This is proving to be a wild year for Naoya Hida & Co., the small Japanese watchmaker whose handmade timepieces are notoriously hard to source. While it has been slowly ramping up its production, the company still only makes around 100 watches per year, which are all normally announced in a single batch every spring. 

This time around is different, though. Following the usual patiently made wristpieces that’ve built Naoya Hida & Co.’s status as one of the most exciting new names in horology, the seven-year-old brand unveiled an unexpected hand-engraved collaboration. And now it has another in the works, this time working with 160-year-old Swiss watchmaker Zenith.

Naoya Hida, founder of the fledgling eponymous watch label, is the first person selected by Zenith for its new “double signed” collection. A tradition from the golden age of watchmaking, where manufacturers teamed up and traded expertise, ZENITH is bringing back the collaborative practice of double signing through a long-term program. 

For its debut, the collection focuses on Zenith's Calibre 135, a precision movement from 1949 that holds a record-breaking 230+ chronometry prizes. 

“The idea was to capture the atmosphere and spirit of the Calibre 135 era in a modern way,” Hida said in a statement. “I aimed for something restrained, yet with deep dimensionality.” That translates into a new expression of the G.F.J. collection, a watch debuted by Zenith last year, where all indications, including the Zenith and Naoya Hida & Co. branding, are the handiwork of master engraver Keisuke Kan and filled with blue Japanese Urushi lacquer.

The traditional Japanese craftsmanship continues onto three strap choices, one of which is made from rare Himeji Kurozan leather, also treated with Japanese urushi lacquer before being hand-polished, while the others utilize Wagyu leather from Kyoto and cotton denim from the famed Kaihara Denim mill. 

It may sound like there are only a paltry number of the $75,000 watches to go around, given that only ten numbered units are releasing, but that’s actually quite a deep offering by Naoya Hida & Co.’s standards. Not that it’ll be enough to satisfy the huge demand that always follows.

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