URUGA 42 Leather Model [UG03-CDBNGR-SSB]

Green dials rarely stay one green. On the URUGA 42 the color runs in a horizontal gradation, so the tone moves as the light does and no two glances agree.

MINASE takes that pattern from the Minase River, which runs through the Akita valley where the workshop stands and gives the brand its name. The URUGA 42 holds the dial under a sapphire crystal with a slight vertical curvature, secured by a clamping structure rather than a screwed bezel: four thickly cut, multi-faceted clasps press case and crystal together, an idea lifted from the prong settings used in jewelry. MINASE sums the line up as mature elegance born of dazzling contrast, the contrast being between cut edges and smooth curves.

This reference pairs the green dial with a leather strap, which warms the whole watch and softens the machined geometry of the case. That case measures 42.0 mm across, 48.0 mm long including the lugs and 10.2 mm thick with the glass, in steel finished by hand. The movement is the self-winding MINASE calibre KT7002, a Swiss ETA 2892 and Sellita SW300 base finished and decorated in Akita, with a date.

Water resistance is 5 atm, meaning rain and splashes only. Like all MINASE watches, it is essentially made to order and hand-assembled one at a time.

Perfect for: green dial automatic watch buyers, leather strap wearers, collectors interested in small-workshop Japanese watchmaking.