Behind the scenes: ただいま Tadaima

ただいま Tadaima is our first limited edition release of 2023, but we didn’t see this watch for long as all 100 pieces went within a matter of minutes! Let's take a look behind the scenes at how we brought it to life.

Tadaima was designed by London-based Illustrator, Yo Hosoyamada, who was inspired by her hometown of Tokyo. 

Being away from her hometown for long periods of time, Yo wanted to capture the feeling of arriving home when she looked down at the watch.

Tadaima is a Japanese greeting said upon arriving at home. We can all relate to that feeling of walking through the door after a long day, particularly when we are missing our own “home”, wherever that may be. 

The watch shows off the electric city of Tokyo, but also captures a moment of peace and tranquillity with only a bird and an observant cat being seen in the completely man-made cityscape. 

Yo visited our workshop in South London to go over her design with our director and founder, Crispin Jones. She tried her hand printing her design and got to see the full watch making process. 

Here’s what Yo has to say about her design: 

"ただいま Tadaima is the Japanese for ‘I’m home!’, the first thing you say when you walk through the door (the reply to tadaima is okaeri which means ‘welcome home’).

“It’s something you say when you come home after a long day of work, or after you have been away for a while. It also means ‘right now’ or ‘the present’.

“Living and working away from my hometown of Tokyo, I wanted to design the watch that would serve as a window or a portal that could transport me home whenever I wanted.

“It’s a homage to the city I love that means I can carry it with me wherever I go.”

Once the design was finalised, we started the printing, production and assembly to bring her inspiration to life for the limited release. 

The dials were individually hand-airbrushed by our talented print technicians, creating the golden sunset over the Tokyo skyline. 

This watch also includes an impressive jump hour feature incorporated into the tallest building, meaning the hour quickly “jumps” on the 59>00 minute shift. Blink and you’ll miss it!

Tadaima has now set a new record and is our fast selling watch, with all 100 pieces snatched up in just over 15 minutes!

Did you manage to get your hands on ただいま Tadaima? If not, you can sign up to our waiting list here.