As you may recall, the Minase factory is not exactly something you would
stumble upon.
Minase is not, in the accepted sense, a manufacturer. They do not make a
complete movement of their own. Having said that, they make pretty much
everything else.
Let’s start with perhaps the thing that Minase is best known for - cases.
Minase creates all its cases in its factory in the Akita countryside. They make
cases of stainless steel, gold and palladium.
First, the cases are stamped. Each one, one at a time. Well, yes, one at a
time, several times, at 160 tons of pressure... each time. After the stamping, the
cases are blasted and cleaned.
After their bath, the cases move on to the thing that really makes Minase
watch cases so very special. And that would be Sallaz polishing, which is so
demanding and complex that not every case crosses the burning sands to the
oasis of watchdom. Sallaz polishing essentially utilizes a flat, paper-like disc
that rotates at high speed.
THE RESULT
Minase has created something beyond a beautiful exterior case. They have
created a “case within a case.” Try to imagine the interior watch itself, the dial
or movement, in a self-contained, invisible cylinder that appears to float in the
middle of the actual watchcase itself. Well, that is the concept. It is perhaps
best understood by viewing the Five Windows model, or even the Minase
Divido, with a light shone through the back. You can see the light coming
through the case back, illuminating the space between the interior case and
the exterior one.
It is important to note that, as mentioned earlier, Minase does not make its
movements, but it does add touches to the self-winding movements and cre-
ates some key parts for the mechanical movements.
Now whether or not Minase will, one day, start making their own move-
ments remains to be seen. I am beginning to think that more and more there
is no longer the need to do that. The truth of the matter is, that with the
slow-down in sales and the new reality of the business setting in, I suspect
that there will be more than enough movements to go around. The greater
point is that when it comes time to service that watch, it is going to be hard to
find someone to service a rare and esoteric manufacture movement from a
small manufacturer. ETA makes a very, very good movement. And frankly, it
ensures that a Minase watch will be highly serviceable for years to come.
STRAPS TOO
Top: Minase makes its own cases and straps.
Above: Minase cuts key parts for mechancial movements.
112 | INTERNATIONAL WATCH | SUMMER 2018
But just because they do not make their own movements, it does not mean
that Minase doesn’t make nearly everything else on their own. Even the straps.
In a completely separate, smaller building, we found two artisans hard at
work hand making straps. They make one at a time, maybe five of them per day.
Would it be easier to job this out to a subcontractor? Of course! But that is
not the way that Minase does things.
Where did Minase find so many highly skilled crafts people? Well, to
paraphrase what I was told, Minase focuses on finding great people, and they
train these great people to be highly skilled, highly valued team members.
The actual watchmakers themselves have trained separately to learn the more
intricate processes required to modify, assemble, and regulate a movement.
So it is clear that the heart and soul of Minase, what makes it tick, is not just the
watches but also the people who make those watches with their own hands.
During the tour, I had a few questions about why Minase would go out of
their way to make their bracelets and cases so complex.