2026 Otsuka Lotec No. 8 31 x 47.8mm Stainless Steel No. 8
2026 Otsuka Lotec No. 8 31 x 47.8mm Stainless Steel No. 8
2026 Otsuka Lotec No. 8 31 x 47.8mm Stainless Steel No. 8
2026 Otsuka Lotec No. 8 31 x 47.8mm Stainless Steel No. 8
2026 Otsuka Lotec No. 8 31 x 47.8mm Stainless Steel No. 8
2026 Otsuka Lotec No. 8 31 x 47.8mm Stainless Steel No. 8
2026 Otsuka Lotec No. 8 31 x 47.8mm Stainless Steel No. 8
2026 Otsuka Lotec No. 8 31 x 47.8mm Stainless Steel No. 8
2026 Otsuka Lotec No. 8 31 x 47.8mm Stainless Steel No. 8
2026 Otsuka Lotec No. 8 31 x 47.8mm Stainless Steel No. 8
2026 Otsuka Lotec No. 8 31 x 47.8mm Stainless Steel No. 8
2026 Otsuka Lotec No. 8 31 x 47.8mm Stainless Steel No. 8
2026 Otsuka Lotec No. 8 31 x 47.8mm Stainless Steel No. 8
2026 Otsuka Lotec No. 8 31 x 47.8mm Stainless Steel No. 8
2026 Otsuka Lotec No. 8 31 x 47.8mm Stainless Steel No. 8
2026 Otsuka Lotec No. 8 31 x 47.8mm Stainless Steel No. 8

2026 Otsuka Lotec No. 8 31 x 47.8mm Stainless Steel No. 8

This watch on our Instagram

The No. 8 takes its cue from the mixing console. Jiro Katayama, who builds Otsuka Lotec watches in Tokyo, calls its two displays the hour channel and the minute fader, and once an hour they move together. On the hour the channel turns to the next in a single jump, and the fader, by then at sixty, runs back to nought, driven by a flywheel. The crystal runs down the side of the case, so the fader can be watched side-on as it passes between the dial's two layers. Katayama says he prefers older objects, and a knob to turn or a lever to pull over a touch screen.

He worked as a car designer and then a product designer. By chance he picked up a small bench lathe in an online auction and took up metalwork. A car was beyond it, so around 2008 he tried making a watch case, teaching himself from books on machining.

His earlier Otsuka Lotec (No. 7.5) reads the time through three turret-shaped windows. In 2024 the Otsuka Lotec (No. 6) won the Challenge prize, for watches of CHF 3,000 or less, at the Grand Prix d'Horlogerie de Genève, the Geneva watch awards. Since April 2026 that watch and the Otsuka Lotec (No. 5 Kai) have been permanent exhibits at the Musée international d'horlogerie, the watch museum in La Chaux-de-Fonds. The No. 8 is one of six watches nominated for the 2026 Petite Aiguille, the prize for watches retailing between CHF 4,500 and 10,000. The winner will be announced on 7 November 2026.

Underneath, a self-winding Miyota 90S5 from Citizen carries a 62-part module of Katayama's own. Its three ball bearings come from MinebeaMitsumi, the Japanese precision-parts maker. The smallest, one and a half millimetres across, won a Guinness World Records title in 2015 as the smallest commercially available steel ball bearing. Ours is from 2026, unworn, in steel with a silver dial, 31 by 47.8 millimetres, with its box and card. It is the one in our Instagram post.

Sources: Otsuka Lotec; MinebeaMitsumi; Miyota; GPHG.

  • Sku: 203358
  • Condition: New
  • Year: 2026
  • Brand: Otsuka Lotec
  • Model: No. 8
  • Reference: No. 8
  • Movement: Automatic
  • Size: 31 x 47.8mm
  • Material: Stainless Steel
  • Dial: Silver
  • Dial Indices: Numeral
  • Bezel: Fixed
  • Bracelet: Rubber
  • Bracelet Style: Strap
  • Gender: Unisex
  • Box: Yes
  • Paper: Yes