Alec Baldwin just posted the best new watch alert of the year for his Kurono Toki
Zach BlassI was fortunate enough to receive my Kurono Toki this week, and took to Instagram the day I received it to celebrate my new watch alert. Unknowingly, however, I was totally upstaged by none other than actor Alec Baldwin who had already shared his #NWA weeks earlier. This is truly what #watchfam loves to see. Too often we see Rolex and Patek Philippe when we put our sleuth detective hats on and go watch spotting, and of course they make fantastic watches, so it is nice to see a less mainstream independent brand get some serious love.
As the resident Kuronophile of the team, when I first saw this post my mind was literally blown. The only other very public figure I knew of wearing a Kurono watch is actor, horology lover, and trustee at the Horological Society of New York Aldis Hodge in the film The Invisble Man. I also love how Alec took the shot above the printed cloth Kurono sends their watches wrapped in. He is clearly no stranger to watch Instagram.
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Not only did Alec purchase the second anniversary watch from this cult-followed brand, but he directly thanked founder Hajime Asaoka for the creation. Considering the post was shared on June 21, it’s fair to assume the watch was a Father’s Day gift. Whether it was gifted to him by his family, or a gift to himself, I think we can all agree that it’s great to see a GPHG-nominated brand like Kurono Tokyo get a bit more time in the limelight.
The Kurono Toki was the first watch from the brand to be officially released with a time window order period, where buyers had 10 minutes to pre-order and secure its eventual delivery. The response was so great Kurono has expressed on social media they may very well have to release fewer watches this coming year in order to meet deliveries of the Toki. Unsurprisingly the salmon-adjacent coral-vermillion dial was a total hit with new and existing fans of the brand, and the democratic process in which it was released may very well be the reason why it landed on the famous wrist of Alec Baldwin.
I have just started my own personal relationship with the watch, so stay tuned for a full owner’s review!
UPDATE: Kurono Tokyo has reached out to us with the following statement: “We would like to clarify that Kurono does not have a policy of gifting watches, and like any other customer celebrity customers have to pay in full for their watches – without discount.”
While we assumed this was the case, this makes the watch spot all the better because with 100% certainty we can say this was a genuine purchase backed by a payment in full.