Japanese watchmaker Kurono Tokyo created a special edition panda chronograph to mark the opening of its Shanghai boutique.

The Chronograph P1 Shanghai Special Edition is presented in a 38 mm x 13.5 mm (46.8 mm lug-to-lug) highly polished 316L stainless steel case with a 1.8 mm tall vintage-style box-shaped domed sapphire crystal.

This is the first Kurono chronograph without a date function. To achieve a clean dateless dial, founder Hajime Asaoka first had to modify the outsourced Seiko automatic caliber NE86PWT movement. The result is an in-housed modified 4Hz, 34-jewel, 45-hour vertical clutch chronograph movement with a single pull crown design, thanks to the mechanical removal of the date function (some watchmakers take a shortcut and remove the date display on the dial but leave the function mechanically intact within the movement).

Featuring hours, minutes, seconds, and chronograph functions — the black-on-white dual-counter panda dial is surrounded by a carmine-colored minute/seconds ring. Kurono’s signature spherical steel indices, Gothic numeral typeface for 12 and 6 o’clock, highly polished leaf-shape hour and minute hands (which have been bent by hand to match the curvature of the dial), are mounted in between the twin black counters, with matching beveled stainless steel surrounds. A subtle design element to appreciate is that the guilloche subdial at 9 is set with a unique subhand in the shape of a traditional Japanese “kyudo” arrow.

The Kurono Tokyo Chronograph P1 Shanghai Special Edition is water-resistant to 30 meters, has been paired with a 20 mm lug width, tapered, black calfskin leather strap, retails for $3,590, and will be available to pre-order on November 25, 2024, with deliveries to start in mid-December.

Learn more at Kurono Tokyo.

 

Photos by Kurono Tokyo.