A watch collecting full circle moment: finally buying the watch that got me obsessed with watches
Andrew O'ConnorMy watch enthusiasm started very young. Prior to even starting grade school, my parents gave me a children’s Timex and taught me how to tell time. From then on, I always wore a watch and was always intrigued by them. I had many quirky character watches, with one particular Star Wars droid-shaped watch particularly sticking out in my memory. I also remember the peak of popularity of Fossil watches, with the coolest ones featuring animated dials. They even had a partnership with The Matrix, with an animated dial featuring the infamous green and black computer code.
My key takeaway from this, in hindsight, is that my watch enthusiasm was shaped by what aesthetically appealed to me, as opposed to any sort of claims of mechanical mastery.
My parents continued what their parents did, and gifted my older sister and I watches upon completing high school. I began to look around for watches I would want as I closed in on the end of my primary education, and started my search, gravitating towards design-centric watches. I also quickly discovered the rabbit hole of mechanical watches.
Even though my early career visions included ambitions of being an engineer, at that point in my life, my career goals became more focused on creative fields. Learning about mechanical watches then became my fix for engineering-based novelty. Without intending to, I very quickly became a mechanical watch purist and left behind all of the quirky, weird (and often quartz) design-focused watches.
There was one watch, however, that always stood out in my mind from early in that search, and that is the Issey Miyake TO watch. Designed by Tokujin Yoshioka, his goal was to design a watch that appeared as if it were crafted out of a singular piece of metal. While avant-garde and abstracted, it managed to still look like a watch that could easily tell the time – a combination that I imagine is very difficult to achieve.
Because its battery-powered quartz ticking heart, I quickly moved on, despite my strong attraction to the design. There is a mechanical version of the watch, powered by a Seiko NE15 calibre, but the overall design is altered, in addition to being a whopping 45mm in diameter. One version was ruled out by its movement, the other ruled out by its size, and I quickly moved on to looking at other watches.
As I now close in on 15 years of watch enthusiasm, the Issey Miyake TO is still stuck in my mind. Its retail price has always been around US$500, has been continuously available, and has even been updated. Despite buying other watches, both cheaper and much more expensive, including some quartz watches, I have never bothered to pick one up. I have even seen them in person before, and still passed on adding one to my collection! Apparently, it took a trip to Japan, seeing all available models, and a vacation mentality to pick one up.
A moment on specs
To cover the tech specs, the Issey Miyake TO measures 38mm in diameter, 8.2mm thick, and has a lugless, integrated bracelet design. Made in partnership with Seiko, the movement Inside is the prolific Seiko VJ20 quartz movement that displays the hours and minutes, and is accurate to +/- 20 seconds per month. The case is water-resistant to 50 meters, utilising a solid caseback and a Hardlex mineral crystal to cover its dial.
As already mentioned, the Issey Miyake TO was designed by Tokujin Yoshioka. Issey Miyake Watches started in 2001, and the TO was originally released in 2005. There were numerous versions produced, including pure stainless steel, black and gold IP-coated versions, different polished and brushed iterations, and versions on different-coloured leather straps. In 2022, they updated the model with a new “Easy-adjust” bracelet plus extra colour options, including the original steel and black, in addition to a “light gold” model seen here.
On the Issey Miyake website, they have a blog post explaining the design of the TO, with some quotes from Yoshioka. One of the most interesting things I found in this article was that it was a challenge to find the right material for the rotating discs that tell the time. If the discs were made of steel, they would be too heavy for the movement to rotate them accurately. They could have been made of treated plastic, but it would not have the same aesthetic continuity as using metal.
By making the discs out of aluminium, Yoshioka was able to keep the visible continuity of having the discs made out of metal, successfully achieving the appearance that the watch is made out of a solid piece. This aspect of the design also appeases the part of my brain that is looking for interesting engineering solutions.
The ownership experience
Despite how this watch always maintained a spot in the back of my mind, I actually did not bother to find this information about the design process of the watch earlier. If I had, this information must have completely left my mind… But now that I have the watch on my wrist, I don’t know why I put this watch aside for so long.
Judging the merits of the TO as a wrist watch, it is fine. The construction feels solid, the spring-loaded pin-adjusted bracelet was indeed easy to adjust, and the bracelet feels substantial and comfortable. The stamped butterfly clasp definitely leaves something to be desired, but it keeps the clasp thin and functions in keeping the watch on the wrist. Using the crown to set the time is appropriately standard. Reading the time is a bit of a trip, as the outer disc is for the hours, and the inner disc is for the minutes, but it is functional and is easy enough to figure out. I tell myself that the short hand is still for the hours and the long hand is for the minutes; they’re just shifted in placement.
For every part of this watch that is average to below average in terms of construction, it makes up for it in an overflowing abundance of charm. The design is as impactful in person as it is in photos. Even the packaging is a solid piece of metal! Once on the wrist, it is incredibly comfortable. The solid steel bracelet and steel case feel satisfyingly substantial, with the heft keeping any audible reminders of the quartz movement tucked inside. The lack of a seconds hand also removes any visual reminders of the battery-powered movement.
The end result is that any personal hang-ups I may have had about this watch being quartz are instantly kept at bay, as the physical experience of the watch makes up for that shortcoming in droves. I do think that with 2025 marking 20 years of this watch being in production, there is a missed opportunity to make a more premium version with a better clasp, a more refined mechanical movement, a sapphire crystal, and maybe a more premium material, like titanium. That being said, I’m sure a brand like Issey Miyake is well aware of what their typical clients will go for, and I’m sure a more premium watch is not it.
Closing thoughts
Ultimately, with a relatively affordable price, I had no reason to keep putting off adding this watch to my collection. Sure, I still wish it had an automatic movement, and I know there is a movement out there that would fit within this form factor, but those aspects are not what make this watch great. It is a reminder to me of the artistic side of what watches can be, beyond the functional and utilitarian origins that so many of us focus on. Yoshioka had an artistic vision he wanted to pursue, and this watch is the end result.
I will say I’m glad that I did not purchase earlier versions, as the light gold version is my absolute favourite. Still, I could’ve bought one sooner, but this trip to Japan was also my first. I have always wanted to go, and my significant other and I have talked about travelling together to Japan since we met. Purchasing this watch on this trip seems appropriate and marks a life goal achieved, in more ways than one.
This watch also serves as a welcome reminder to myself to stick to what I like, regardless of potentially contradicting popular opinion. Sure, trying new things and expanding one’s horizons is a very worthwhile endeavour… But sometimes it takes many years of life experience to realise you knew what you liked all along. I certainly delayed my own satisfaction long enough, but the wait was worth it!