Kikuchi Nakagawa was founded by watchmaker Tomonari Nakagawa and designer Yusuke Kikuchi in 2012, when the pair met in Paris. At the time, Kikuchi was attending watchmaking school and would later go on to work in watch repair. Meanwhile, Nakagawa had originally trained to be a swordsmith, later applying those metal-work skills to watchmaking and finding employment with Citizen Watch Co. Their shared sensibilities and appreciation of watchmaking from the 1930s and metal finishing are evident in the brand's work.