Draft:Hajime Asaoka

Hajime Asaoka (浅岡 肇)(born 1965) is a Japanese luxury watchmaker who designs and manufactures watches under the brand of the same name. Asaoka is a self-taught independent watchmaker and member of the AHCI. His notable achievements include designing and manufacturing the first Japanese-made tourbillon in 2009

Under the Hajime Asaoka brand, he produces about five watches annually. The first watches under the Hajime Asaoka brand were sold in 2011 Production volumes are low because Asaoka manufactures almost all components personally, including much of the manufacturing equipment itself.

Asaoka also has a sub-brand called Kurono Tokyo which uses commercial off-the-shelf Miyota movements. The Kurono Tokyo brand sells at a higher volume (several thousand units between 2019 and 2022) and, with a retail price of a few thousand Swiss Francs, is relatively affordable compared to the main line of Hajime Asaoka watches, which can cost over $80,000 USD. However, high demand has made the Kurono Tokyo watches difficult to obtain at retail, and grey market prices are significantly higher.