Picture this: You’re a young, professional dude with a passing interest in watches. Work has been particularly taxing recently and you’ve spent a few months holed up grafting to get a project delivered on time. A welcome offshoot of this is that your bank account is looking a little more bloated than usual (and beginning to resemble your stomach). You currently wear a Hugo Boss or Emporio Armani watch that you probably got for your 18th or 21st birthday (both an alarmingly long time ago) which is now looking a bit worse for wear. You know this because you spend enough time glancing at it to check whether you’re going to get out of the office before 9’oclock for the 10th day in a row. You vow that once this is all over you’re going to treat yourself to a new piece of wrist attire to commemorate your release back into society.
When that moment comes we recommend you check out SevenFriday’s offerings.
SevenFriday burst on to the watch scene a couple of years ago with a line of vibrant pieces that challenged conventional horological aesthetics. Just as with the automotive industry, it is extremely difficult for a new watch player to carve out a seat in an established and already crowded market. So when a company manages to do just that (think Koenigsegg, all be it at a different end of the market, in the automotive world) it’s always worthwhile to take a closer look. SevenFriday have achieved this impressive feat by going bold. They ditched the conventional approach to displaying the time by moving the hour marker inwards to designate against a rotating disc. This design is complemented by two smaller discs, the one at 5 o’clock displaying running second and the disc at 9’oclock providing a 24 hour indicator. The minute hand operates just as it does on that Hugo Boss watch we discussed earlier.
The result when combined with a large (47mm) outer case is an impressively striking watch that’s appearance of mechanical complexity is highlighted further by a small glimpse of the watch’s internal movement via a cut out at the bottom of the face. This design has obviously stuck a chord because the brand’s offerings have reportedly (as mentioned here in the Telegraph) been incredibly popular not only with casual watch fans but also with serious horological collectors who wouldn’t normally give a new, low end (in some people’s eyes) brand a look in. Whilst some of the company’s models have the word ‘Zurich’ on the face it’s important not to be fooled – this is not a ‘Swiss made’ watch although SevenFriday is a Swiss company. The movement (if you’re into such things) is a Japanese design Miyota (think Toyota car engine – solid and dependable) which is installed and integrated with the rest of the components in China.
The end result is a pretty awesome looking piece of kit that doesn’t make you shudder and cry when you look at the price tag. Most of the SevenFriday range can be had for under a £1000 with this particular model coming in at around £900. Whilst we recognise that figure as a significant amount of money, the value proposition here is strong, particularly in comparison to a number of similarly priced ‘fashion watches’ – a lot of time, thought and passion has gone into that design creating a conversation starting watch which is at home in the gym as it would be in a top London night club. Just don’t wear it in the office – it won’t fit under your jacket and besides, it’s far to cool to be subjected to that.
Cog Lfe 