Credits: Article and images by @ Quill & Pad. See the original article here - https://quillandpad.com/2024/05/02/why-i-bought-it-hajime-asaoka-tsunami-2/
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Hajime Asaoka Tsunami on the wrist
I’ve now worn the Tsunami for a couple of weeks with dress shirts, golf shirts, and even tee shirts, and it does not disappoint.
At 37 mm in diameter and with a moderately wide bezel and black and grey dial, it can seem a bit small when strapped on immediately after wearing a considerably larger piece, but that sensation quickly passes.
For comparison purposes, take a look at the Tsunami in the photo below next to the 37 mm Jaeger-LeCoultre Futurematic Jumbo and Philippe Dufour Simplicity. In my view, the Tsunami gives up nothing in terms of wrist presence to either of these two favorites of mine.
Any quibbles?
I’m still very much in the honeymoon period with this watch so if there’s anything that bothers me too significantly about it I haven’t discovered it yet!
Of course, I wish that the piece had been delivered on its original schedule, but in the interim period Asaoka seems to have raised his game substantially in areas such as dial making so I can’t be too unhappy about it.
In terms of the watch itself, I would have preferred solid external surfaces on the lugs to the pierced lugs that it actually has; this is one consequence of Asaoka making his own cases, but I might humbly suggest that going forward he consider developing the capability for internal drilling of the spring bar holes.
Finally, while the good news is that my Tsunami keeps quite consistent time so far in real-world conditions, the bad news is that so far the consistent time seems to be about 9 seconds per day fast.
I’m hopeful that a relatively simple adjustment will be possible at some point to bring the deviation closer to zero. Happily, the current performance of the watch is still within my benchmark range of being able to set a watch precisely on Monday morning and having it indicate within one minute of the correct time when I take it off on Friday evening.
Closing thoughts
It’s a privilege for me to own any watch from one of today’s leading independent watchmakers, and even more so such a rare example from a watchmaker who is so single-mindedly devoted to his art.
I’m also very happy to have a watch like this one in my collection that can serve as a daily wearer but isn’t a piece that I’m going to see on other people’s wrists; the ability to follow my own instincts and collect somewhat off the beaten path is something I very much enjoy.
If anything, my concern is that the Tsunami is just too nicely made to become a true daily-wear piece for me; but I’m more than willing for now to keep wearing it to see how that works out!
For more information, please visit https://pwtokyo.co.jp/
Quick Facts Hajime Asaoka Tsunami
Case: 37 mm, stainless steel case with polished bezels and brushed case band; domed front saphhire crystal and exhibition back with sapphire crystal
Dial: German silver base milled in cloisonné style with lacquer and clay surfaces; grooved seconds subdial; printed numerals, logo, and indices
Movement: manually wound, 40-hour power reserve; 18,000 vph/2.5 Hz frequency
Functions: hours, minutes, subsidiary seconds
Price: JPY 3 million (approx. $26,700)
Production years: 2012 onward; fewer than 10 examples made as of late 2018
* This article was first published on October 29, 2018 at Why I Bought It: Hajime Asaoka Tsunami.
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Credits: Article and images by @ Quill & Pad. See the original article here - https://quillandpad.com/2024/05/02/why-i-bought-it-hajime-asaoka-tsunami-2/