Hajime Asaoka

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Independent Japanese watchmaker based in Tokyo, a design graduate of the Tokyo University of the Arts and self-taught in watchmaking, who turned to making watches in the late 2000s. The first non-Western member of the AHCI (Academy of Independent Watchmakers). He designs, machines and assembles his watches himself — including the Project T tourbillon, which runs on ball bearings rather than jewels, developed with Japanese tool maker OSG and precision machining firm Yuki Precision — with an annual output of only a handful of pieces.