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Seeing a watch made by Naoya Hida & Co. in person for the first time was one of those moments when you truly realize that you have to experience a watch in the metal before casting judgement. At the time, the brand was only in its second full year, and most of the people commenting on the watches in online forums, Instagram, etc. were reacting to what they perceived as an exorbitant price tag. These specific watches, after all, used a (highly) modified Valjoux 7750 as the base movement – not exactly high horology. But when you handle one of these watches, wear it, and, importantly, turn the crown, you realize you’re dealing with an object that’s largely handmade, a fully fleshed out complete thought with a singular perspective. That’s a pretty rare thing, as are the hand carved dials that have become an aesthetic signature of the brand, and truly require magnification to fully grapple with. Naoya Hida & Co. has just unveiled their new slate of watches for 2025, and I imagine we’re heading for some of the same conversations we’ve heard before, but there’s a new watch in this crop of releases that should quiet at least some of the naysayers.
The marquee release in this year’s lineup is the NH Type 6A, Naoya Hida’s most complicated watch to date and their first perpetual calendar. The 6A is made in the same vintage inspired style as all of Naoya Hida’s other watches, evoking classic pieces by Patek Philippe and others (but mostly Patek, let’s be honest). Here they’ve created a perpetual calendar in a case measuring just 37mm in diameter and 11.5mm tall, a size and material that is the stuff of lore for collectors of vintage complicated watches.
The layout features three subdials at 3, 6, and 9, providing information on the day of the week, month and leap year, and date, respectively. Time is told via Roman numerals with a minute track made up of small dots at the dial’s perimeter. The dial itself is made from Sterling silver, a material chosen for its resistance to tarnishing.
The kicker, and the thing that makes this watch truly impressive, is that every Roman numeral hour marker as well as all of the information in the subdials is engraved, much of it by hand. This, frankly, is a ridiculously over the top exercise in craftsmanship. The level of skill required to achieve such a precise engraving is hard to wrap your arms around. But, again, it’s the kind of thing that’s easy to dismiss if you’re just seeing the brand’s own images, like you are here. Having a chance to examine these dials up close, so you can see the three dimensional quality of the engraving, and the mark of tools used by skilled hands, is critical.
The Type 6A runs on the Cal.3025PC, a caliber created in partnership between Habring2 and Dubois Dépraz. It’s manually wound, with a power reserve of 45 hours, and has been equipped with a specially designed click spring that produces a tailored and unique winding feel. Winding feel, of course, is a fairly subjective trait in a watch – everyone has their preference, and some don’t have a preference at all. But Naoya Hida has put a ton of thought and some real engineering into creating a very specific winding sound and action. That won’t be worth a dramatic premium in price to everyone, but the brand is only planning to make 10 of these per year, so that’s not really the correct lens to look at this through anyway.
In addition to the new Type 6A, Naoya Hida is also introducing some small updates to previously issued watches. The NH Type 3B, their dress watch with a 6 o’clock moonphase and German silver engraved dial, gets a new version with the Type 3B-3. This more luxurious variant introduces a yellow gold case (it was previously only available in steel) as well as a lapis lazuli to the moonphase disc. It is expected that the brand will produce 5 examples of the NH Type 3B-3 between 2025 and 2026.
Also new to the collection is the NH Type 5A-1, a refinement of the rectangular Type 5A introduced last year. This new version swaps out an acrylic crystal for the sapphire used on last year’s model. Naoya Hida says they will make around 10 of these watches between this year and next.
Another factor contributing to the discourse on Naoya Hida & Co. is how difficult they are to acquire. In addition to being expensive by just about any measure (the new perpetual calendar and the 3B-3 both retail for $57,300, while the 5A-1 will set you back $24,500), the brand has set up an application process to help determine who gets an allocation. It’s said that brand founder Naoya Hida personally reviews each application, which asks potential customers to list what’s in their collection currently as well as discuss their interest in the watches themselves. The Armoury is also an authorized retailer for Naoya Hida & Co. watches, and they offer allocatiosn through a lottery system, no application required.
More information on the new watches from Naoya Hida & Co. can be found on their website here.
