For me, one of the greatest parts of the social media era is being exposed to so many brands I would have never known about otherwise. A brand that I have recently learned of is I.TARU Watch out of Japan. Founded in 2022, I.TARU Watch looks to produce a traditionally styled watch that is at home in a business setting. Like many watch brands these days, I.TARU is targeting the elegance and sophistication of a mechanical timepiece, directly opposing the sterile, productivity driven wearables of today’s offices.
Their current solo offering, the I.TARU Classic 38mm, is the result of an iterative process taking into account the feedback of their potential customers. For a period of time, the brand even held monthly showrooms to help garner interest and directly meet with their customers. The product is a dressy and highly polished steel watch with a beautifully deep blue dial. As I write this article, I am wearing my Seiko SNKL43 and cannot help but draw some parallels to the I.TARU. However, where the Seiko has a mineral crystal and a rolled steel bracelet, the I.TARU Classic has more presence with a domed sapphire crystal and solid bracelet. In this way, I see it as an elevated version of the Seiko, thanks to better materials and construction.
In a brief email exchange with the founder, Wataru Ishida, I was given some interesting insight behind the brand and its logo. You may have noticed the watch features the brand name ‘I.TARU’ above four inverted triangles. According to Ishida-san, the triangles represent: “Brighten,” “Elegance,” “Sad,” and “ Sustainability.” At first, I thought it weird that one of the founding principles of the brand would be the word ”Sad.” However, Ishida-san went on to explain it a bit further to me. He specifically mentioned a Japanese business woman, Haruno Yoshida, whose life and words left an indelible impression on him. In a reflection of her business career, she said that “Following the voice in your heart is one way to build a career.” Sadly, Haruno Yoshida, the first female member of Japan’s business federation, passed away in 2019. Her passing provided the spark for Ishida-san to follow his heart and start his company. After hearing this story, I now interpret that third triangle to represent not only sadness, but embracing emotions and not trying to suppress them. Ishida-san recognizes that even in the business world, it is important to acknowledge emotions like sadness when they arise.
As for the future, I.TARU is taking a measured approach to the growth of their product lines. As always, they are listening to their customers and trying to provide what their target audience wants. New colors are definitely in the pipeline, along with the return of their more casual wearing ‘Classic Gauge’ watch in a limited collection. They have also started to display their watches with a retail partner in Tokyo, Tokeiya Tokizaemon (https://tokizaemon.jp/). I know that the next time I am able to make it out to Tokyo, I will definitely be dropping by to handle one of these watches in person.
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