Introducing: Naoya Hida's Watches For 2024, Including An All-New Type 5A, Two Gold Type 1D, And A Two-Tone Type 3B (Live Pics) (2024)

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Last year, I finally met Mr. Naoya Hida-san and his team as they did a trunk show at The Armoury in New York City. The Armoury is no stranger to these kinds of shows, but more frequently you can expect some of the best in tailoring and menswear at their outposts in Hong Kong and New York. Under the helm of avid watch collector Mark Cho, they've also become one of the few places you can see (and order) one of the watches from this Japanese microbrand that has left big-name collectors obsessed.

Two versions of the Type 4A I photographed at my meeting last year.

We've covered Eric Ku's take on Naoya Hida (as well as their collaborative work with The Armoury and the sporty Type 4A last year). That said, I could never quite get a sense of the value for what felt like stiff pricing, so I had to see for myself. I walked away a convert. The watches are dramatically more captivating in person than in press images – nothing against the pictures, but this is the kind of watch you almost must see in person to understand the level of design and finishing they're accomplishing. So when the team came to New York again last week, I wanted to see what was new on offer. The watches are also only available through lottery application, with the lottery starting May 13th and ending May 16th, so it was important to get this out there ahead of time.

The Type 5A

The most dramatic new addition from Naoya Hida-san this year is the Type 5A. The rest of the watches in their collection to this point have been relatively classically sized round cases. Those watches have consistently been about 37mm in diameter which makes them "Jumbo" versions of the vintage watches they draw inspiration from but small for modern standards. The Type 5A is no different, just in rectangular form, with a 33mm long, 26mm wide, 9.1mm thick stainless steel case. It also features a longer 43.5mm lug-to-lug so it wears a bit more modern on the wrist. But as with anything from Hida, the aesthetics are the main selling point and thought out to nearly the last detail.

This might be the first time I'll lead with a crystal as a design element worth discussing, but the Type 5A has a two-part three-dimensional box crystal with a dome effect from top/bottom to middle. This harkens back to cut glass crystals of vintage Art Deco models, fitting with the overall aesthetic of the watch, and alongside the small two-piece case was something Hida-san said took a lot of effort to engineer and find a supplier for.

As with the rest of their watches, the dial here is hand engraved, this time from a two-part construction of German silver (and you can see the step of the 6 o'clock subdial). Engraver Keisuke Kano has done a great job interpreting Hida-san's design here, which is obviously inspired by Cartier's Etanche a Double Boitier, a relatively rare waterproof-cased watch from the 1940s. Instead of applied numerals, the indices are cut by hand over and over to a nice fine relief. The hands similarly are cut concave, leaving a fine line running down the spine.

The watch has 30m of water resistance (deeper than I'd take an Etanche a Double Boitier, to be fair) and part of that is probably due to Naoya Hida's first-ever display caseback. This is where things unfortunately is a question mark for me.

One of the criticisms of Naoya Hida & Co. has been the price point. The new Type 5A is $21,300 and, like past models, has a movement architecture that uses power, escapement, and gear train from outside sources. Here, the Cal. 252SS hand-wound angular movement takes from the Peseux 7001 with fully new designs for baseplates, bridges, screws, and ratchet. Hida-san told me the finishing wasn't perfect on the prototype model I photographed. He said the team is still working to find their style of Côtes de Genève finishing to match the machine-beveled edges here (as well as better screw polishing, etc.). It's tough and maybe unfair to judge based on the prototype, but the current level of finishing (especially on the bridges) feels rough for how cohesive the rest of the product seems and I hope they get it right.

As I said, every other part of this watch seems well thought out and cohesive, both within the model but against the rest of what Hida-san is trying to accomplish with his brand. He invited me to visit their workshop next time I'm in Japan to see the library of books he uses to gather inspiration from, added to the years of experience he had working with Ralph Lauren and F.P. Journe, to bring the old and the new together. It results in small things having an outsized impact, down to the new D-buckle that will now be available as an after-sales option for every watch in the lineup.

Any new watch (and caliber) is a big deal for Hida-san. In the six years since the brand was founded, they've only produced 243 watches (the breakdown of which is available on their site) and only 10 of this model are anticipated over the next year. With limited production possible (the team currently consists of only one watchmaker and one engraver, though another engraver is being trained), the addition of the Type 5A and the other new models means that the brand will stop producing the Type 1D-1, Type 2C, and Type 2C-1 "Letter Cutter" models. With such limited production, I'm sure Hida-san will find customers for the new Type 5A, but I hope to see a return of the Type 2C someday.

Naoya Hida & Co. Type 5A; 33mm long by 26mm wide, with a 43.5mm lug-to-lug and 9.1mm thick stainless steel case; 30m water resistance. Two-part German silver dial with hand-engraved Arabic and triangular indexes; Three-dimensional box sapphire crystal; Concave dauphine hands. Cal. 252SS hand-wound angular movement with parts from the Peseux 7001, with hours, minutes, and small seconds and 38 hours of power reserve. Price: $21,300; limited to approximately 10 pieces for 2024/2025.

Updated Versions of the Type 1D-3 and Type 3B-1

The rest of the new releases from Hida-san and his team aren't brand-new watches but updated versions of pieces that have become mainstays in the lineup. Instead of digging into each in-depth, I felt like I could give you a brief overview of the updates to the line. The first is the new Type 3B-1, a two-hand watch with a moonphase in 37mm diameter by 10.7mm thick stainless steel screw-down case. Now, the watch comes with a bit more punch, with an 18k rose gold bezel. But that's not all.

A close look at the dial shows not only the hand-engraved Roman numerals (which are the same as past releases of the Type 3) but the hand-engraved moonphase disc now features a lapis lazuli sky. These changes together bump the watch up from the $21,300 price of the standard stainless steel-only Type 3B to $27,000 for the new Type 3B-1. Two-tone mens watches with classic design are hard to come by in the modern era, and with only 5 pieces of this watch being made over the next two years, I think the team will have no trouble selling them.

Naoya Hida & Co. Type 3B-1; 37mm diameter by 10.7mmmm thick stainless steel screw-back case with 18k rose gold bezel; 50m water resistance. Dial made of German silver with hand-engraved Roman numerals, 18k rose gold hands and engraved moonphase with lapis lazuli sky, plus hours and minutes. Cal. 3021LU hand-wound movement running at 4Hz with 45 hours of power reserve. Price: $27,000, produced in approximately 5 pieces for 2024/2025.

The Type 1D-3

The other, and probably most prominent, mainstay from the collection is the Type 1D, with it's three-hand design and subsidiary seconds at 9 o'clock. While I'm more of a "seconds at 6 o'clock" guy, the attractiveness of the hand-engraved Breguet-style numerals on the Type 1D are hard to beat. Now, the watch comes in two full 18k yellow gold cases, a first for Naoya Hida. But I'm showing you two watches below, so what gives?

As you can see, the watch comes in two variations, the Type 1D-2 and Type 1D-3, differentiated by the latter having a hand-engraved case flank and edge between the lugs. The same engraver that does the dials, Keisuke Kano-san, also is responsible for these cases, which he tells me takes approximately 3-4 weeks per case. That's why he'll only make approximately 3 pieces over the next two years.

The dial also has 63 parts, with the new friction-plated German silver dial featuring individual yellow gold dots for the minute track. You might see some spotting around the dial here, but these are prototypes and not final production pieces. The finishing will be immaculate on the final product, I'm sure.

The case engraving reminds me of a more hand-finished and bold kind of finishing reminsicent of Breguet's coin edge-meets-Ralph Lauren engraved western watches. It's not for everyone, but at their production number, it doesn't have to be.

The rest of the watch largely stays the same, with a screw-back case design, still in solid 18k yellow gold. The yellow gold tint Hida-san uses is more "straw" tone in bright light and almost hedges a bit rosy, though not as dramatic as Audemars Piguet's new sand gold. The unengraved Type 1D-2 will run $41,100 produced in approximately 5 pieces between 2024/2025 while the model with engraving, the Type 1D-3 is a $56,700, by far the highest price from Hida thus far.

Naoya Hida & Co. Type 1D-2 and Type 1D-3; 37mm diameter by 9.8mm thick solid 18k yellow gold case, with 50m water resistance. Dial made of friction-plated German silver, 18k gold hands. Hours, minutes, subsidiary seconds at 9 o'clock. Cal. 3019SS Hand-wound movement operating at 4Hz with 48 hours of power reserve. Type 1D-2 (not engraved) for $41,100 produced in approximately 5 pieces between 2024/2025. Type 1D-3 (engraved) for $56,700, produced in approximately 3 pieces for 2024/2025.

For more on the watches from Naoya Hida & Co. and to apply for their lottery, visit their website.

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