URUGA 42 Leather Model [UG03-CDLNBL-SSB]

The blue URUGA 42 is the most literal version of the idea behind the collection: a dial that gradates horizontally because a river does, seen under a crystal that curves like the surface of one.

MINASE named itself for the town of Minase in Akita, and the river running through that valley is the source of the pattern. The URUGA 42 presents it under sapphire with a slight vertical curvature, held down by the line's clamping structure of four voluminously cut, faceted clasps rather than a conventional bezel. The reference MINASE gives for those clasps is jewelry, where prongs secure a stone; the reference for the finish is Sallaz polishing, a Swiss-origin hand technique in which a craftsman works each face against a rotating plate until it mirrors without distortion.

This configuration puts the blue dial on a leather strap, which pulls the watch toward the formal end of the line. The steel case is 42.0 mm wide, 48.0 mm long including the lugs and 10.2 mm thick with the crystal. The self-winding MINASE calibre KT7002, based on the Swiss ETA 2892 and Sellita SW300 and finished by MINASE, carries the hands and the date.

Water resistance is 5 atm, for weather and washing up rather than swimming. Blue and steel is a familiar pairing, but the gradation keeps it from settling into anything predictable.

Perfect for: blue dial automatic watch buyers, leather strap dress watch shoppers, collectors drawn to river and water design motifs.