Kuoe Royal Smith 90-010: Vintage Design Meets Modern Value

I am quite notorious for my opinion that not every watch needs a date. For example, do you really need to know the exact date when you’re diving a hundred meters underwater? Do you need to know the exact date when you’re going to a cocktail party? In most cases, I feel that a date sometimes ruins the symmetry of an otherwise perfect dial. Despite this, when I had the opportunity to review a watch from Kuoe, I asked for the Kuoe Royal Smith 90-010 - their triple calendar that not only has the date, but has the day, and the month, too. Was this a classic case of contradicting oneself? Did I simply look at the subdials, and assume that it was a chronograph? 

While that would be a funny start to the story, the answer is no. I knew exactly what this watch was going into the review, but I still found myself surprised when I finally had it on my wrist. 

Kuoe and the Importance of a Design Language

Kuoe is a Japanese microbrand that started during the peak of Covid-19, and it has become somewhat of a darling among watch enthusiasts in the years since. While you could attribute their success to a myriad of factors, such as their accessible pricing, the “Made in Japan” prestige, and more, none of that would matter if it wasn’t for one simple thing: they make good watches. 

Not only do they make good watches, they make watches with a distinct, memorable style of design. Even for the Royal Smith 90-010, what attracted me to this watch was how it still retained those same vintage dress watch design elements despite having a unique triple calendar movement. The watch maintains visual symmetry by putting the day (Mon-Sun) in a sub-dial on the left side, making sure that there is enough space between the 10 o’clock and the 8 o’clock so that there was no need to cut into either of the numerals. The grainy dial stops at the black borders of the day sub-dial, and when you take a closer look, you’ll see that the center actually has a guilloche pattern. 

I love the fact that this is not immediately noticeable, as I feel like it rewards the collector for obsessively staring at their new watch. On the right sub-dial is almost an exact mirror of the left sub-dial, except it features the month. To change the month, you can use the pusher right above the crown. To be completely honest, I thought that this would be a bigger issue for me, but having a pusher makes everything convenient to set.

Finally, you have the date window at the 6 o’clock, and I have some thoughts on this, but I’ll expound upon that more later in the review. 

The watch comes with a stainless steel bracelet with a tool-less microadjust clasp (see, Seiko? It’s possible!), as well as a premium leather strap. It also comes in the Kuoe leather watch case, which you can use when traveling, as well as a bracelet adjustment tool. As someone who works for a Japanese microbrand, I am in the somewhat unique position of having a good idea of how much all of these accoutrements costs Kuoe, and let me just say this - they are not charging nearly enough for this watch. The watch has an exhibition caseback showcasing the Miyota 9112 movement. It’s nothing special, but I will always appreciate a movement, as it’s part of the reason I fell in love with this crazy hobby to begin with. 

The golden Breguet numerals complement the golden handset, dark blue seconds-hand, and textured beige dial beautifully, and with its 35mm case size, it somehow manages to never feel too crowded, too small, or too thick. It sits at the center of my wrist with decent wrist presence, but I would say it still shines as your day-to-day office watch. 

No Watch is Perfect

For me, the worst part of any review is having to nitpick; however, every single brand that I’ve had the privilege of reviewing has asked me to be completely honest, and so I gotta go ahead and point out the smallest, microscopic issues. 

There is a lot of attention-to-detail in this watch, except for the date cutout at the 6 o’clock, in my opinion. When you see the level of detail given to the day-month sub-dials, it makes the date window seem like an after-thought. I think the design would have greatly benefited from adding a frame or some beveling to the date window so that it feels less like a cutout, and more like a main character in this trio. The included leather strap is nice, and I think I would probably like it on other watches, but compared to the stainless steel bracelet, I don’t think I would recommend the strap to anyone. This watch is a victim of its own success in that the bracelet is too good to switch to the leather strap. Champagne problems, am I right? 

Finally, there is an obvious lack of lume, like with most dress watches. This is not a deal breaker for me, and I definitely prefer these sharp swordhands instead of a handset that would have to create extra space for lume, but I do know there are some people who want lume on all of their watches, which is why I thought to mention it. 

Is This My Favorite Kuoe? 

At this point, I have now personally tried four different Kuoe watches (including this), and I’m gonna be completely honest when I say that this is my second favorite Kuoe. There is something so refreshing about having a triple calendar mechanical watch, and the fact that it comes in such a dressy, easy-to-wear form makes it that much better. 

I recently brought this - as well as the Vario Empire Chronograph and another Kuoe watch - to the Philippines for the Manila Pen Show, and I actually had one person who tried to buy this watch off of my wrist. 

There is a lot to love about the Kuoe Royal Smith 90-010, and if I’m being completely honest, I might even recommend this as the first Kuoe for some collectors. Of course, their field watches are their most accessible, and perhaps “normal”, watches, but when you already have a collection that has your standard Hamilton Khaki Fields, your Timex Expeditions, or even a Rolex Explorer, I think adding this off-the-beaten path Kuoe with a day-date-month complication is exactly what the collection might need.

Now, if this is my second favorite Kuoe, what exactly is my number one? Stay tuned for that review! 

Specifications

Case: 35mm

Glass: Sapphire

Movement: Miyota Cal. 9122 (-10/+30 per day)

PR: 40 Hrs

WR: 50M