Five Years of Quiet Pursuit

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It’s been five years since Hitori quietly came to life.

There was no grand roadmap. No brand deck. Just a deep desire to create watches with feeling—pieces that speak softly but carry weight. Watches that held the kind of solitude yet anomalous spirit I couldn’t find elsewhere: both bucolic and urban Japan in essence, quietly considered, rooted in real craft.

The past five years have been amalgam of emotions yet altruistically humbling. We’ve walked through seasons of discovery, of trial, of tuning in. We’ve worked with all kinds of makers, from large factories to small-batch ateliers. Some partnerships flourished. Others quietly fell away. But every experience brought us closer to clarity.

We began to zone in on eclectic collaborators—watchmakers, dial craftsmen, case finishers—who resonated with what we were trying to do. Who believed that making something well wasn’t just about specs, but about soul. Especially those in Japan, where watchmaking isn’t a product—it’s a craft. A discipline. A devotion.

Why Japan?

Because it changed the way I see things in a deep manner. It gave me a new lens to approach beauty—not as perfection, but as character. The scratches of time. The stillness of nature. The unseen effort behind something simple. Whether it’s wabi-sabi, the quiet pursuit of kaizen, or the way architecture blends into its environment—Japan’s way of making has always anchored me. It’s not about nostalgia. It’s about values.

A large part of Hitori was born from this desire—to express and bridge the essence of Japanese craftsmanship and its dye-in-the-wool spirit. These values, often deeply embedded in the work itself, are not easily translated for the rest of the world. I wanted to create a platform where those stories, that spirit, could be shared. Not through words or marketing, but through the work itself. Through timepieces that speak in materials, texture, restraint, and intention.

Along the way, I also met people I never imagined I’d work with. Through my personal love of art and design, I came across artists and craftsmen from all over the world. Some I met in galleries, others online, some through pure chance. We spoke different languages, worked in different mediums—but something clicked. I’m deeply grateful for the few who became part of Hitori’s story, contributing their unique voice to what we do.

To all of you acolytes who have supported this journey—whether through your craft, your belief, or simply by wearing one of our watches—thank you. You’ve helped build Hitori into what it is today: not a brand, but a circle. A quiet collective of people who still care about making things well.

As we mark our fifth year, we’re chuffed in preparing something different.

Really different.

This upcoming series is unlike anything we’ve done before. It draws from a personal trip I made to Fukuoka—where the rhythm of the city, the rawness of its materials, and the blend of natural and built forms left a lasting impression on me. That trip gave me new perspective, and the work that followed felt instinctive, even liberating.

The new pieces are a shift yet totally befitting the essence of Hitori. They explore a different tone, a different silhouette. A break from what we’ve done, but not a rejection. They speak with new shapes and textures, while still paying quiet homage to the Japanese watchmaking greats that inspired us from day one. It’s not just evolution—it’s expansion. A widening of what Hitori can be.

This new direction may surprise some. But for those who’ve walked this journey with us, we hope you’ll feel the same continuity underneath. That same quiet pursuit, now told in a new form.

Thank you for being here.

We’re just getting started. —

Origin Stories, No. 01