The Armoury x Naoya Hida Reference Type 4A-2 Floating Feathers

Independent Japanese watch brand Naoya Hida & Co. usually plays it discreetly, with only a batch of new releases per year and a highly limited production capacity. Last week, the brand released its entire range of models for 2026/2027, a total of 10 new watches and 7 new references, including a spectacular chronograph, a compact Calatrava-styled watch and a porcelain dial. But that’s not everything the brand had to show… Partnering for the third time with The Armoury New York, both parties introduce the Floating Feathers Reference Type 4A-2, an artistic expression with an engraved dial and an intricate pattern. 

The Floating Feathers Reference represents the third collaboration model between The Armoury and Naoya Hida & Co. On one side is a menswear brand founded in Hong Kong in 2010 by Mark Cho and Alan See, with presence in both HK and NYC. On the other side is one of the growing names in Japanese indie watchmaking, a brand founded in 2012 and focused on delivering ultra-classic watches with vintage Calatrava inspirations. While their first collaboration explored typographic craft (the Type2C-1 Lettercutter), the Floating Feathers draws inspiration from nature, specifically, the intricate structure of a bird’s feather.

The design was conceived by The Armoury’s co-founder, Mark Cho, and designer Elliot Hammer. Both fans of the decorative dials of the mid-twentieth century, such as cloisonné dials depicting birds, botanicals, and scenes of nature, they managed to create a unique pattern thanks to Naoya Hida & Co.’s in-house engraving expertise. The dial, as always with watches from Naoya Hida, is made from hand-engraved Argentium silver, a silver alloy chosen for its resistance to tarnishing. Created by Keisuke Kano, the brand’s master engraver, it consists of three feathers floating across the bead-blasted dial surface, each rendered with individual barbs and the lifelike texture of a vane, with a high precision of engraving, bringing the shimmer of exposed silver underneath.

Surrounding the base dial is an angled inner flange with 12 hand-polished 18k yellow gold spherical minute markers, individually assembled into the minute track. The brand’s logo and the scales are engraved by a micro-milling machine. The time is indicated by a pair of sharply faceted hands, specific to the Naoya Hida Type 4 collection. Made of solid 18k gold, these elongated diamond-shaped hands are paired with a blued steel seconds hand with a distinctive “caviar spoon” counterweight.

Based on the Reference Type 4A, the Floating Feathers for The Armoury is housed in a 36mm case made of 904L steel, with polished surfaces and polished lateral bevels. Compared to the rest of the collection, it has a slightly more elegant, less retro-styled design, yet with vintage cues, such as the box-shaped sapphire crystal to protect the dial or the screwed caseback. The case is 42.9mm in length and 11mm in thickness, with a 50m water-resistance rating.

Inside is the calibre 3020CS, a hand-wound movement with an originally designed click-and-click spring for comfortable winding. It relies on the gear train of the Valjoux 7750 and is then entirely reworked to remove both the chronograph and self-winding functions, transforming it into a centre seconds 3-hander. The movement, using a custom-made three-quarter plate and balance bridge, beats at 4Hz and stores about 45 hours of power reserve.

Worn on a hand-stitched charcoal grey calf strap made by Jean Rousseau, the Naoya Hida Reference Type 4A-2 Floating Feathers for The Armoury is released as a limited edition of 10 pieces for 2026, with deliveries scheduled for 2027. The watch is offered exclusively by application, which can be completed and submitted in-store only from May 17th to May 20th, 2026. It is priced at USD 33,000 or HKD 257,400. For more details, please visit www.thearmoury.com.