakers like Asaoka and Sarpaneva to make their design-language more accessible to enthusiasts like me. (Side note: I’ve been very glad to see Sarpaneva bring back the Vetehinen and introduce the Kaaos in S.U.F. Helsinki, marking the return of his signature design language to that line.) When the next ordering window opened, for Kurono’s 2021 anniversary release, I made sure that I got my order in. 

As it happened, my son was born about a month after my order and, after a stay in the NICU, he finally made it home with us about a month before my Toki arrived. Thus, the Toki wound up as the overture and the finale for one of the most memorable months of my life.

The watch arrived in beautiful packaging, including a vibrant red and gold cloth that featured depictions of the crested ibis, the inspiration for the salmon/coral color of the dial. This was probably the most enjoyable unboxing experience I’ve ever had. 

At 37mm, the width of the Toki is right in my preferred range of 36-40 mm. The 20mm lug width has made it easy to try a variety of different straps and bracelets. I also wound up later purchasing a blue Hiroshige (Kurono’s sister strap company) urushi strap to wear on the Toki. 

The high-polish curves of the Toki are simply beautiful. (My only regret with the high-polish finish is that it is so beautiful that I perhaps have not worn the Toki as often as I should, out of concern for marring that beautiful finish.) The design and details were everything I had hoped when preparing to order the watch. And of course, the design and details are why anyone should purchase this watch. Those enthusiasts more concerned with a higher-end movement will pass over the Miyota 90S5 featured here. For me, however, a dependable and easily-acquired movement was a selling point -- living in a bit of a watchmaker desert, I generally try to avoid acquiring watches with unique movements and an uncertain service future. With the Toki, I will be able to easily find a replacement movement when necessary and then will only need to find someone to carefully swap it in. 

I enjoy photographing the watches that come through my collection, and the Toki is a joy to photograph. In fact, in 2022 Kurono reached out to ask if they could feature one of my photos of the Toki in their annual “Celebrating Collectors” book. And in hopping on their website to prepare to write this review, I found that the photo is also currently featured there.

This leads to something I really appreciate about Kurono as a brand, and why I would encourage anyone looking to buy a Kurono to try to do so directly, if the ordering window permits. Kurono tries to stay directly connected with its collectors, through its social media and projects like the annual collectors photo showcase book or by providing its collectors with early news or access to ordering windows. I would love to add another Kurono to my collection in the future -- I've been hoping they would issue a moonphase, which would seem to be a perfect fit with their overall approach to design. 

It might seem like this review is heavy on the “experience” and “connections” and light on the details of the actual watch itself, but there are two reasons for that. First, the photographs of the Toki do more to communicate its beauty than my words could. Second, although I enjoy learning about the details of my watches and inspecting them through my loupe or my camera, watches that stick in my collection do so because of my experiences with them and the connections they form or participate in with my life events, others in the watch community, and my family. I enjoy the stories behind a watch (even though some may be a bit, erm, embellished at times.), but I enjoy the stories I make with a watch even more. As you can see from this review, the Kurono Tokyo Anniversary Toki has been in many stories for me over the past three years, and I anticipate it will be in many more in the years to come.