How can a traditional craft with more than 400 years of history find new life on the dial of a modern wristwatch? In Maker’s Watch Knot’s latest collaboration with Hakuichi, the answer lies in Kanazawa Haku: delicate gold and platinum leaf shaped by contemporary design and the hand of an artisan. We spoke with Satomi Miyagi, a Kanazawa Haku artisan with over 20 years of experience exploring the material’s expressive possibilities, about what she poured
into this small but extraordinary dial.
The Joy of Working with Gold and Platinum Leaf, Discovered over the Course of 20 Years
“For about the first five years, working with the leaf felt like a constant battle. I couldn’t place it where I wanted. The slightest breeze would send it flying. Even my own breath would shift it out of position. No matter how hard I concentrated, all I was left with in the end was frustration. I thought so many times, ‘Maybe I’m just not cut out for this.'"
Miyagi joined Hakuichi straight out of high school. Hakuichi is a company dedicated to carrying on the tradition of Kanazawa Haku, while constantly challenging itself to find new forms of expression – a demanding environment for a young craftsperson. Yet the founder and senior artisans believed in her instincts, and continued to give her room to grow.
“It was around the 10-year mark that things began to change. Instead of trying to force the material to do what I wanted, I started learning to understand the leaf’s own character – to work with it rather than against it. After that, the leaf suddenly became a partner. ‘It will catch the light here.’ ‘This angle will give it depth.’ Those discoveries began to accumulate, and the work became a joy.”
Twenty years on, she can say with her whole heart that she has learned to place the leaf exactly as she envisions. Those accumulated years have shaped her pride as an artisan.
A New Stage – The Miniature World of a Watch Dial
Seeking to create a new timepiece that draws on the finest of Japanese craftsmanship, Knot approached Hakuichi with a commission to produce a watch incorporating Kanazawa Haku.
The two sides refined their ideas together, bringing their knowledge and expertise into focus until the final form took shape.
“The watch dial was the smallest stage I had ever worked on. Within a world of just a few centimeters, chance and precision had to coexist. Even a slight distortion becomes a major imbalance. At first, it was honestly frightening.”
Miyagi’s usual work involves broad surfaces – folding screens and decorative panels – where a degree of variation or irregularity can be read as character. A watch dial is different. The eye is drawn directly to it, and its expression shifts with every movement of the hands. Even the smallest loss of balance can be critical.
“First, platinum leaf is laid across the dial using the kirimawashi technique. Next comes the indigo dyeing. Applying such a deep color was a new challenge for me – in some of the early trials the surface ended up looking flat, like a blue-painted plate. I kept thinking about how we could preserve the leaf’s texture and presence.”
The solution came through Hakuichi’s own dyeing methods, which allowed the texture of the platinum leaf to remain perceptible beneath the deep indigo.
“Next is the chirashi process. This is a technique where gold and platinum leaf are placed inside a bamboo tube, and shaken to let the leaf fall and scatter. It introduces an element of chance, but wind and humidity also come into play; if the randomness varies too widely, it can no longer be reined back to the intended expression, and the yield becomes low. In the end, I arrived at a method that combines both approaches: placing individual fragments of a certain size one by one with tweezers, while also scattering finer pieces. It allowed me to bring chance and precision together, and it was the first time I had ever made the two
approaches work in tandem.”
The moment she saw the completed watch, Miyagi says she was deeply moved.
“While I was working on it, it was just a round disc. But once the hands and case were added and it was completed as a watch, it was far more striking than I had imagined. It felt powerful and proud. I felt glad to do this work.”
The Essence of Hakuichi: Light That Belongs in the Everyday
Hakuichi was founded in 1975. It is a company that has taken Kanazawa Haku beyond the realm of luxury crafts and helped it become something rooted in everyday life. Its innovative efforts, such as using gold leaf in oil-blotting paper, are known throughout Japan, and the company has expanded the possibilities of haku into a wide range of fields, including tableware, building materials and cosmetics.
“When people think of gold leaf, they tend to have a strong image of extravagance and grandeur. But Hakuichi is a company that values adding a quiet touch of light to everyday life. Just adding a little haku to a vase or a dish can change the atmosphere of a room. We believe in that power of light.”
Miyagi shares that philosophy.
“The dials may be small, but I put care into every single one. I want someone to look at it in a difficult moment and think: how beautiful. I would be happy if it could quietly support people’s hearts in their daily lives.”
Kanazawa Haku itself has a history of 450 years and has long been used in temples and Buddhist statues. There is special significance in bringing a material that symbolizes eternity and permanence into a modern wristwatch in this way.
“This watch is a piece that preserves Japanese tradition while also taking on a new challenge. I would be delighted if people overseas could feel this sense of beauty too.”
The model has indeed drawn a strong response internationally. Many people bring Kanazawa leaf home as a “memory of light”, and it has also come to play a role in cultural exchange.
“This was the smallest and most delicate work I have ever done. A single fragment of leaf can change the entire impression. I was able to experience both the tension and the fascination of that at the same time. When it was complete, I was moved by a beauty where chance and intent had truly come together.”
To those who will wear this watch, she offers these final words: “I hope this piece will accompany people through their everyday lives and bring them quiet moments of comfort. Because no two dials in the world are exactly the same, I hope the watch will become something uniquely special to the person who wears it.”
Each watch is a one-of-a-kind piece with its own individual character. More than a timepiece, it is a tiny universe imbued with the heart of an artisan and the beauty of Japan. The work of Hakuichi and Satomi Miyagi is opening a new story of beauty from Kanazawa to the world.
Premium Automatic TAKUMI Collection Kanazawa Haku － Platinum & Gold Leaf Edition
