December 9, 2024 • 20 mins
In today's episode we discuss Vu's newest watch, the Otsuka Lotec No. 7.5. Coming right off the amazing success of the No. 6 winning the GPHG Challenge Prize, the arrival of the No. 7.5 couldn't have been better timed.
Although they share a design language, the No. 6 and No. 7.5 are very different watches. Vu explains what he loves about the design of the 7.5 which takes some inspiration from vintage cameras.
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Episode Transcript
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(00:08):
Welcome to this Watch LIVE. Hi, I'm Lydia Winters.
And I'm Vu Bui and it is new watch day.
Another new watch day. We have saved up far too many.
I think we've even skipped some,but this is your most this.
Came in last week this. Is the most recent watch in
this. House, this is in a real new
Watch announcement. It is new watch day.
(00:31):
It is my Otsuka low tech number 7.5.
I've been waiting for this watch.
I am so excited today. I can't wait.
I I will admit that. So I've had the watch for about
a week and I I think I have spent more time staring at this
watch than I have wearing it because it came right after I
got my new Arkin. So you've been wearing the Arkin
(00:53):
and then also just staring at this one?
Everyday I take this watch out, I look at it, I flip through it
because it's a jumping hour and I I play with it and I've worn
it multiple times, but I haven'tlike put it on as my only watch
yet because I'm still enjoying the Arkin.
But I've spent a lot of time with this watch already and I
(01:14):
have so many thoughts about it. But anyway, OK, let's start.
Let's go back in time a little bit because yes, that is the
sound of rewinding time. Everyone knows that sound by
now. Like I've been obsessed with the
tukalotech. This should be a surprise to no
one since I've, I think I first came across a photo of the
(01:35):
number six like, I don't know, three years ago on a forum or
somewhere. And I was like, what is this?
Like what, how, why it, it immediately jumped out to me.
And after doing a little bit of research and figuring out, oh,
OK, it's this small brand in Japan and they're really hard to
(01:56):
get. I vowed to myself which is the
easiest vow to break, but I vowed.
To myself, he did not vow to. Me that one day I would own this
watch. OK, earlier this year I was
lucky to have been helped by a friend in Japan to get one.
So I have my number six and the the watches still can only be
(02:17):
bought in Japan. But my understanding is they're
working to change that. So the future is looking bright
for other people who love these watches and want them and do not
live in Japan. Yes.
And we already talked about the number six one, the GPHG
challenge. Yes, it did to.
A lot of to, a lot of whooping and hollering from.
(02:38):
From at least one. Audience member may have gone
too far, they say, or not far enough, who knows.
But although the number six was the first watch that I saw from
Onsuka Low Tech, the 1st watch Ifell in love with from Monsuka
Low Tech, it is not the only model that they currently make.
That you are in love with. That I'm also in love with.
(03:00):
And so there's also the number 7.5.
And when I first saw the number 7.5, I thought, OK, this is
super cool, but I don't know if it's really going to fit my
wrist that well. And like, OK, if it's not
obvious, the watch names are just like this is the series of
watches that Jiro Katayama has made.
He has designed and he, he started with number one,
(03:21):
although I don't think he sold any commercially until #5 like
he had designed 4 watches. And you know, maybe there are a
few of them out there, but they weren't like he didn't
commercialize them. He didn't sell them until he got
to #5 and now he's at #7.5. And that is the watch that I now
(03:42):
have. So he's been making watches for
like over a decade. His story's really cool.
There's a bunch of cool interviews out there, look them
up. But around 2022 or 23, he had
made around 400 watches. This is like not a lot of
watches in in around a decade because he made them all
himself. It was just one guy in a
(04:03):
workshop making these cases, machining them by hand, making
the complications using Miota base movements, but then making
complications on top of them. So for the number six is a
double retrograde, but this number 7.5 is a jumping hour and
so and he would assemble the watches.
(04:23):
He did everything. But now he has teamed up with
Hajime Asayoka's company Precision Watch Tokyo for help
in increasing production. So I think they he used to be
able to make around 15 watches amonth and I think now they've
increased or or will soon increase to around 50 watches a
(04:44):
month like that. That's.
Quite an increase. Over three times increase in
production, which is necessary because demand far outstrips
supply in the case of these watches, at least for now.
So his workshop, it's based in Tokyo, it's in the Otsuka
neighborhood, which is really close to Shinjuku and area we
have spent a lot of time in and the low tech part of the name.
(05:06):
So Otsuka is the neighborhood low tech.
It's literally just like referring to a low tech approach
to watchmaking. And when you look at videos of
how he machines the cases and stuff, it is very low tech.
This isn't high tech machines, CNCS that are doing all the work
after he programs them, you knowthat which still requires
(05:27):
design, calibration, all of those things.
This is literally setting up themachines by hand and doing all
of this, and that's super cool. I love his naming convention
because one of my favorite Japanese brands that I wear all
the time is named or slow. You and I both wear it.
It's like our favorite clothing and they also their name is like
fast or slow or slow. And so I really like it.
(05:51):
It's very cool. I love the low tech.
I yes, low tech fits so well, and it also fits the kind of the
design sensibilities when you look at the watch itself.
So this one's called the 7.5 because it's the second
iteration of the 7th watch. The first version only had two
(06:12):
windows. You could see the hour and the
minute. And in this version there's a
third window that has a little running seconds disk.
So in the first window you you got to look at a photo of the
watch. It's very hard to describe this
watch, but in the first window it's a highly magnified hour and
it's a jumping hour. It's like a Cyclops on steroids.
(06:35):
It is. It is a very strong cyclops over
the hour and it shows you what hour it currently is and when it
flips to the next hour, it's just an instantaneous flip.
It's a jumping. Hour.
Very cool. Right and then the that is a
module that's built on top of the MIOTA and 9015 movement,
right. And so I love when the hour
(06:56):
changes. It's like this very strong and
distinct click. You feel it like it's a, it's a,
it's a real, it's very satisfying.
So OK, then you have the second window and that's where your
minutes are. And this is my favorite favorite
part of this watch. This is my favorite part for.
The worst reason? Well, or or this is a loosey
(07:19):
goosey watch. It is.
Because OK, so hold on, when yousee you have this beautiful, you
know, you have this minute window, but there's like it's
very difficult accuracy wise because this.
(07:40):
The pointer for the minutes is very.
Rounded. Yeah, it's, it's like not at all
a point. It's like.
So like. It's a nice shape, it's
beautiful in terms of shape, butyou do not see exactly what it's
pointing at. No, this is not even we're
talking about Vu, who sets his watch to the second and this is
(08:01):
like a minute or two, Yes, you know, either way.
I would say I'm able to set it within about a minute of the
center of that rounded tip. However, you can't be sure of
that, and when reading the time,I think I'm can read it
accurately within one minute on either side, so it's like within
(08:25):
a 2. Minute ±2 minutes.
So it's not a watch for me to wear on days where I have online
meetings because online meetingsI feel like you need.
To be there. Or at least I like to be there
on the dot, right? You don't want to be there early
because then you've got just a couple people chit chat who are
there and you're like, oh, now we have to do like a couple
(08:47):
people chit chat and then peoplejoin when you're in the middle
of chit. Chat and it.
Gets really complicated. My my favorite thing is someone
said that Boo was going to have to actually just draw a straight
line. On the minute pointer on.
The minute pointer on the crystal to just be able to like
handle this beautiful new watch,but I love it you're.
My name. A loosey goosey way of life.
(09:10):
Not moving boards, accepting very tiny pieces of loosey
gooseiness in my life and I. Think that's OK?
Well you have accepted the biggest loosey goosey piece to
your wife so I feel like you have been accepting.
I Co host a podcast with a big piece of loosey goosey.
OK, so the the overall design aesthetic.
(09:30):
So I am going to go against whatI read a lot about this watch
because a lot of people call these watches steampunk and like
I've never been super into steampunk, but also I'm not not
into steampunk. Like I I really like the
steampunk aesthetic. I have never cosplayed in
(09:53):
steampunk, but I really enjoy those worlds that are created in
steampunk. I think steampunk is cool, but I
disagree that these are steampunk watches because it's
like, what's interesting about steampunk is it's like it's kind
of based around retro retrofuturism, which is in basic
(10:13):
terms, it's like design that imagines the future from the
past. So it, it, it, it's kind of like
the Jetsons, right? When you watch the Jetsons and
Dow, it's like the Jetsons was imagining a future, but based on
their knowledge from back then. So, but imagine that, but from
people who lived when the steam engine was invented, what is the
(10:36):
future that they imagined where steam engine is the highest
level of technology? OK, I did not know that.
So that's. What steampunk is, is the future
from a past where steam technology is what ruled and
moved us forward, not moving into electronics and computer
aided design and those types of things, but rather this steam
(10:59):
technology. So I don't think these watches
fit directly into that that although the number six does
look very much like a steam gauge.
I I I that that is a connection,however, not necessarily a
direct tie because it has that vibe.
(11:20):
But I feel like this watch is made like not to represent a a
piece that was designed for the future from the past, but rather
something rooted in the present but inspired by retro
technology. Yeah, I can see that.
So this is a modern watch inspired by the past, and in
this case, inspired by like vintage film cameras.
(11:44):
Like the kind of cameras that would have the three lenses on a
big dial on the front of the camera and you would rotate them
to the different focal lengths and you'd have those 3 focal
lengths. They used to make movies that
way. What it so those multiple lenses
kind of has that vibe with the three windows on this watch, but
also if you look at film counterwindows or settings dials.
(12:05):
And so the first photo, the N.W.A post I did, I, I kind of
tried to look towards that inspiration and pulled out a lot
of the vintage cameras that we have.
And you can really see that inspiration for sure, which is,
I mean, one of the reasons you love it so much.
It's because of that like retro to me.
I do. I do get like why people say
(12:26):
steampunk, but it's also becauseI could imagine this being like
an awesome watch in Star Wars, like the Andorra series.
You could imagine him wearing it.
Yeah, because it just like it is.
This, yeah, which? So Star Wars is not steampunk,
but it is similar in that it seems like technology from the
(12:48):
future that was envisioned from a different past.
It's like a different branch of how technology developed.
So it seems retro and the futureat the.
Same time, yeah. You can do things that we can't
do today, but it's done with retro tech.
It's Yeah, anyway, the thing. I was most surprised about
because I to borrow you wrote Suka loti for the GPHD awards.
(13:12):
And wearing it in great condition.
Very it was very comfortable andbut I will say this one looks so
good on my wrist. It wears much smaller and I mean
it is smaller. 43 versus 40. A big difference, but the way
this wears I was like, oh I kindof want one too, it looks so
(13:33):
good. On you, I think it looks super
cool on you I OK, so I mentionedthat I wasn't sure about this
watch when I saw him photos. And as we've said so many times,
photos don't tell the whole story.
But earlier this year we were atWatches and Wonders and we
finally got to meet Masaharu from Hotanki, Japan for the
(13:53):
first time. And on his right wrist he was
wearing the Atsuka, his own personal Atsuka low tech number
7.5. And I was so excited.
I, I mean, I, we were excited tomeet Masaharu.
Yes, I'm not saying only excitedfor the watch.
Yes, I'm, he did. Which one was more exciting?
He did have on a Onsuka low techand a Noihita so it's a very
(14:13):
exciting. Overall, there was a trifecta of
excitement. So OK, when I tried it on, I
thought it wore so much better than I could have possibly
expected. It's a 40mm case, but it also
tapers underneath it, which is similar to the number six in
that underneath taper. That gives it that better feel
(14:36):
on the wrist and makes it feel smaller.
It's a 40mm case, but the lug tolug is very short because it
just has these tiny wire lugs that have very little visual
impact. So the whole length of the case
just feels like this 40mm round case.
I put on this watch because, youknow, Vu can't yell at me on the
(14:56):
podcast while we're recording. He can't be like, hey, you get
out of my watch. And it looks.
Flailing your arm. It looks so good on me.
It really fits my wrist. I think it would fit my style
really well. I think so.
Too. So when can I borrow this one?
You know. Here's the thing, I don't borrow
the brand. New you give a mouse a cookie
and then I guess the mouse wantsall the cookies.
(15:17):
All the watches. Is that what?
All the watches. Yeah, all the watch cookies.
So OK, we got to see it for the first time.
I really was impressed, like andin that moment when I got to try
on this watch, I kind of changedmy mind and thought, oh, maybe I
like the number 7.5 more than the number six, but that was
(15:38):
unfair because I still hadn't seen a number six in person.
Turns out I was able to get a hold of the number six first and
then I changed my mind back because the number six still is
my favorite. Maybe, I don't know, it just
keeps going back and forth, but this is.
Something we've talked about a lot I'm.
Not good with favorites. Well, no, that yeah, that you're
not good with favorites. But also these watches are not
(16:01):
in competition with one another.We there is just a natural
tendency. I think in one of the episodes I
was saying how I'm way too competitive.
Then like 3 minutes later I was like, but it's a competition.
But it's not. These are not in competition
with each other. They both can live in your
collection in such a beautiful way.
And and and. So happy to have both of them
(16:24):
and I will wear them in different instances.
They take up a different visual impact on the wrist.
For sure. And also I think the design
language, although it's cohesivebetween them, like they look
like they're from the same brand, they also feel like very
distinct watches, like like theyfeel completely of different
(16:49):
lines from the same brand, whichis what they are.
So, so great job. So I just overall, I love that
people like Jira Katayama exist and making watches like this,
like bringing their own thoughtsand ideas on watch design and
how a watch can look and feel and tell the time.
(17:12):
And it's not necessarily rooted in what currently exists or
what's currently on trend or what is currently popular, but
because we know what those watches are and there are a
bunch of people making and, and usually it's smaller brands and
they're making these watches that are outside of that norm.
And they're taking bigger risks and I think but the risk is even
(17:36):
bigger for them because the chance to fail is so much
higher. So it's really cool to see
people who are taking their excitement, their innovation,
their love for watchmaking. I mean, I said it before, but
his speech was so beautiful. I was like screaming, crying,
happy. And, and it, I think these
(17:56):
watches are such an amazing representation of how someone
can take their own idea and their own feel and, you know,
create an incredible watch brand.
Yeah. I mean, that's what I love about
small independent makers, right?Even more so in this price
range, I think it's really impressive.
(18:16):
So this watch, you know, it depends on the exchange rate,
but right now it's around $2300,right?
And at that price point, when you factor in, it's like a a
watch where the case hand style,all of these elements, the the
crown are machined by hand in the small workshop in limited
(18:38):
numbers. And, but then also when I had
originally seen the photos, I don't know, I, I expected them
to be more industrially finishedand to have a rough feeling and,
and I was kind of excited about that.
But when I got the number six and now that I've gotten the
7.5, it's actually like the, it's a high degree of detail and
(19:02):
finishing, which just feels quite refined.
So it is industrial. It's industrial in design, but
it's refined in the finishing and at 2300 dollars.
That's pretty amazing. That is pretty amazing.
I, I, I see, you know, when I look at this year of being
watches and when I've let go andwhen I've brought in, I think
more and more of staying in thisrealm of smaller makers doing
(19:27):
highly creative things. Yeah, that is really where
you've gone. And Japan.
This is well, yes, OK, So Japan,Japan has been a part of that.
Not all of it, but no. But a big, a big portion this
year. And I, I read in an interview,
so I, I, I can't verify this, but I read in an interview that
Jira Kathayama has plans for a new release of the number 5
(19:51):
model, right? So the one that was before the
six and seven 7.5. And I'm already very, very
excited for that one because thenumber 5 that he did release
years and years ago was a, a beautiful watch And a new
version of that I think would bepretty incredible.
So I'm looking forward to that. So you just want all of them?
(20:15):
I feel like. I feel like that's where you're
going and and that's totally fine, but you're like.
I want them. If I can own every single Otsuka
low tech, I'm OK with that. Oh, which one?
All of them. All of them.
All of them. And yeah.
Yeah. And that also means I have to go
back in history. Yes.
To the steampunk era. Wait, there wasn't actually.
No. Bye, everyone.
(20:38):
Bye.
Welcome to this Watch LIVE. Hi, I'm Lydia Winters.
And I'm Vu Bui and it is new watch day.
Another new watch day. We have saved up far too many.
I think we've even skipped some,but this is your most this.
Came in last week this. Is the most recent watch in
this. House, this is in a real new
Watch announcement. It is new watch day.
(00:31):
It is my Otsuka low tech number 7.5.
I've been waiting for this watch.
I am so excited today. I can't wait.
I I will admit that. So I've had the watch for about
a week and I I think I have spent more time staring at this
watch than I have wearing it because it came right after I
got my new Arkin. So you've been wearing the Arkin
(00:53):
and then also just staring at this one?
Everyday I take this watch out, I look at it, I flip through it
because it's a jumping hour and I I play with it and I've worn
it multiple times, but I haven'tlike put it on as my only watch
yet because I'm still enjoying the Arkin.
But I've spent a lot of time with this watch already and I
(01:14):
have so many thoughts about it. But anyway, OK, let's start.
Let's go back in time a little bit because yes, that is the
sound of rewinding time. Everyone knows that sound by
now. Like I've been obsessed with the
tukalotech. This should be a surprise to no
one since I've, I think I first came across a photo of the
(01:35):
number six like, I don't know, three years ago on a forum or
somewhere. And I was like, what is this?
Like what, how, why it, it immediately jumped out to me.
And after doing a little bit of research and figuring out, oh,
OK, it's this small brand in Japan and they're really hard to
(01:56):
get. I vowed to myself which is the
easiest vow to break, but I vowed.
To myself, he did not vow to. Me that one day I would own this
watch. OK, earlier this year I was
lucky to have been helped by a friend in Japan to get one.
So I have my number six and the the watches still can only be
(02:17):
bought in Japan. But my understanding is they're
working to change that. So the future is looking bright
for other people who love these watches and want them and do not
live in Japan. Yes.
And we already talked about the number six one, the GPHG
challenge. Yes, it did to.
A lot of to, a lot of whooping and hollering from.
(02:38):
From at least one. Audience member may have gone
too far, they say, or not far enough, who knows.
But although the number six was the first watch that I saw from
Onsuka Low Tech, the 1st watch Ifell in love with from Monsuka
Low Tech, it is not the only model that they currently make.
That you are in love with. That I'm also in love with.
(03:00):
And so there's also the number 7.5.
And when I first saw the number 7.5, I thought, OK, this is
super cool, but I don't know if it's really going to fit my
wrist that well. And like, OK, if it's not
obvious, the watch names are just like this is the series of
watches that Jiro Katayama has made.
He has designed and he, he started with number one,
(03:21):
although I don't think he sold any commercially until #5 like
he had designed 4 watches. And you know, maybe there are a
few of them out there, but they weren't like he didn't
commercialize them. He didn't sell them until he got
to #5 and now he's at #7.5. And that is the watch that I now
(03:42):
have. So he's been making watches for
like over a decade. His story's really cool.
There's a bunch of cool interviews out there, look them
up. But around 2022 or 23, he had
made around 400 watches. This is like not a lot of
watches in in around a decade because he made them all
himself. It was just one guy in a
(04:03):
workshop making these cases, machining them by hand, making
the complications using Miota base movements, but then making
complications on top of them. So for the number six is a
double retrograde, but this number 7.5 is a jumping hour and
so and he would assemble the watches.
(04:23):
He did everything. But now he has teamed up with
Hajime Asayoka's company Precision Watch Tokyo for help
in increasing production. So I think they he used to be
able to make around 15 watches amonth and I think now they've
increased or or will soon increase to around 50 watches a
(04:44):
month like that. That's.
Quite an increase. Over three times increase in
production, which is necessary because demand far outstrips
supply in the case of these watches, at least for now.
So his workshop, it's based in Tokyo, it's in the Otsuka
neighborhood, which is really close to Shinjuku and area we
have spent a lot of time in and the low tech part of the name.
(05:06):
So Otsuka is the neighborhood low tech.
It's literally just like referring to a low tech approach
to watchmaking. And when you look at videos of
how he machines the cases and stuff, it is very low tech.
This isn't high tech machines, CNCS that are doing all the work
after he programs them, you knowthat which still requires
(05:27):
design, calibration, all of those things.
This is literally setting up themachines by hand and doing all
of this, and that's super cool. I love his naming convention
because one of my favorite Japanese brands that I wear all
the time is named or slow. You and I both wear it.
It's like our favorite clothing and they also their name is like
fast or slow or slow. And so I really like it.
(05:51):
It's very cool. I love the low tech.
I yes, low tech fits so well, and it also fits the kind of the
design sensibilities when you look at the watch itself.
So this one's called the 7.5 because it's the second
iteration of the 7th watch. The first version only had two
(06:12):
windows. You could see the hour and the
minute. And in this version there's a
third window that has a little running seconds disk.
So in the first window you you got to look at a photo of the
watch. It's very hard to describe this
watch, but in the first window it's a highly magnified hour and
it's a jumping hour. It's like a Cyclops on steroids.
(06:35):
It is. It is a very strong cyclops over
the hour and it shows you what hour it currently is and when it
flips to the next hour, it's just an instantaneous flip.
It's a jumping. Hour.
Very cool. Right and then the that is a
module that's built on top of the MIOTA and 9015 movement,
right. And so I love when the hour
(06:56):
changes. It's like this very strong and
distinct click. You feel it like it's a, it's a,
it's a real, it's very satisfying.
So OK, then you have the second window and that's where your
minutes are. And this is my favorite favorite
part of this watch. This is my favorite part for.
The worst reason? Well, or or this is a loosey
(07:19):
goosey watch. It is.
Because OK, so hold on, when yousee you have this beautiful, you
know, you have this minute window, but there's like it's
very difficult accuracy wise because this.
(07:40):
The pointer for the minutes is very.
Rounded. Yeah, it's, it's like not at all
a point. It's like.
So like. It's a nice shape, it's
beautiful in terms of shape, butyou do not see exactly what it's
pointing at. No, this is not even we're
talking about Vu, who sets his watch to the second and this is
(08:01):
like a minute or two, Yes, you know, either way.
I would say I'm able to set it within about a minute of the
center of that rounded tip. However, you can't be sure of
that, and when reading the time,I think I'm can read it
accurately within one minute on either side, so it's like within
(08:25):
a 2. Minute ±2 minutes.
So it's not a watch for me to wear on days where I have online
meetings because online meetingsI feel like you need.
To be there. Or at least I like to be there
on the dot, right? You don't want to be there early
because then you've got just a couple people chit chat who are
there and you're like, oh, now we have to do like a couple
(08:47):
people chit chat and then peoplejoin when you're in the middle
of chit. Chat and it.
Gets really complicated. My my favorite thing is someone
said that Boo was going to have to actually just draw a straight
line. On the minute pointer on.
The minute pointer on the crystal to just be able to like
handle this beautiful new watch,but I love it you're.
My name. A loosey goosey way of life.
(09:10):
Not moving boards, accepting very tiny pieces of loosey
gooseiness in my life and I. Think that's OK?
Well you have accepted the biggest loosey goosey piece to
your wife so I feel like you have been accepting.
I Co host a podcast with a big piece of loosey goosey.
OK, so the the overall design aesthetic.
(09:30):
So I am going to go against whatI read a lot about this watch
because a lot of people call these watches steampunk and like
I've never been super into steampunk, but also I'm not not
into steampunk. Like I I really like the
steampunk aesthetic. I have never cosplayed in
(09:53):
steampunk, but I really enjoy those worlds that are created in
steampunk. I think steampunk is cool, but I
disagree that these are steampunk watches because it's
like, what's interesting about steampunk is it's like it's kind
of based around retro retrofuturism, which is in basic
(10:13):
terms, it's like design that imagines the future from the
past. So it, it, it, it's kind of like
the Jetsons, right? When you watch the Jetsons and
Dow, it's like the Jetsons was imagining a future, but based on
their knowledge from back then. So, but imagine that, but from
people who lived when the steam engine was invented, what is the
(10:36):
future that they imagined where steam engine is the highest
level of technology? OK, I did not know that.
So that's. What steampunk is, is the future
from a past where steam technology is what ruled and
moved us forward, not moving into electronics and computer
aided design and those types of things, but rather this steam
(10:59):
technology. So I don't think these watches
fit directly into that that although the number six does
look very much like a steam gauge.
I I I that that is a connection,however, not necessarily a
direct tie because it has that vibe.
(11:20):
But I feel like this watch is made like not to represent a a
piece that was designed for the future from the past, but rather
something rooted in the present but inspired by retro
technology. Yeah, I can see that.
So this is a modern watch inspired by the past, and in
this case, inspired by like vintage film cameras.
(11:44):
Like the kind of cameras that would have the three lenses on a
big dial on the front of the camera and you would rotate them
to the different focal lengths and you'd have those 3 focal
lengths. They used to make movies that
way. What it so those multiple lenses
kind of has that vibe with the three windows on this watch, but
also if you look at film counterwindows or settings dials.
(12:05):
And so the first photo, the N.W.A post I did, I, I kind of
tried to look towards that inspiration and pulled out a lot
of the vintage cameras that we have.
And you can really see that inspiration for sure, which is,
I mean, one of the reasons you love it so much.
It's because of that like retro to me.
I do. I do get like why people say
(12:26):
steampunk, but it's also becauseI could imagine this being like
an awesome watch in Star Wars, like the Andorra series.
You could imagine him wearing it.
Yeah, because it just like it is.
This, yeah, which? So Star Wars is not steampunk,
but it is similar in that it seems like technology from the
(12:48):
future that was envisioned from a different past.
It's like a different branch of how technology developed.
So it seems retro and the futureat the.
Same time, yeah. You can do things that we can't
do today, but it's done with retro tech.
It's Yeah, anyway, the thing. I was most surprised about
because I to borrow you wrote Suka loti for the GPHD awards.
(13:12):
And wearing it in great condition.
Very it was very comfortable andbut I will say this one looks so
good on my wrist. It wears much smaller and I mean
it is smaller. 43 versus 40. A big difference, but the way
this wears I was like, oh I kindof want one too, it looks so
(13:33):
good. On you, I think it looks super
cool on you I OK, so I mentionedthat I wasn't sure about this
watch when I saw him photos. And as we've said so many times,
photos don't tell the whole story.
But earlier this year we were atWatches and Wonders and we
finally got to meet Masaharu from Hotanki, Japan for the
(13:53):
first time. And on his right wrist he was
wearing the Atsuka, his own personal Atsuka low tech number
7.5. And I was so excited.
I, I mean, I, we were excited tomeet Masaharu.
Yes, I'm not saying only excitedfor the watch.
Yes, I'm, he did. Which one was more exciting?
He did have on a Onsuka low techand a Noihita so it's a very
(14:13):
exciting. Overall, there was a trifecta of
excitement. So OK, when I tried it on, I
thought it wore so much better than I could have possibly
expected. It's a 40mm case, but it also
tapers underneath it, which is similar to the number six in
that underneath taper. That gives it that better feel
(14:36):
on the wrist and makes it feel smaller.
It's a 40mm case, but the lug tolug is very short because it
just has these tiny wire lugs that have very little visual
impact. So the whole length of the case
just feels like this 40mm round case.
I put on this watch because, youknow, Vu can't yell at me on the
(14:56):
podcast while we're recording. He can't be like, hey, you get
out of my watch. And it looks.
Flailing your arm. It looks so good on me.
It really fits my wrist. I think it would fit my style
really well. I think so.
Too. So when can I borrow this one?
You know. Here's the thing, I don't borrow
the brand. New you give a mouse a cookie
and then I guess the mouse wantsall the cookies.
(15:17):
All the watches. Is that what?
All the watches. Yeah, all the watch cookies.
So OK, we got to see it for the first time.
I really was impressed, like andin that moment when I got to try
on this watch, I kind of changedmy mind and thought, oh, maybe I
like the number 7.5 more than the number six, but that was
(15:38):
unfair because I still hadn't seen a number six in person.
Turns out I was able to get a hold of the number six first and
then I changed my mind back because the number six still is
my favorite. Maybe, I don't know, it just
keeps going back and forth, but this is.
Something we've talked about a lot I'm.
Not good with favorites. Well, no, that yeah, that you're
not good with favorites. But also these watches are not
(16:01):
in competition with one another.We there is just a natural
tendency. I think in one of the episodes I
was saying how I'm way too competitive.
Then like 3 minutes later I was like, but it's a competition.
But it's not. These are not in competition
with each other. They both can live in your
collection in such a beautiful way.
And and and. So happy to have both of them
(16:24):
and I will wear them in different instances.
They take up a different visual impact on the wrist.
For sure. And also I think the design
language, although it's cohesivebetween them, like they look
like they're from the same brand, they also feel like very
distinct watches, like like theyfeel completely of different
(16:49):
lines from the same brand, whichis what they are.
So, so great job. So I just overall, I love that
people like Jira Katayama exist and making watches like this,
like bringing their own thoughtsand ideas on watch design and
how a watch can look and feel and tell the time.
(17:12):
And it's not necessarily rooted in what currently exists or
what's currently on trend or what is currently popular, but
because we know what those watches are and there are a
bunch of people making and, and usually it's smaller brands and
they're making these watches that are outside of that norm.
And they're taking bigger risks and I think but the risk is even
(17:36):
bigger for them because the chance to fail is so much
higher. So it's really cool to see
people who are taking their excitement, their innovation,
their love for watchmaking. I mean, I said it before, but
his speech was so beautiful. I was like screaming, crying,
happy. And, and it, I think these
(17:56):
watches are such an amazing representation of how someone
can take their own idea and their own feel and, you know,
create an incredible watch brand.
Yeah. I mean, that's what I love about
small independent makers, right?Even more so in this price
range, I think it's really impressive.
(18:16):
So this watch, you know, it depends on the exchange rate,
but right now it's around $2300,right?
And at that price point, when you factor in, it's like a a
watch where the case hand style,all of these elements, the the
crown are machined by hand in the small workshop in limited
(18:38):
numbers. And, but then also when I had
originally seen the photos, I don't know, I, I expected them
to be more industrially finishedand to have a rough feeling and,
and I was kind of excited about that.
But when I got the number six and now that I've gotten the
7.5, it's actually like the, it's a high degree of detail and
(19:02):
finishing, which just feels quite refined.
So it is industrial. It's industrial in design, but
it's refined in the finishing and at 2300 dollars.
That's pretty amazing. That is pretty amazing.
I, I, I see, you know, when I look at this year of being
watches and when I've let go andwhen I've brought in, I think
more and more of staying in thisrealm of smaller makers doing
(19:27):
highly creative things. Yeah, that is really where
you've gone. And Japan.
This is well, yes, OK, So Japan,Japan has been a part of that.
Not all of it, but no. But a big, a big portion this
year. And I, I read in an interview,
so I, I, I can't verify this, but I read in an interview that
Jira Kathayama has plans for a new release of the number 5
(19:51):
model, right? So the one that was before the
six and seven 7.5. And I'm already very, very
excited for that one because thenumber 5 that he did release
years and years ago was a, a beautiful watch And a new
version of that I think would bepretty incredible.
So I'm looking forward to that. So you just want all of them?
(20:15):
I feel like. I feel like that's where you're
going and and that's totally fine, but you're like.
I want them. If I can own every single Otsuka
low tech, I'm OK with that. Oh, which one?
All of them. All of them.
All of them. And yeah.
Yeah. And that also means I have to go
back in history. Yes.
To the steampunk era. Wait, there wasn't actually.
No. Bye, everyone.
(20:38):
Bye.
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