Kuoe Kyoto Old Smith

I’ve looked at the Kuoe watches many times over, and I found the array of options to be overwhelming. There’s also that sense that at 35mm you really want to feel that model on your wrist before committing — if the case is designed wrong you risk it looking like a toy watch. It was our last day in Kyoto, and this was the only major thing on my list I still had yet to do in the city — I really wanted to stop into the store and get a Kuoe if there was one I liked enough.

My wife insisted we make time, and so we stopped in. The store is really neat, below street level with angled skylights back up to the street. The staff is overly friendly and every watch is sitting out, to be handled, no cases in sight. I put an Old Smith on my wrist, and knew I was buying one.

This is a very good value, but more than that it offers something fairly unique in the market, and executes fantastically well.

Specs and Materials

Here’s the rundown:

Japanese Quartz Movement – Cal: TMI VD78A (I believe this is a Seiko movement)

Small Second

Water Resistant: 5ATM

Domed Sapphire Glass with AR coating (inside)

Ivory Dial

Case Size : 35mm x 35mm x 10mm

Lug-to-Lug : 42mm

Lug Width : 18mm

Case : Stainless Steel 316L (PVD Coated)

Something to note is that the finishing on this watch feels better than a Seiko at twice the price for the Seiko. There’s nothing wowing about these specs other than the dimensions, and including of a sapphire crystal at this price point. There’s also nothing lacking here. A solid value all around.

Wearing

This watch falls into a rare category — an item I am not confident I can fully convey what it’s like to wear and own. I have no analogy which can help you wrap your head around this. I only have one word which keeps popping into my head: simple.

For so many people in today’s world we look to the past and think of simpler times, of times when — for one reason or another — we think things were somehow easier. We are usually wrong, but there’s bits and pieces of truths. Suits were better, and in a lot of ways watches were far more interesting.

Kuoe has managed to capture this idea. This watch is tiny. It’s not only the 35mm diameter, but the lugs are shorter and understated, as is the crown, and it’s all cased in a very thin package. When you wear it on your wrist, it is light in weight and disappears under your cuff. It’s there when you need the time, but the overall size makes it very simple to wear, never in the way.

This is a watch they could drop into most 1960s movies as a prop, and it would not remotely look out of place. Yet at the same time, in 2025, it feels just as at home. Perhaps the one downside to something like this is that it’s a very active statement. It’s a rebuke in ways of all the other trends. Forget waitlists for large, shiny, and bulky Rolex watches which start at $6k. Forget digital. Forget even automatic. Dates, nah. Don’t even think about activity tracking.

And there’s some quirky shit on this watch. The numerals somehow feel slightly unbalanced, as if they were hand cut by someone who’s not quite worried about consistency. And yet, if you don’t stare, you’ll never see it. Stare and you see it, and at first it’s a wtf, then it morphs to this feeling: well that’s a little playful and funky. And from that moment on, it’s going to continually capture your attention.

It is, without a doubt, a very Japanese watch.

This is also, likely, the best first watch someone could buy. I used to recommend an Orient Bambino — equally simple and cost effective. No longer, as the Kuoe Old Smith is leaps and bounds a better purchase. A better watch.

If watches ever bother you as they catch your shirt sleeve, this is your watch. Sleeves slip over the top without issue. The watch truly is more flat than anything else I own.

There’s no lume on this model, and it’s a quartz movement. However pushing the seconds hand to a small subdial means that you never really notice its quartz. The watch is legible and easy to read. And there’s a wide variety of dial colors and designs to pair with a wide selection of watch straps.

The biggest market downside to this watch is that far too many will skip it as they are simply insecure in wearing a 35mm watch. That’s a shame, as they are missing out on a true gem.

I find myself continually reaching for the watch as a perfect pairing to my day to day outfit. It flies under the radar on my wrist, and yet serves me quite well for my needs. The only downside is buying only one watch from Kuoe.

Overall

There’s something magic about a simple, understated, and slightly quirky watch which can elevate itself to something which competes with watches 10x its cost. This is one of my most worn watches, and if it were my only watch, I would probably be quite content as well. It’ll be interesting to see how the coating holds up over time, but right now, I absolutely cannot recommend this watch enough.

Buy here, $405.