Urushi Series SHIBO-URUSHI “DIVIDO ~Metallic Haze” Rubber Model [VM14-RBKKA2-SSD]

Tin, sprinkled over lacquer relief and then ground flat, produces something between mist and metal. That is the MINASE Urushi Series shibo-urushi dial “DIVIDO ~Metallic Haze,” here on black rubber and weighing about 91 g all in.

MINASE is explicit that the image is undefined on purpose, offered to the viewer to interpret. The technique makes that possible: lacquer thickened with egg white sets into a deliberately uneven surface, receives its color and its metal, and is then polished level, so what you see was formed rather than drawn. It sits in the JAPAN ART COLLECTION alongside the maki-e dials, which work the opposite way by rendering a recognizable motif.

The DIVIDO case is one of MINASE's strangest and best. Four lugs sit above the case in a partition structure that divides its upper and lower halves, and the case-in-case build leaves the movement visible in glimpses at top, bottom and both sides from the front. Stainless steel, 40.6 mm square, 11 mm thick with its sapphire, on a black rubber strap. The self-winding KT7002 calibre, a Swiss ETA 2892-A2 / Sellita SW300 base finished and decorated by MINASE, carries the date. Rated 5 atm, which covers rain and splashes rather than swimming.

Understated enough for work, odd enough to be worth explaining.

Perfect for: monochrome art dials, low-key luxury on rubber, collectors of open-ended abstract design.