HORIZON Mid Bracelet Model [VM06-M01SB]

In 2017 MINASE took the HORIZON apart and rebuilt it smaller. None of the design language changed. The numbers did, and that turns out to be the whole story.

HORIZON Mid keeps the collection's endless-horizon motif, its domed sapphire crystal and the hollow carved into the case flank that MINASE likens to the edge of a Japanese sword. It also keeps the case-in-case construction, in which a movement in its own inner case, a curved dial and an index ring are all enclosed by a second, outer case, so the round dial appears to float inside a shape that is anything but round. Every visible surface passes through Sallaz hand-polishing, the Swiss-origin technique MINASE revived in Akita.

This is the standard steel bracelet reference, without stone setting. The case measures 36.8 mm wide, 45.6 mm long including the lugs and 12.0 mm thick, and the watch weighs about 120.5 grams on the MORE-structure bracelet, whose links can be taken apart and re-polished along with the case. The self-winding calibre KT8001, a Swiss ETA 2671 and Sellita SW100 base finished by MINASE, drives the hands and date behind sapphire with a non-reflective coating, with a sapphire display back at the rear.

Water resistance is 5 atm, so rain rather than immersion. At 36.8 mm this is the most versatile case MINASE makes.

Perfect for: 36 mm automatic watch buyers, unisex steel bracelet watches, first serious purchase from a Japanese independent brand.