Today, Japanese brand Minase are best known for their distinctive and unusual case designs like the Horizon and Windows, but when they were founded in 2005, they didn’t start with these outlandish concepts. When they were new to the scene, they created the M1, M2, and M3, which were by their own description ‘simple and minimalistic’. Two decades later, Minase are revisiting those minimalist designs by reinventing the M3 for the contemporary age, now called the Minase Mastercraft J3.
Starting with the J3’s case, it’s even more refined and compact than the original. Measuring 37mm x 9.9mm in stainless steel, reduced from 38.8mm x 10.8mm in the M3. Case manufacturing is central to what Minase does because the brand was founded by Kyowa Co., a precision tool manufacturer who produced case production tools before moving into case production themselves and eventually founding Minase as their in-house watch brand.
While they are capable of elaborate designs, it’s also nice to see them execute on the fundamentals of a svelte, round case shape like the J3. It features pristine circular brushing across the lugs and Minase’s signature Sallaz polishing (a type of mirror polish) across the flanks and bezel. I really like this more restrained shape, it makes the watch feel a lot more appealing to average collectors compared to Minase’s more extreme, Avante Garde pieces that have a more specific audience in mind.
That refined, ‘simplified but not simple’ design language is carried over to the dial as well. It’s a layered display with the main disk of the face finished with a sand grain texture above which sits the raised hour markers and peripheral minute track. There are three dial colours available: grey, beige and black. There are strong arguments for picking any one of them as your favourite – the grey completes the monochrome look of the piece, the beige emphasises the sand texture of the dial and the black is the most traditional.
Inside the Minase Mastercraft J3 is the Miyota movement 90S5 automatic with 42-hour power reserve. While Minase are themselves Japanese, it’s rare to see them use Japanese calibres as they typically bridge the Switzerland-Japan divide by using movements from suppliers like ETA. However, one of the areas that Miyota often excel in is thinness, allowing for the J3’s 9.9mm thickness.
Another upside of using a Miyota movement is that it turns the Mastercraft J3 into a new entry-level for the brand. Where most of their collections start from around $6,150 (approx. £4,540), the J3 is $2,150 (approx. £1,590). That’s a significant lowering of the barrier to entry for the brand and will hopefully tempt more collectors to discover them. It would be cool to see a wider range of Japanese brands challenge the supremacy of Seiko and Citizen.
Price and Specs:
More details at Minase.
