Kurono Tokyo Caliber 9134PWT

The Kurono Tokyo caliber 9134PWT is is found exclusively in the Kurono Tokyo SENSU N.O.S. model introduced on September 30, 2024.

The 9134PWT is an automatic movement with a power reserve indicator and 24 hour indicator. The 24 hour indicator follows the main hours hand and serves as day/night indicator, or to get a quick read of military time – it cannot be set independently.

Base Caliber:

The Kurono 9134PWT is based on the Miyota caliber 9134, which some may call the “Citizen 9134” due to Citizen Watch Co., Ltd. owning Miyota. As the story goes, Kurono obtained new old stock (NOS) movements and reworked them to fit his vision for the SENSU N.O.S. watches:

“Kurono in 2022 purchased the entire balance stock of the discontinued Premium Automatic Cal.9134 from Citizen. It is redesignated Cal.9134PWT to reflect our in-house timekeeping modifications, and in the removal of the caliber’s date.” –Source

As for the meaning of “PWT” in the caliber number, Caliber Corner reached out to Kurono Tokyo and will update this post if and when they respond.

Update: Kurono replied and the answer was so obvious (insert facepalm emoji here)… PWT stands for Precision Watch Tokyo, the parent company of the Kurono Tokyo brand.

9134 VS 9134PWT:

The Miyota 9134 and the Kurono Tokyo 9134PWT both have the same overall complication layout, with the main difference being that the 9134 comes stock with a calendar complication displaying the date at 3:00. As mentioned in the quote above, the main in-house modification made by Kurono Tokyo was to remove the calendar components, turning the movement into a true no-date without a phantom crown position.

Also mentioned above is “in-house timekeeping modifications” which, by the sound of it, amounts to regulating the watches to an average accuracy better than the original manufacturer’s quote of -10~+30 seconds per day.

Indeed, the official instruction manual (already updated to account for the 9134PWT) claims an accuracy of -10 to +25 seconds per day at room temperature.

In-House?

Kurono Tokyo’s official site describes the 9134PWT as:

“In-house modified Cal.9134PWT movement” –Source

Although Kurono Tokyo uses the term “ in-house modified movements“, it is more accurate to call them “movements which are modified in-house” or simply “modified in-house”. It is an important distinction and one that the founder of the brand should be aware of . If someone were to take a Hajime Asaoka Tourbillon #1 movement and modify it, would Asaoka-shi be pleased if the modifier were to market the movement as their own “in-house modified” caliber? That label should be reserved for those calibers which are manufactured in-house, not modified in-house, to avoid any caliber confusion.

Either way, be prepared for other watch publications to taut Kurono Tokyo’s new in-house caliber 9134PWT!

As for other modifications such as a custom rotor or finishing, the brand has not published any images of the movement, nor included them in their media bundle. There is not even a caseback pic, but gauging from previous models, it will most likely be a solid caseback with no view into the movement. Caliber Corner had the opportunity to open a Kurono Tokyo watch in the past and found a totally stock (albeit meticulously clean) Miyota caliber 905S.

Editor’s note: Unfortunately, the brand was not receptive to Caliber Corner posting the movement image on social media. There was no reshare or interaction whatsoever after they viewed it. Some brands are kind enough to like the post or say thank you for sharing/promoting their brand, etc. At the very least, getting multiple links from an authority site like this should be worth a friendly nod, but alas, this is the watch industry after all. Some brands simply do not like the movements of their watches to be shown or discussed at length. Sorry (not sorry), guys, but that’s kind of what this independent online watch publication is all about.

Watches With This Movement:

The 9134PWT is featured exclusively in the Kurono Tokyo SENSU N.O.S. models with two dial colors available. It is a limited release with no expectation of ever being available again, due to the fact that the 9134 movements were discontinued by Miyota – hence being referred to as a “special projects” watch.

“Because this is based on NOS movements that are no longer in production, only a very small number of ‘SENSU NOS’ will be made hence its Special Projects designation. Cal.9134PWT is permanently discontinued after this launch.” -Source: Kurono Tokyo Official YouTube video description

This model’s claim to fame is not so much its movement, but it’s guilloche dial – one that took 3.5 years of research and development to create. While many will scoff at that figure, it noteworthy to mention that the challenge was to maintain a particular aesthetic found on previous Kurono Tokyo timepieces: a convex dial. That means the guilloche was not simply engraved on a flat surface, but at a rounded angle.

“The new Special Projects ‘SENSU NOS’ features Hajime Asaoka’s unique interpretation of the classical guilloché-dialed watch with an art-deco flair. At the power reserve indicator, Hajime-sensei incorporated a guilloché pattern mimicking a folding Japanese fan (扇子 : sensu). The ‘sensu’ pattern is complemented by Clous de Paris in the main and 24-hour inset dials, with circular guilloché graining at the seconds periphery. A thin guilloché railway-track is leveraged as demarcations, complemented by inset minute-markers and high-polish studs as hour-markers. The look is finished with relief-printed hour numerals in Arabic for the Cream, and Kanji for the Blue respectively.” -Source: Kurono Tokyo Official YouTube video description

The retail price of the SENSU N.O.S. is $2,105 USD. The watches are slated to be available for pre-order on October 10, 2024 (10/10/24) at 10:00 PM JST. Watches will start shipping in November 2024. The brand has not disclosed exactly how many pieces will be produced, but states that the number will be in the “low hundreds” per dial color.

Video – Kurono Special Projects Réserve de Marche ‘Sensu N.O.S.’:

Additional Resources:

• Kurono Tokyo official site
• More Kurono Tokyo mentions