Minase 5 Windows Collection

“Creating the 5 Windows broke down every design concept I had learned and practiced during my 30-year career. It was a crazy project, and it became the one that I am most proud of.”

Hirokuni Yamamoto – Designer at Minase

Minase’s Innovative Design

Did you ever wonder why the 5 Windows does not really resemble any watch you’re familiar with? Well, it’s simple, this model was not inspired by watches; it was inspired by geometry.

Minase wanted to create a watch that would enhance its vision, and its designers chose to do this through geometry, an important science to Japanese culture. In Japan, mathematics and geometry are not just looked at with logical minds like in western societies, but as a way to emphasize aesthetic dimensions of beauty.

The square case symbolizes the imperfection of the earthly world, while the round shape of the dial symbolize perfection, infinity, calmness. The 5 sapphire crystal windows enable reveal the dial literally seen through the case. In a way, Minase claims our universe is and will always be imperfect, but if we find a way to look further, there are many beautiful things that will draw our attention and the imperfections will seem less important.

Complex yet harmonious Construction

Visible through the 5 sapphire crystal “windows”, the movement, the three-dimensional round dial and the hands seem to be floating in space, bathed in the light coming from the “windows”.

The watch’s very singular shape is the result of the high degree of manual finishing work found in every Minase watch. The most striking feature is the polishing. Minase has mastered the Sallaz polishing technique.  Highly skilled craftsmen spend more than 30 hours working on a single watch in order to polish each of its 316L stainless steel surfaces.

The sapphire crystal has a non-reflective coating and is spherical on both axes, underscoring the contrast between the clear base and the polished satin surface of the watch case. The polyhedric crown bears the brand’s logo, a drill head, that offers a tactile and sure grip.