Masahiro Kikuno

Masahiro Kikuno was born on February 8, 1983 in Hokkaido, Japan. Fascinated by mechanical items from childhood, he joined the Japanese military after high school where his skills in dismantling and reassembling weapons led to a position repairing rifles. He later studied at Hiko Mizuno Watchmaking School, though the three-year course focused on repair rather than creating new timepieces. Turning to George Daniels' seminal book 'Watchmaking,' Kikuno taught himself the art of watchmaking from scratch, later teaching at the school for three years. He rose to international prominence in 2011 with his adaptation of Hisashige Tanaka's legendary myriad year clock in wristwatch form, debuting at BaselWorld. This wadokei timepiece measures temporal hours that change in length with the seasons, with each watch tuned to the customer's latitude. He sold his first watch at age 29 and became the youngest member ever admitted to the prestigious Académie Horlogère des Créateurs Indépendants (AHCI).