Uruga 31 Bracelet Model [UG02-M01NBL-SSB]

Blue water, steel banks. The URUGA 31 on its bracelet puts a river-patterned dial inside an unbroken run of polished metal.

MINASE draws that pattern from the Minase River, which runs through the deep valleys of Akita where the workshop sits, and lays it across the dial in horizontal gradated bands. Blue is the color that makes the reference plainest. The hour indices are cut obliquely, a shape the brand attributes to the crossed front of a kimono, so the light they return keeps moving.

Four elaborately faceted clasps hold the case and the crystal together, a clamping structure borrowed from the way jewelers secure a stone, and the sapphire between them has a slight vertical curvature. Every mirrored surface on the watch is finished by hand against a flat rotating plate, which is what keeps the reflections true and the edges crisp.

The steel case is 31 mm wide, 39 mm long and 9.9 mm thick. Inside runs the self-winding KT8001 with date, built on a Swiss ETA 2671 and Sellita SW100 base and finished by MINASE. Rated 5 atm for splashes and rain.

Perfect for: blue dial bracelet watches, small case automatics, collectors of Japanese independent watchmaking.