Golly gosh what’s this? The new Japanese edition Bronze Beater B4! Limited to 29! Let’s cut to the chase…
2. The Japanese aesthetic has inspired Schofield’s designs from the beginning. Simple, crafted, understated, showing more by showing less, still. What better place to exaggerate these ideas than with a new Bronze Beater model? The dial is the colour of Indigo dyed Boro, a unique patched and repaired workwear cloth. The case is heavily patinated bronze, the Japanese call patination the grease of life and tend not to remove it by polishing. The case back depicts Daruma-San a traditional Japanese doll. The character on his chest means good luck and these dolls are often given as gifts prior to a challenge or task. The case back engraving also shows a Tokyo drain cover design of ginkgo and cherry blossom. The watch strap is Mudcloth, a tough canvas fixed with plant seeds and mud for six months to achieve this rich colour. A watch built from Giles Ellis’ love of Japan, its people and their traditions. The attention to detail in their crafts, he believes, is unmatched by any other culture.
3. Great care is taken over the patination process; the wholly machined and finished British made case is deeply patinated and not burnished back to a brighter finish like our Beater B3 model. The resulting oxide coating is thick and stable with an occasional purple bloom.
4. The dial is classic Schofield in the layout, open and uncluttered designed for legibility, hours at cardinal points including a slash-0 at 12. Darts between the numbers and a minute track bordering precisely the stepped level and colour change in the dial. Using Super-LumiNova C3 with a green emission. Most obvious is the luminescent ring around the outer circumference akin to the original Schofield Blacklamp. The new hand set features a play on the original Sign-of-Life hand found on some Beater models, here it is a counter poise only, indicating time is passing but without the need for to the second time-telling. The hands are brushed gold and match the gold ring in the middle of the crown.
5. Traditional Japanese Mudcloth pale face. The base fabric is initially soaked in a natural mordant made from plant seeds which helps fix the dye to the fabric and prevent fading. The mud is then applied by hand to one side of the fabric which is laid out to dry in the sun. At first the mud is grey but the fabric is then stored inside and over time the colour develops into this warm rust brown colour. It takes 6 months in storage to fix the dye after which it is washed and sun dried once again.
6. Japanese bronze watch
Limited edition – 29
Dimensions – 44mm diameter base, 42mm bezel, 14.8mm high (not inc Lugs)
Weight – 128 grams with strap
Colour – Dark brown
Crown – Double O-ring, pull out, stainless steel, engraved
Dial – Double indigo with Super-LumiNova C3
Hands – 3x Skeleton brushed gold with Sign-Of-Life seconds hand
Lume – Super-LumiNova C3 blue and green emissions
Movement – STP 1 -11
Power reserve – 44 hours
Functions – Hours, minutes, seconds
Case back – Steel with complex engraving
Crystal – Sapphire AR coating nine layers, oleophobic top coat
Water resistance – 200m
Strap – Japanese Mudcloth
Strap bars – Titanium, vapour blast
Buckle – Brushed steel, engraved
Serialisation – not individually
Warranty – 2 years
Box – Ash
British made
