ReviewSevenFriday raises a toast to India with the M1/06 India Off-Series: In depth review

SevenFriday has encapsulated the spirit of India, paired with their immaculate technology, within their ‘big, bold and stylish’ new watch – the M1/06 India Off-Series. The brand believes in the philosophy of “carpe dium” and effortlessly “uniting those who seize every day.”

SevenFriday Off-Series collection, the India edition: Deciphering the muse and designing genius

Innovation and inspiration are synonymous with SevenFriday, and their muse for the Off-Series is confined to literally nothing under the sky. Producing the Off-Series is not a new trend for SevenFriday, as the new age brand had more recently launched a UAE Off-Series in March 2015 to coincide with the opening of their luxurious Abu Dhabi lounge, an extremely successful marketing strategy. But Off-Series began with the P3/BB series inspired by the big bold cars of the 60s that had the brand’s creative juices flowing. The watches in this series were lightweight and the design was so on point, every piece seemed like it was flying out of a hot wheels loop! The punk feature and metal interface made it a perfect homage to the automobiles from back then. It was next, time to ogle at the Q series, which took inspiration from anything and everything you can imagine: from the F1 circuit to music recording equipment, they had it all embedded in their designs.

You might be wondering what’s different in the M1/06 then? The answer comes from SevenFriday CEO and Co-Founder Dan Niederer – “India is a design savvy country always on the lookout for products that not only function but also surprise and delight. The experience, message, technicality and story also matter.” The brand’s storytelling ability translates extremely smoothly in their design and the India Off-Series is proof of that.

Induction into a revolutionary and dynamic world: Unboxing the M1/06

The India Off-Series to start with, comes with a ‘no holds barred’ concept. Customised right from the box itself, there’s a very interesting looking matte finished Green ‘crate’ with a slider lid that has ‘India’ inscribed on it. Even though SevenFriday falls in the high-end category of watches, they like to keep a raw, energetic aura alive. Their packaging is unlike any other luxury watch brand and does not involve unnecessary extravagance. Coming back to the India Off-Series, beneath the slider lies your warranty card, instruction manual, ‘SevenFriday’ stickers and a polishing cloth. Diggin’ further and the M1/06 is perched on a carton, giving the dial prominent visibility at first instance – showing off its visual complications.

The Crux: Case, dial, straps

The skilled creators at SevenFriday give out the vibe that they want their users to have fun and not look at a watch as a device. Having said that, they do not compromise on functionality. It’s very simple to spot a SevenFriday M series from a clutter of other watches: sporty square cases, quirky round dials and smooth leather straps with a distinctive pattern on each. In line with the aforementioned is the M1/06- vibrant, bold and very Indian. The overall profile is the same as its predecessor – the P series – i.e., 47 mm wide case sans the lugs. The polished and sandblasted bezel on the M1/06 is the same as M1/03, featuring a stainless steel case which is secured in a sandblasted black PVD animation ring, making it way sportier than the P Series. There are no extraneous crowns on the side, except one, giving the case a free-space image. Count on SevenFriday to think out of the box with another offbeat change – the crown is on the left side, as compared to your regular watches.

The most distinctive feature on the M1/06 are the eccentric, trendy discs on the dial instead of the usual timekeeping hands. The three discs, i.e., hours, minutes and seconds come with the indexes in Green and the evident Indian touch with 12 printed in Hindi. SevenFriday has been brave enough to stand out and break the rules of the ‘hands’ form of reading time. The disc-mechanism is not the easiest to achieve as the density and fraction of the discs need to be taken into account. But above all, it’s a refreshing way of looking at time. Once accustomed to this, you’d never want to go back to the ‘not so cool’ hands format.

The technology used to put together the watch is highlighted in different layers, starting with the hours outer-disc which is wholly visible. The complexity comes in the minutes disc which is beautifully exposed in the right quarter, and the seconds disc is open on opposite halves with the ‘SEVENFRIDAY’ logo spearing in between. This function makes time as accurate as you’d expect on an analog dial albeit with better looks. The 3 customised discs are powered by the Japanese Miyota 8125 movement with a healthy 40 hours power reserve, moving away from the ‘Swiss made’ tag with style.

The most poignant symbolisation on this watch, are the miniature Indian flags, embossed right where you’d read the time, on the outermost disc and parallel to it. The strap on the India Off-Series is made of genuine black calf leather with yellow stitching, running across both sides. The leather strap may strike one as a bit stiff initially, but it grows on your wrist over time – the perks of pure calf leather! There are yellow and green loops, to add to the vibrancy of the watch and ensure that the strap is nicely secured. The flip side of the strap has the patent SevenFriday imprint and claims being hand made. All in all extremely clean, quirky and outdoorsy design.

The case back: where the ‘Indian-ness’ resides

The case back beautifully captures the essence of India, in just a few symbols that are synonymous with the country. The intricate symbols are carved in a manner that the bigger picture forms the map of India – true genius! The most noticeable symbols being: the zany autorickshaw which has served the fancy of many foreigners, including F1 racers like Jenson Button and Hamilton. Some very famous monuments like the Taj Mahal and India Gate make their way to the case back too. It also has India written in a font that is very peculiar to the country with curved lines and the patented embroidery. All in all, the screw down case back has India in a nutshell.

The watch may seem a little big with a 47 mm case but it rests perfectly even on a slender wrist and will garner all the attention with its futuristic design. The whole execution is not ‘bulky’ and is comfortable enough to classify this as your everyday essential.

The watch with a miracle chip: NFC enabled, keep the fakes at bay

The Indian customisation of symbols is embossed on a black circular patch. Under this lies a vault of technological marvel, i.e., the Near Field Communication chip. To commence, this is SevenFriday’s fool proof technique to ensure you are buying the real deal, worth every buck. When the watches are so swank and enviable, there ought to be replicas, and the sudden surge in duplicity led the creators to produce watches armed with NFC chips.

NFC is a wireless technique, that allows you to connect with technology/devices in close proximity, without the need of the internet arising at all.  NFC works like a barcode and is not a tracking device. All you got to do is connect it to the SevenFriday app available on Google play and authenticate your fun gadget! For Apple users, the process is a little different wherein the user sends the picture of the case back to SevenFriday and they register it for you.

Once your watch is authenticated, you may set up your profile and enter the world of specifications that your watch has to offer. Watches earlier had a NFC chip in their warranty cards but SevenFriday, being the freethinking mavericks that they are, sought to be among the first ones in luxury watches to introduce this feature. It also allows you to view watches and specs on other SevenFriday offerings.

Get your SevenFriday till stocks last: Availability and price

Though SevenFriday is a fairly new player in the luxury segment of watches, it has carved a niche for itself as a brand that does not follow the norms and strives to be bigger by the day. The brand sold 12,000 watches by just advertising on Instagram in its first year, and has taken social media by storm.

The M1/06 is priced at MRP ₹105,300 which is fair, considering it’s a haute brand and a visual delight. So, join the SevenFriday wave and raise a toast to your patriotic side by investing in this limited edition.

One look at their collection and you’d be left chanting TGISF! Check out the whole line-up of SevenFriday, available at  Ethos Watch Boutiques.

What’s your take on SevenFriday’s  zippy offering for India? Let us know in the comments section below!