The fact that he makes nearly everything himself also means limitations in certain areas, like the shape of the watch case for instance. A year later he became a member of the AHCI.įive years on, Kikuno is still in the process of developing a house style, explaining the diverse aesthetic of the watches he has made. Like many other self-taught independent watchmakers, Kikuno studied the craft primarily via George Daniel’s seminal Watchmaking, which instructs the reader on how to produce a tourbillon. That led Kikuno to build his first tourbillon wristwatch in 2010.įor a spell after graduation Kikuno continued as an instructor at the college, but in 2012 set up shop on his own as an independent watchmaker. The college, however, taught watch repair, rather than watchmaking, leading Kikuno to embark on a journey of self education. His first watch/photo courtesy Masahiro Kikuno It was there that he produced his first timepiece, a time-only wristwatch with a retrograde display. Kikuno then left the JSDF, enrolling in a four-year course at the Hiko Mizuno College of Jewelry in Shibuya, a Tokyo district better known for its fashion stores. It was in the military that Kikuno found his calling, when he met a senior officer who was a watch enthusiast. Kikuno’s path to watchmaking was an unusual one, having been a small arms technician in the Japanese Self-Defense Forces (JSDF) for four years starting at age 18. He does this with an optical comparator, a device that projects a magnified image of a part against an overlay chart. Kikuno also has to do his own quality control to ensure all the parts he produces are up to spec. It’s operated manually: Kikuno traces the hand-drawn plan for the baseplate with a stylus, while the cutter simultaneously mills out the part. His machine shop also includes an old school milling machine.
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