Toledano & Chan hides two carats of diamonds inside a titanium bracelet
On 6 October 2026, the watch press reported on a new one-off from Toledano & Chan: the Oshinobi, a watch that hides two carats of snow-set diamonds behind a sliding panel of sandblasted titanium and will be sold for charity at the TimeForArt auction at Phillips in New York on 5 December 2026.
A watch disguised as a bracelet
At first glance the Oshinobi barely reads as a watch at all, and that is the intention. The case is made from sandblasted Grade 5 titanium and measures 21.6 mm wide, 46.9 mm long and 10.9 mm thick; the bracelet flows straight from the case with no taper, its links the same shape as those of the b/1, the brand’s first model, with every other link turned so the pattern alternates. Slide a panel to one side and the dial appears beneath: a concave, organically shaped plate set with roughly 387 natural diamonds — about two carats in all — arranged in a snow setting that its designers liken to the inside of a geode, the plain rock that reveals a lining of crystals once it is cracked open.
The name is a clue. Oshinobi is the Japanese term for a person of high rank travelling incognito, and on the wrist the effect is similar: a watch that shows nothing of value until its owner decides otherwise. It is a first in several ways for Toledano & Chan, the New York-based brand launched two years ago by the artist and collector Phil Toledano and the watch designer Alfred Chan. The Oshinobi is its first watch to be wound by hand — apart from a one-off that sold at Sotheby’s — its first to conceal its crown, which is reached from the underside of the case at 12 o’clock, and its first not to use a Sellita movement. In its place is a smaller, hand-finished calibre from the Swiss firm Le Temps Manufacture, chosen in part because it suits the narrow case.
The auction, and what comes next
The prototype — a unique piece, its case back engraved ‘TIME FOR ART’ — goes under the hammer on 5 December 2026, as part of Phillips’ New York Watch Auction XV, which begins at 3 p.m. EST. It will be presented in a dedicated concrete box, and proceeds go to the Swiss Institute, the New York arts organisation for which TimeForArt raises funds. This year’s auction brings together unique creations from 25 brands — among them Bvlgari, Chanel, Chopard, Hermès and Zenith × USM, alongside independents such as Baltic, Czapek, Dennison, Lebond, Ming and Unimatic — and the event’s first two editions raised US$2.4 million for the institute. Toledano & Chan is returning, not debuting: it contributed a meteorite-dial b/1M in 2024.
The one-off will not be the last Oshinobi. A limited production version is planned for 2027; pricing and full details are still to be confirmed.
What it means if you are buying or selling
Watches that hide what they are have a long history. Toledano has said he is fascinated by vintage secret watches that conceal their dials, and he sees the Oshinobi as a practical answer to a modern worry — wearing something valuable in a city without advertising it.
“There’s a secret joy in walking around somewhere like London, and you know you’ve got two carats of diamonds on your wrist, and no one knows,” he told Hodinkee.
For buyers, the useful part of this story is the structure, not the sparkle. A limited production run from a small workshop generally means narrow supply and a secondary market driven by a small group of collectors, rather than the broad liquidity of a mainstream steel sports watch; if a production Oshinobi ever reaches the second-hand market, the usual tests apply — the reference, its condition, its completeness and its history, measured against what comparable watches actually sell for. For sellers, the lesson is that attention continues to spread outwards from the biggest names, and stone-set or design-led pieces draw interest in waves. Auction one-offs sit in their own market: the prototype will be priced by the room on the night, and charity provenance tends to lift results in ways that do not translate to ordinary watches.
The sensible position is the same on both sides of the market: value the specific watch — not the launch, not the auction — before you decide anything. Our valuations are free and take minutes.
Sources
- Hodinkee — Introducing: The Sexy, Secretive Toledano & Chan Oshinobi, With Commentary From Phil Toledano (8 October 2026) — www.hodinkee.com/articles/the-sexy-secretive-toledano-and-chan-oshinobi-with-commentary-from-phil-toledano
- Fratello Watches — The Toledano & Chan Oshinobi Hides Its Secret In Plain Sight (6 October 2026) — www.fratellowatches.com/the-toledano-chan-oshinobi-hides-its-secret-in-plain-sight/
- Hypebeast — Toledano & Chan’s Oshinobi Timepiece Keeps Its Diamonds Out of Sight (8 October 2026) — hypebeast.com/2026/10/toledano-chan-oshinobi-watch-for-timeforart-info
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