Presage Urushi
Presage Urushi
ORIGINS OF URUSHI LACQUER
Kanazawa lacquerware began early Edo period (1603-1867), when renowned artists were invited to Kanazawa to develop a unique lacquer craft that blended graceful aristocratic culture with powerful samurai culture. Its climate particularly conducive to the lacquer-making process – which requires a certain amount of humidity – the craft known as urushi has long flourished here. Kanazawa urushi lacquerware is known for its maki-e paintings, intricate patterns of precious materials and other rare materials applied to a profoundly lustrous base through masterfully precise techniques. Today, craftsman Mr. Isshu Tamura and Seiko have truly created Presage Urushi Lacquer dials as unique works of art that honors the past, fits the needs of the present, and are destined to be valued long into the future.
TRADITIONAL JAPANESE ARTISANSHIP BRINGS NEW VALUE TO OUR TIMES
Each piece of Urushi lacquerware is created through a painstaking multi-step process of coating and polishing in alternate phases to realize depth of color and ideal smoothness. Craftsman Isshu Tamura identifies subtle scratches imperceptible to the human eye by using sound and touch meticulously polishing them to ensure that each piece is free of visible blemishes. With each piece of urushi art requiring its own distinct precision hand motions and operations, Mr. Tamura even crafts his own brushes and instruments from materials such as multiple varieties of bamboo harvested in the mountains to ensure he always has the ideal tool for the task.
UNITING PAST AND PRESENT
Under the supervision of lacquer artist Isshu Tamura, a team of lacquerware craftsmen working in close concert with Seiko’s engineering team, have created a new Limited Edition repeating the processes of coating and polishing until the dials become a unique, glossy, reddish-brown color. The Seiko watchmaking 110th Anniversary Limited Edition Urushi Dial model pays homage to the beautiful city of Kanazawa, which still retains the atmosphere of feudal Japan by preserving the elegant culture of the time. Uniting past with present – and traditional aesthetic sensibilities with mechanical innovation – it is ideal for those looking to connect with timeless beauty and value in our all-too-rapidly changing modern world.
URUSHI LACQUER COLLECTION
New
SPB447
$ 1,750
Limited
SPB395
$ 1,850
SPB405
$ 1,600
SPB407
$ 1,650
