Uruga 42 "ICE BLUE" Bracelet Model [UG03-M01NIB-SSB]

On the steel bracelet, the ICE BLUE URUGA 42 becomes a study in reflected light: pale dial, mirrored clasps, polished links, each one handing the light to the next.

ICE BLUE is the one URUGA 42 dial MINASE names as a variant in its own right. The color shows the collection's horizontal gradation at its clearest, a pattern taken from the glittering, unhurried waters of the Minase River in Akita, where the brand has its workshop. Holding it in place is the clamping structure: four voluminously cut clasps, elaborately faceted, gripping the case and the sapphire crystal together rather than a bezel screwed down over them. MINASE's stated model for the idea is the prong setting a jeweler uses to hold a gemstone.

This is the full-steel configuration, dial and bracelet together, in a case 42.0 mm wide, 48.0 mm long including the lugs and 10.2 mm thick with the crystal. The obliquely cut indices, shaped after the front of a kimono, keep the pale dial from ever looking flat. The self-winding MINASE calibre KT7002 drives it, a Swiss ETA 2892 and Sellita SW300 base finished and decorated in Akita, with a date.

Rated to 5 atm, it takes rain and splashes but not swimming. The bracelet gives the watch its full weight and its most complete presence.

Perfect for: steel bracelet automatic watch buyers, ice blue dial seekers, collectors of hand-finished Japanese watches.