On a cool Wednesday afternoon during Tokyo Watch Week, I made my way through the quiet backstreets of Ningyōchō, one of Tokyo’s older neighborhoods known more for traditional eateries than for horology. My destination was a modest mid-rise building — unremarkable from the outside, but inside, it holds the beating heart of one of the most talked-about names in independent watchmaking today: Naoya Hida & Co.
The brand occupies two floors. On the fourth floor is the workshop: benches for assembly, the hand-engraving station, and the tools that support a team of just seven people. This is where dials are worked on, cases inspected, and watches carefully put together. The sixth floor is a different world: a showroom and event space, open, quiet, and filled with natural light. It is here that clients are welcomed, watches are photographed, and the public face of the brand is presented. The contrast between the two floors — one buzzing with focus, the other serene and contemplative — mirrors the dual nature of the brand itself.
A Veteran Who Knows Exactly What He Wants
Naoya Hida is no newcomer. With more than 35 years in the watch industry, he has lived through the modern story of fine watchmaking in Japan. His résumé is not that of a bench watchmaker, but of a man who helped shape the market: he worked with brands such as Breguet, Ralph Lauren Watch & Jewelry, and most notably F.P. Journe, where he was instrumental in introducing the brand to Japanese collectors. This exposure gave him rare insight into both the artistry and the business of watches.
By 2018, Hida had seen enough to know he wanted to do things his own way. He founded NH Watch Co., Ltd. to create the kind of watches he admired: classically inspired, sized with restraint, and crafted with obsessive attention to detail. His vision was clear — he did not want to make watches for everyone, but for the connoisseur who values proportion, subtlety, and texture.
The company today is deliberately small. Just seven people make up the entire team. Among them is engraver Keisuke Kano, who left larger corporate work to join Hida’s atelier. The rest assist in assembly, case finishing, and operational support. Production is capped at under 100 watches a year — one estimate is around 50 pieces annually — and even that is only possible because of carefully managed resources. For comparison, some Swiss independents might produce ten times that number.
Yet ambition is not lacking. Hida himself reportedly has over 60 design ideas sketched and stored away, waiting for their moment. Growth is not about scaling numbers, but about pursuing the right concepts at the right time.
The Watches in Person
This was my first time seeing Naoya Hida’s watches in person, and the experience confirmed something that photographs never fully convey: the way his pieces reveal themselves slowly, detail by detail, rather than in a single impression. They appear simple, but the closer you look, the more depth you find.
Type 1D-2
The purest distillation of Hida’s vision. A round watch in 18K yellow gold, modest at 37mm in diameter and under 10mm thick, with proportions recalling the mid-20th century golden era of watchmaking. The dial is German silver, friction-plated for a soft metallic sheen, and its minute track is unlike anything else: 60 tiny solid gold spheres polished and inserted into recesses from the underside. The result is an effect that feels both tactile and timeless.
Type 1D-3
The pinnacle of the Type 1 line. It takes the same restrained proportions and transforms the case into a canvas for art. Keisuke Kano engraves each case by hand with Art Deco-inspired wave and fountain motifs, a process that takes three to four weeks per watch. Only about three such pieces are produced per year, making it the rarest of the collection. Seen under natural light in the showroom, the engraving doesn’t shout; instead, it shimmers and whispers, rewarding close inspection.
Type 3 (Moonphase)
A slightly more romantic take. The Type 3B-3, for example, pairs the silver dial with a moonphase disc of lapis lazuli, its moon hand-engraved in gold. Once again, the scale is 37mm, and once again the details matter more than the complication. It is not a showpiece for the wrist, but a quiet companion that reveals its charm in private moments.
Type 5 (Rectangle)
In 2024, Hida introduced a rectangular watch — his most daring departure in form. Yet even here, the guiding philosophy remains intact: restraint, balance, and fine proportion. With its slim case, engraved numerals, and choice of acrylic crystal on certain versions, the Type 5A feels like something unearthed from the 1930s, but executed with today’s precision.
Type 6A (Perpetual Calendar)
The boldest step so far. In 2025, Naoya Hida & Co. presented its first complicated watch, the Type 6A Perpetual Calendar. The movement, developed in collaboration with Habring² and Dubois-Dépraz, is housed in a 37mm case that manages to keep classical proportions despite the additional mechanisms. The dial is engraved in sterling silver, with Roman numerals cut by hand and calendar hands in blued steel. Only ten pieces are planned for 2025–2026, marking this as both a milestone and a statement: Hida will pursue complications, but never at the expense of balance.
The Atmosphere of the Visit
Walking between the workshop and showroom, I was struck by how different the two spaces felt yet how much they complemented each other. On the fourth floor, there was the smell of metal, the hum of tools, the sight of dials in trays, partially finished, awaiting their next step. On the sixth floor, everything was still — a place designed to admire a finished piece, to host collectors, or to photograph details without distraction.
The contrast underscored what Hida is building. On one side, human craft and labor. On the other, the quiet presentation of the final object. Together, they capture the duality of his philosophy: a watch must be made with discipline, and appreciated with patience.
Reflections
What I carried away from Ningyōchō was not just admiration for the watches, but respect for the philosophy behind them. In a world where many brands chase novelty, Hida pursues proportion. Where others shout, he whispers. And where most photos flatten watches into two dimensions, his creations demand to be experienced in the third: how a gold dot catches the light, how an engraving shifts as you tilt the case, how a 37mm watch can feel so exact on the wrist.
It was my first encounter with his work, but it left a lasting impression. Naoya Hida & Co. is not simply another Japanese watch brand. It is a refined statement of intent, rooted in classical codes yet interpreted through Japanese craftsmanship. And if Hida really does have sixty more ideas waiting in the wings, then this quiet atelier in Ningyōchō may well be one of the most exciting addresses in modern watchmaking.