Minase Unveil Uruga Ice Blue Inspired by Japanese Landscape

Japanese watchmaking tends to lean in one of two directions. On one hand you have your Seikos, Citizens and Casios who produce mass market watches with limited editions that outnumber the entire annual production of other brands. On the other hand are the small craft brands who place extreme emphasis on local craftsmanship and extreme precision – brands like Minase who only produce around 500 watches per year, who have now expanded the range of watches on offer with the launch of the Minase Uruga Ice Blue.

Uruga is a compound of the Japanese words for beauty and elegance, which might imply that it’s a svelte dress watch. However, it’s actually more of a sports watch with dimensions of 42mm x 10.2mm (there’s also a tiny 31mm version) and a bold construction featuring a wide, flat bezel and distinctive clamp shoulders that serve the actual purpose of clamping the multi-part case together. Those clamps are brushed so that they stand out in contrast to the polished areas of the case.

While the Minase Uruga case is distinctive, it’s the dial that takes a lot of the focus with its gentle texture and gorgeous ice blue colour. It has a soft wave pattern that’s inspired by the waters of the Minase river in Japan from which the brand gets its name. In ice blue it also looks somewhat like the undulating slopes of a ski resort. Though that may draw comparisons to the Grand Seiko and watches like the Snowflake or Sōkō Frost. The dial is completed by facetted hour markers, sharply pointed hands and a date window with cyclops lens.

However, while the inspiration for the piece is the Japanese landscape, the beating heart of the watch is actually Swiss. That’s because it houses the KT/7002 base ETA 2892 (42mm) or KT/8001/2 base ETA 2671 (31mm). They’re classic workhorse movements however they’ve been carefully hand-finished and customised with perlage and bevelled edges. The KT/7002 has an improved power reserve of 50-hours.

On steel bracelet the Minase Uruga 42mm is $7,100 (approx. £5,250) while on leather strap or the new rubber strap it’s $5,500 (approx. £4,100). At 31mm it’s $6,700 (approx. £5,000) on steel bracelet and $5,200 (approx. £3,900) on leather or rubber. That’s a price that reflects the careful craftsmanship of the case and the upgraded specs of the movement. If Grand Seiko is too mainstream for you, here’s an indie hit.

More details at Minase.