ReviewSEVENFRIDAY S-Series S2/01: An In-depth Review

SEVENFRIDAY has achieved unprecedented success within a short span of time. Almost entirely built on social media, SEVENFRIDAY, under Founder & CEO Daniel Niederer, believes that if you are not rich enough, you need to be creative. Let’s dive into the short history of the brand before understanding their latest offering in detail.

About The Founder:

Niederer is a 46-year-old Swiss citizen, a lawyer by education, who spent 10 years in cities such as Sydney, Singapore, Tokyo and Bangkok, restructuring companies that were into the distribution of luxury goods, including Swiss watches. Itching to create something of his own, he returned to Switzerland along with his family, and invested in a product design company that was mainly into watch designing besides household items and elements of cars.

Name First:

The name, which means ‘seize the day’, is a modern interpretation of the Latin aphorism – carpe diem. Niederer didn’t want a French name as the brand didn’t have any legacy. SEVENFRIDAY was chosen, as he felt it suited watches that have both classic and modern elements in them.

Round-Squared Or Squared-Round?

The biggest differentiator of the SEVENFRIDAY watches comes with their look. It does have the look of the television sets that were popular in the 60s. “We call our shape as round-squared and squared-round,” says Niederer. From being an also-run, following the industry trend of being round, they decided to be trendsetters. The inspiration came from industrial design, architecture, and engines. And interestingly, it’s a design policy to keep the time-reading legibility somewhat poor in the SEVENFRIDAY watches, so that one can get to the story behind it.

Is It Swiss-Made?

The concept and design are developed in Switzerland. The movements are from Japan (Miyota/Citizen) and the watches are assembled in Hong Kong.

Reaching Out To Clients:

As mentioned before, SEVENFRIDAY never took the traditional route in promoting itself. After initially pushing through social media, the brand balanced promotions with traditional media and followed it up with events too. SEVENFRIDAY parties helped the word spread about the brand.

Numbers Sold So Far:

In 2013, SEVENFRIDAY sold around 12,000 pieces, 27,000 pieces in 2014, and close to 40,000 pieces in 2015. Since then, it’s been growing at a steady pace, having sold more than 150,000 pieces so far.

The Baselworld 2017 Release: SEVENFRIDAY S2/01

S2/01 is the latest collection from the S-Series and was launched at Baselworld 2017. The first watch from the S-Series is called the S1/01 and it features a square case that resembles SEVENFRIDAY’s original P-Series collection. Featuring thicker hour and minute hands, coated with a great luminescent material, the S2/01, unlike other SEVENFRIDAY models, is quite legible.

An Industrial Design Theme:

Not deviating from the overall philosophy – to follow industrial themes for the S-Series – the new S2/01, however, comes in a new design with a completely different inspiration and aesthetics. While the S1/01 was inspired by clean industries and recycling, and the S3/01 was all about industrial engines, stripped down the watch mechanism to its chassis, the SEVENFRIDAY S2/01 is inspired by the Industrial Revolution and features a raw, steampunk look.

Case, Dial, And Strap:

Keeping in line with the design cues of the S-Series watches, the new SEVENFRIDAY S2/01 features a 47mm-wide case in polished stainless steel. It also has an animation ring that surrounds the case made of sandblasted PVD antique brass. The antique brass animation ring complements the dial which offers a raw, industrial look.

Adding legibility to the dial in the dark are the antique brass-coloured hour hand and the rhodium-coloured minute hand, painted with luminescent SuperLuminova. The hardened mineral glass has an anti-reflective coating underneath. The semi- skeletonised metallic dial also has markings of Côtes de Genève, and a polished rhodium SEVENFRIDAY plate. The exposed screws throughout the dial add to the look.

An opaline dial ring comes with black minute track markings, along with the seconds display, which is indicated using three sandblasted rhodium arrows of varying length, and three concentric seconds tracks. The balance wheel is exposed at seven o’clock. The SEVENFRIDAY S2/01 comes with a vintage-looking black leather strap, completing the look.

Movement:

The SEVENFRIDAY S2/01 is powered by a Miyota 82S5 movement, Miyota being the preferred movement for the S-Series watches. It’s a robust high-frequency movement beating at 3Hz and comes with a power reserve of 40 hours. The water resistance of the watch is at 30m.

Conclusion:

The new S2/01 continues with SEVENFRIDAY’s trademark of aesthetically interesting and different looking watches, offering even legibility with this model. The price is competitive, as always.

What did you think of this watch? Let us know in the comments section below.