There are collaborations, and then there are collaborations. The former category is crowded with co-branded dials dressed up as creative partnerships. The latter is rare, and the Type 4A-2 Floating Feathers, the third collaborative timepiece between The Armoury and Naoya Hida & Co., belongs firmly in the rare camp.
The Armoury is a menswear retailer with locations in Hong Kong and New York, built on a passion for classic tailoring and a deep appreciation for the artisans and makers behind well-crafted clothing, footwear, and accessories.
Beyond ready-to-wear, the brand cultivates long-standing relationships with Japanese and international bespoke practitioners, a network that has naturally extended into horology through collaborative timepiece projects with Naoya Hida & Co., a Tokyo-based independent founded in 2018 by Naoya Hida, formerly Japan representative for both F.P. Journe and Ralph Lauren Watch and Jewelry. The brand marries skilled hand craftsmanship with precision microfabrication, drawing on design motifs from the 1930s–'60s golden age of mechanical watchmaking.
Things to Know About the Watch
Conceived by The Armoury's co-founder Mark Cho and designer Elliot Hammer—both long admirers of mid-twentieth-century decorative dials, Cloisonné birds and botanicals among them—it took Naoya Hida & Co.'s in-house engraving expertise to finally make revisiting that tradition possible. The case is Naoya Hida's Type 4 reference measuring 36 mm in diameter and 11 mm thick, machined from 904L stainless steel with lyre lugs shaped after 1960s proportions. Water resistance is rated to 50 meters via a screw case back.
Master engraver Keisuke Kano works the surface in Argentium silver, an alloy chosen specifically for its tarnish resistance. Three feathers float across the bead-blasted ground, each rendered with individual barbs and vane texture, brought to life by the shimmer of precisely cut exposed silver. Hammer framed the intent well:
"If there are feathers, there must have also once been a bird."
Surrounding the engraved composition are 60 minute markers and twelve 18K yellow gold spherical globes individually assembled into the chapter ring to mark the hours, each a small jewel of craft. Brand logos and minute markers are applied via ultra-precision micro-milling to preserve legibility without intruding on the dial's delicate balance. Solid 18K yellow gold hands, sharply faceted and hand-polished, provide deliberate contrast to the organic engraving beneath—the tip of the long hand bent to align precisely with the minute scale. A blued steel seconds hand with a "caviar spoon" counterweight completes the composition. A strongly domed sapphire crystal with double-sided AR treatment, cut to evoke vintage acrylic profiles, sits above it all.
The Movement
Inside sits the manual-wound caliber 3020CS, an ETA 7750 platform reworked into a time-only movement with center seconds, fitted with a custom backplate and Hida's own finishing. The movement beats at 28,800 vph and provides approximately 45 hours of power reserve. The movement is protected by a solid case back.
Summary & Price
Ten pieces will be produced in 2026, with deliveries in 2027. Applications—a simple questionnaire—may be submitted in-store or online between May 17 and 20. For a watch like this, the process feels right, but the price seems quite high for a watch with an ETA-modified calibre. The watch is manufactured entirely in Japan and worn on a hand-stitched charcoal grey calf strap by Jean Rousseau with a 904L steel pin buckle.
Sticker Price USD 33,000. More info on Naoya Hida & Co. here and on The Armoury here.
