KUWAI HANA

WATCH CASE YUGEN 3-001

Watch Case for Three Watches: A small box designed to hold three watches. However, the appearance of its surface is clearly distinct from the uniform beauty typically expected of a watch case. Michel & Carigo have imbued this piece with the philosophy of “YUGEN,” a category born from “UNDULATION.”

The silvery surface is etched with countless marks where regularity and irregularity intertwine.Flowing lines, raised masses, breaks, overlaps, and the deep shadows created between them. It looks like waves, or the surface of a rock, or perhaps an unknown substance eroded by time. However, what is important in YUGEN is not “what it looks like.” It changes its appearance every time light touches it, and its contours even seem to differ depending on the viewer’s perspective. In other words, this surface is not a single, finished image, but an image that continues to be generated every time it is viewed.

He linked that design to the extremely mundane function of housing three clocks. A clock is a tool for measuring time. However, we cannot see time itself. All we can see are the movement of the hands, the changing numbers, and the traces of the passage of time left on the material.

YUGEN, too, does not attempt to depict invisible things directly. Light, reflections, texture, and shadows—through the interplay of these elements, it evokes a sense of something that exists there. That is precisely why watches and YUGEN come together with a strange sense of natural harmony.

These three watches are not merely three possessions. Each holds different memories, represents a different time, and has a different relationship with the person who wears it. These three times are quietly contained within a single object.

The WATCH CASE YUGEN 3-001 is both a case for storage and an object for preserving time.

Michel & Carigo do not aim to create products that merely take the form of artworks. Nor do they create art that is simply used to decorate the surface of a product . Their creations are objects in which “use” and “appreciation” are inseparable. The moment the lid is closed , it becomes a sculpture; when the lid is opened, it becomes a tool designed to protect a cherished watch.

Function and Form.
The Ordinary and the Extraordinary.
Stillness and Change.

It is precisely what exists at that boundary that Michel & Carigo consider to be furniture. And because of the unique character of YUGEN—which cannot be replicated identically—this small case is not a mass-produced item, but a one-of-a-kind piece.

Holds three watches.
Holds three times.

And outside of that, the light continues to flicker endlessly.

YUGEN WATCH CASE — 3

It is a tool for everyday life—and a work of art that finds its place in everyday life.