nao tamura’s 1/6 watch for issey miyake moves the crown to the 6 o’clock position

the shifted crown exudes a more tool-like aura, making it easier to adjust the hand’s position precisely.

juliana neira June 13, 2019 2 min

usually, new york-based designer nao tamura doesn’t wear a watch. but when designing the 1/6 watch for issey miyake — here first one ever — she decided to use one even before the project started. ‘I used to have an impression that wearing a watch was being pressed by time, but now I noticed that looking at a watch to check time is such a luxurious behaviour that is separated from an enormous amount of information.’

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for the 1/6 watch for issey miyake, nao tamura didn’t want a fashionable timepiece, but one that could express the passage of time in a careful manner. this idea is embodied by the markers that comprise the majority of the dial. the long second hand sweeps over the outer fine markers starting from 12 to 6 o’clock and the inner fine markers starting from 6 to 12 o’clock respectively, resulting in a motion that expresses time ticking. furthermore, the crown located at the 6 o’clock position exudes a more tool-like aura, making it easier to adjust the hand’s position precisely.

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‘the name ‘1/6’ derives from the hand movement of six beats per second of this mechanical watch,’ comments nao tamura. ‘I’m not sure what the beat really means (laugh), but I valued the second hand’s motion that marks the passage of time, which is particular to mechanical movements. mechanical watches especially have an ‘emotional’ presence compared with other kinds of watches, but this ‘1/6’ is close to a ruler. it is purely a tool for being aware of time.’

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project info:

name: 1/6 watch

designer: nao tamura

company: issey miyake

glass material: hard rex
case size: diameter: 43.0 mm, thickness: 11.1 mm
caliber: mechanical movement with manual winding mechanism nh35
jewels: 24 jewels
functions: indication (hour/minute/second)
accuracy: average daily loss/gain between -35 and +45 seconds
power reserve: approximately 41 hours
vibrations: 21,600 vibrations/hour (6 beats/second)
water resistance: 5 bar
magnetic resistance: antimagnetic (jis class 1)