Kurono Tokyo, the accessible brand of independent watchmaker Hajime Asaoka, had quite a run last year, with a lot of impressive new models, most dedicated to celebrating its founder’s 60th anniversary. This includes the handsome Grand Jubilee Calendar Salmon, the Ice Blue 2025 Jubilee Sensu EOL, or the 34mm Star Dial watches. And yet, the young independent brand is starting 2026 with confidence, as it releases a new member of the “special projects” collection. Equipped with an appealing grey Muonionalusta meteorite dial, the 2026 Special Projects 37mm Inseki is yet another demonstration of the man’s sense of style.
With the “special projects” collection, Hajime Asaoka aims to bring more personal designs in limited runs. Watches that don’t fall into the classic collection, with a more expressive style, and/or less conventional techniques for the dial. The latest member of this collection is the first time the Japanese brand relies on an exotic material: meteorite. “I felt that the contrast between meteorite’s rugged texture and our soft, gentle case design would be fascinating. But there were challenges in bringing the idea to life. One of the defining features of Kurono Tokyo is its domed dial, and I wanted to preserve that even when working with meteorite. Shaping meteorite itself into a domed form is extremely difficult, so I explored a bull’s eye design instead, giving (…) the surrounding area a gentle curve towards the outer edge,” explains Hajime Asaoka.
Kurono’s first watch of 2026 is built around a familiar case design, measuring a compact 37mm in diameter and 11.5mm in thickness – mostly due to the tall box-shaped crystal on top, as the case itself is only 7mm high. The case is made of steel and fully polished, with a rather short water-resistance of 30m. As with many recent models by the brand, the crown is adorned with a black cabochon.
Inside the case, as always with Kurono, is a movement sourced from Japanese manufacturer Miyota, owned by the Citizen Group. Here, we have the Japan-made calibre 90S5, a no-date automatic movement running at 4Hz and storing about 40h of power reserve. Not fancy but effective and reliable.
What matters with this new Kurono Special Projects 37mm Inseki is the dial. Here, the patterned centre is complemented by a white lacquered ring that features Hajime’s personally designed Calligra typeface (an evolution of the Breguet numerals) painted in high relief, with the monochromatic look finished with hand-bent high-polished steel hands. For the centre, Asaoka has chosen slices of the Muonionalusta meteorite, an iron-nickel meteorite, and one of the oldest known meteorites found on Earth. To give texture and consistency over the production run, Asaoka personally inspected every single dial. Only those with strong, well-defined Widmanstätten patterns were selected for final assembly. As a mark of this personal selection, each watch bears Hajime’s own seal on the dial.
Worn on a black calf leather strap (20mm lug width) and secured by a polished pin buckle, the 2026 Kurono Special Projects 37mm Inseki with Meteorite dial will be a limited production release and will not be repeated (no mention of the number of pieces produced). It will be available online at kuronotokyo.com as of Thursday, 15 January 2026 at 11:00 PM JST (or 2:00 PM GMT). It will be strictly limited to one purchase per customer. Deliveries are expected from the end of February 2026 onwards, and the watch is priced at USD 1,850 (excluding taxes and 15% tariffs for US exports).
https://monochrome-watches.com/kurono-tokyo-2026-special-projects-37mm-inseki-meteorite-dial-price-introducing/
AloJapan.com