Kurono Tokyo is following up the launch of their recent Chronograph 1 Mk. 2 (discussed in this episode of A Week in Watches) with a limited set that, unfortunately, you probably can?t buy. That?s because not only are these watches extremely limited, but they can be purchased in exactly one place: the new Kurono Tokyo boutique located in Kita-Aoyama, Minato, Tokyo. This new trio of Grand Urushi Aoyama watches take the familiar 37mm dress watch case that many Kurono fans have fallen in love with and pairs it with what the brand believes is their most impressive execution of traditional handmade urushi lacquer dials to date. 

Between dress watches in the Seiko Presage line and recent work by Kurono, many watch enthusiasts have become quite familiar with urushi lacquer techniques, a corner of traditional Japanese craft that wasn?t always so well known. Urushi lacquer is made from the sap of a urushi tree, which is given pigment, hand painted, and polished by skilled craftspeople. The material itself has a naturally shiny quality and thickness to it, and it will gradually change over time as it?s exposed to light. According to Kurono, sunlight will gradually lighten the colors and make the lacquer more translucent. The dials that you get at the end of the urushi process have incredibly well defined tones and a ton of depth that?s hard to capture in photos. There?s a glass-like quality to a good urushi dial that sets them apart from more industrialized lacquering proce...