Shinola’s Duck Automatic marries Detroit craft with Japanese artistry
A collaboration between watchmaker and illustrator Tsukasa Shimada brings a hand animated character to life on the dial, bridging two traditions of meticulous workmanship across continents.
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Shinola’s Duck Automatic arrives as a meditation on the quiet pleasure of watching a tiny character move across a dial. The watch features hand illustrated and animated artwork by Japanese artist Tsukasa Shimada, whose delicate drawing style transforms the watch face into something between functional timepiece and miniature artwork. The duck character, rendered in Shimada’s signature gentle aesthetic, moves through its own choreographed world as the seconds pass.
The collaboration represents a deliberate crossing of traditions. Detroit’s Shinola, rooted in American watchmaking craft, meets the meticulous illustrative practice of Japanese design. Shimada’s animation process involves intricate hand drawn frames that create the illusion of movement within the watch mechanism itself, a technique that demands both technical precision and artistic vision. The dial becomes a window onto a narrative that unfolds with every glance.
What emerges is a watch that honours both the mechanical soul of horology and the human hand behind its creation. The Duck Automatic sits at the intersection of two manufacturing cultures: the industrial heritage of Detroit and the refined attention to detail characteristic of Japanese craft. This is watchmaking not as mere function, but as a canvas for storytelling. Each watch carries the specificity of Shimada’s vision, making the piece personal rather than merely produced.
The Duck Automatic is available through Shinola’s Detroit location and online.
Imagery courtesy of Shinola (@shinola).