URUGA 31 Leather Model "Stone-clamped (Diamond)" [UG02-CBKNGY-PSBD]

The URUGA 31 borrows its case construction from a jeweler's bench, so the Stone-clamped version simply completes the thought.

MINASE holds the case and the crystal together with four voluminously cut clasps, faceted separately and arranged around the bezel much as prongs are arranged around a gemstone. It is a different solution from the box-within-a-box architecture the brand uses elsewhere, and it produces the contrast the collection is built on: hard, sharply cut edges against smooth curvature, including a crystal with a slight vertical curve.

This reference sets diamonds into that design and pairs a gray dial with a black leather strap. The dial carries the horizontal gradation pattern MINASE draws from the Minase River, the waterway running through the valleys of Akita where its workshop sits, and the hour indices are cut on a slant, a shape taken from the crossed front of a kimono, so they throw light unevenly as the wrist turns.

At 31 mm wide, 39 mm long and 9.9 mm thick, it is a small watch by current standards and a properly finished one. The self-winding calibre KT8001, built on a Swiss ETA 2671 and Sellita SW100 base and finished by MINASE, shows the date. Rated 5 atm for splashes.

Perfect for: diamond-set Japanese watches, small automatic watches for slim wrists, black leather dress watches.