Born as an otaku, tk-chrono began gathering information about watches on social media. Now, social media is not just a source of information, but also a tool for broad-ranging communication with watch enthusiasts. Just as there are countless watches in the world, there are as many different types of watch enthusiasts as there are people. There is no single way to choose or care for a watch. He has always respected diverse values, both when it comes to watches and watch enthusiasts. As a result, he has been blessed with many connections and is living a rich life as a watch enthusiast.
He is the fourth generation owner of the family business in Tokyo. He has had an otaku streak since his student days, and has thoroughly researched any genre that interests him. His current social media accounts are dedicated to his hobby of watches. He posts pictures of the watches he rotates through every day, along with pictures of scenery and food. It is clear that he enjoys the "usable watches" that are at the core of his collection.
Photographs by Yu Mitamura
Chieko Tsuruoka (Kronos Japan): Interview and writing
Text by Chieko Tsuruoka (Chronos Japan)
Edited by Chronos Japan (Yukiya Suzuki, Yuto Hosoda)
Interview cooperation: VESPER CLUB https://www.vesper-club.com/
[Article published in the July 2024 issue of Kronos Japan]
"By interacting with a wide range of enthusiasts with different views, I was able to broaden the base of the 'watch hobby'."
The collection that tk-chrono showed us on the day of the interview was truly diverse. It included sports watches, dress watches, complicated watches, models from popular brands to microbrands, and even the latest models to semi-vintage watches produced in the 1990s... He said that he not only purchased his watches from authorized dealers, but also from second-hand watch shops and via the internet. This "diversity" is a value that symbolizes his life as a watch enthusiast.
tk-chrono is the fourth generation owner of a long-established company. Both his grandfather and father were watch enthusiasts, and he showed us a Patek Philippe Calatrava Ref. 2525 that he inherited from his grandfather as a keepsake, as well as an old Piaget with an oval case and manual winding that he inherited from his father. There is also an anecdote that when his father was looking for a watch, tk-chrono picked out an Audemars Piguet Royal Oak.
However, he was always exposed to watches from a young age, and it's not as if he was a precocious watch enthusiast. He first owned a wristwatch when he was in the early grades of elementary school. It was a Japanese-made quartz watch with a Tom and Jerry design given to him by his parents. He used it to learn how to tell time. Later, during his junior high school years, he went on an overseas trip and bought a Tag Heuer quartz watch at a duty-free shop in Hawaii. It was the first wristwatch that he spontaneously wanted. "It was a three-hand quartz watch, and I liked the sporty bracelet and the 'crunching' sound that you could make when operating the rotating bezel."
In high school, he joined the swimming club, and had fewer opportunities to wear a watch. However, he still had special feelings about owning this TAG Heuer watch. "I didn't wear it all the time like I do now, but I still felt the joy of owning it."
(Right) H. Moser & Cie. "Mayu." When he first learned about this watch, he said it was "a brand I didn't really understand." However, as he researched it, he was drawn to its practical mechanism, the shape of the hands, and the brand's attitude, and after seeing the aura of the real thing with his own eyes, he decided to buy it.
So, what watch was it that first turned him into a watch enthusiast and led to his current collection? It was a Panerai Luminor Base, purchased from a German watch shop in the early 2000s. It had a white dial and a manual-wind ETA6497 movement. He had previously purchased a Cartier Pasha C, but it was the Panerai that really sparked his watch collecting, and this model still appears on his social media accounts to this day.
"While studying abroad, I took a break to travel around Europe and happened to stop by a watch shop in Frankfurt, Germany. I looked around the store hoping to find a Panerai, and when I saw one I liked on display, I bought it. What attracted me to Panerai was not only the design, with its crown guard and large, thick case, but also the fact that it was equipped with a manual-winding movement, and the see-through back allowed me to see the movement. I had first learned about automatic watches with the Pasha C I had bought previously, and it was a shock. It didn't need a battery to run. It was my first manual-winding watch, and I discovered the joy of spending time appreciating a watch every day."
(Right) The Audemars Piguet Royal Oak, recommended by tk-chrono when my father was still alive. At the time, Girard-Perregaux, a brand known only to those in the know, was also a potential purchase candidate, proving my father was quite the connoisseur.
Furthermore, when purchasing a watch, tk-chrono thoroughly gathers information and researches the watch he wants.
"I've always been an otaku (laughs). In middle and high school, I loved anime and manga, and I gathered information about them from magazines and the like. When I became a university student, I started to like watching martial arts, and again, I started gathering information about them. When I buy things, like home appliances or clothes, I enjoy the research process."
For tk-chrono, the joy of gathering information isn't just "fun." It also leads to a satisfying purchasing experience. "It's like reading between the lines; the feeling you get when you hold something in your hands is different if you look at it knowing the details than if you look at it without knowing the details. For example, the hand-finishing of a luxury watch. If I'm going to pay 100 million yen, I want to think, 'I paid an amazing 100 million yen!' That's why I gather information."
One of the sources of information he gathered was internet bulletin boards. He also used the webChronos SNS. Over the years of gathering information in this way, tk-chrono discovered another source of enjoyment: interacting with his peers.
"When I used the message boards, it was fun, but it was mainly for buying advice. At the time, I wasn't buying watches that often, and once I bought one, I took a break from using social media."
He stayed away from those message boards for a while and "was left alone to fret." However, around 19, he created accounts for his watch hobby on major social media platforms such as Instagram. He says that this account "changed my stance on and the way I enjoy watches." He added, "I was able to experience both the fun of connecting with people and the fun of receiving information from overseas. Through these interactions, I was able to get a lot of information that I couldn't find in magazines. I started to see a variety of watches, for better or worse."
Starting this watch hobby account has led to the purchase of many watches. He says that he would not have come across microbrands in particular without interacting with them on social media. One such brand, MING, was discovered on an online information site and purchased without seeing the actual product. Incidentally, this online purchase of a MING led to tk-chrono being nicknamed a "pochilist" among fellow watch enthusiasts. This term refers to someone who, when they find a watch they want online, immediately clicks the "buy" button.
"Actually, I don't buy that much (online). I mostly buy in stores. But everyone still teases me about it (laughs). To begin with, I made up the word 'pochilist' (laughs)." tk-chrono cheerfully spoke, revealing that he truly enjoys interacting with fellow watch enthusiasts. He also began participating in offline meetups where people could meet in person, further deepening his friendships.
The connection that resulted from this exchange was the personalized model of the Roman Gauthier Insight Micro-Rotor, which is worn in the main shot. "A friend who is a watch enthusiast had shown me a Roman Gauthier watch. The finish was excellent, and the watch and movement were both fascinating, so I became interested. Then, even though I didn't own a Roman Gauthier watch, I was able to attend a dinner event and meet him in person. As we talked, I was drawn to Gauthier's personality. However, since I'm not a valuable customer, I didn't think I would be able to order a custom watch, but I was surprised to find out that it was possible from the first purchase, so I decided to ask for my long-awaited first personalized model."
When ordering the personalized Roman Gauthier model, tk-chrono enlisted the help of fellow watch enthusiast N, whom he met on social media, on the design side. After explaining his own preferences, tk-chrono asked N, who is also a designer, about the things that concerned him as a designer and asked for his advice. "N first created a computer graphic version of my draft. From there, the design that was created incorporating N's advice was perfect for my tastes. It's a watch that could only be made because he understands my tastes."
Romain Gauthier also accepted all of tkchrono's orders. Thus, in October 2011, he finally got his hands on this one-of-a-kind watch. Since then, it has been a part of tk-chrono's collection, appearing frequently on his social media accounts. He also believes, "I rotate the watches I own and wear them all. Collecting and storing them is not a hobby." "Wouldn't it be fun to wear a (Audemars Piguet) Royal Oak Double Balance Wheel Openworked the next day and a semi-vintage Franck Muller? Or an (A. Lange & Söhne) Lange 1 the next day and a (Rolex) GMT-Master II? I enjoy the contrast. This kind of diversity and outrageous direction is what makes watches so fun."
Just as he interacts with his watches, tk-chrono, who interacts with a variety of friends and embraces new values, has always valued diversity. "Even among watch enthusiasts, each has their own world. Like the 'New Japan Pro Wrestling faction' and the 'All Japan Pro Wrestling faction' (laughs). (Different worlds) sometimes don't mix, but I associate with both. I'm a geek at heart, and I like to talk about things like balance springs, but I also understand the desire to buy something simply because 'it's cool.' Watches are accessories, after all. It's all about diversity."
As tk-chrono points out, there are many different types of watch enthusiasts. He respects the diversity of each individual, and broadens the horizons of his own watch hobby and his interactions with fellow watch enthusiasts. His life as a watch enthusiast is sure to become even richer in the future.
