Dedegumo (CLOSED)

If you’ve been looking for an excuse to ditch your Swatch and drop some cash on a seriously cool watch, get your wrist to the Lower East Side, where you’ll find the only Dedegumo store outside of Kyoto, Japan. Forget mass-market timepieces: Each Dedegumo watch is handcrafted by trained artisans, right in the small but sophisticated shop, which features white brick walls, reclaimed-wood floors and Douglas fir shelving. A large maple table in the middle of the space displays watches that are like works of art. Dudes will dig triple-leather-band statement pieces featuring large watch faces with aluminum backgrounds that have been burned for texture ($437), as well as wide-band watches with dartboard-looking faces made from aluminum ($419). Ladies will fall hard for double-band watches with lotus flowers carefully constructed from brass and copper on the faces ($397). You can also decorate your pad with tiny chair sculptures featuring small clocks as seats ($179).