Freshly-Landed from Europe : SevenFriday P3-01 Part 1

I became intrigued with SevenFriday earlier the year having read loads of positive reviews from horology online and printed media, blogs and reviews. 

What exactly is this SevenFriday?

(NB : Some of the descriptions and pictures were excerpts from A Blog To Watch, which I have placed in the opened and closed inverted commas.)

"SevenFriday's founder, Daniel Niederer, was a bit tired of the typically stuffy and stiff way the watch industry approached design, as well as how it sold watches. A former luxury watch distributor, Niederer shared with me that he felt some of the watch industry's margins on their products were out of line with production costs, as well as consumer expectations.  He also hated how the brands he helped sell were stuck on (literally) the same old designs and marketing practices. Seeing tons of room for change and improvement, for Daniel, the only solution was do it himself.

Starting SevenFriday–as it is to start any new business–was a gamble. The idea of the brand was to produce a mechanical watch with a contemporary design around 1,000 Swiss Francs. SevenFriday noticed that many of the traditional Swiss watch brands had totally abandoned this price segment, leaving it open for others, such as the Japanese to enter. The Japanese did enter it, but many of the high-end (but not the highest-end) Japanese watches were oddly designed, despite being of a high quality and a good value for the money.

SevenFriday as a watch company was really about being an experiment of whether one could successfully combine the efficiency of Japanese movements and Asian manufacturing with the refinement of European design. With such a polarizing industrial look, the debut SevenFriday collection could have been a success or a total failure. What SevenFriday was also intent on doing was combining a traditional wholesale business model with the ability for consumers to purchase directly from the brand online."

SevenFriday has quite a few models to choose from- and the model that I was interested in was the P3-01. This model is amongst the sportiest of the lot and sells for approximately RM4k in Malaysia. However, as supply is still relatively low, this model seems to be perpetually out of stock at the boutiques in KL. As such, ordering online from its HQ in Zurich, Switzerland could be the next best option.

"Speaking of price, the SevenFriday is priced well, but in the scope of timepieces, still exists in a niche category. With a US price of about $1,100 per watch, SevenFriday P collection timepieces are not cheap in the scheme of things. These prices are still way too high for the average mainstream consumer. They are, however, cheap when compared to most mechanical Swiss watches, especially those with wild designs. I will go so far as to say that almost zero Swiss watches offer genuinely interesting avant-garde watches for about $1,000. At that price you can get a Swiss Made mechanical watch, but for the most part they will be classically or conservatively designed. Of course, you can spend $10,000 to $100,000 on a wild Swiss watch, but then you are in a completely different demographic of people who aren't just able to afford five to six figures on a watch, but people who are able to afford five to six figures on a watch they probably aren't going to wear on a daily basis.

The short of it is that SevenFriday watches are priced well for what they are, but it really depends on your perspective. If you are used to spending Omega and Rolex prices and want a fun mechanical watch for occasional wear, then a watch from SevenFriday will look like a bargain. If you are going from a several hundred dollar Japanese watch to something like a SevenFriday P model, the jump will feel like a lot, though you do get a rather interesting design, and overall excellent product curation. Even the presentation is very good. Each SevenFriday watch comes in a large wooden crate-style box, and the overall mixing and matching of case, colors, and straps is very clever. I even really like the curvy adrillon strap buckle that thematically fits the shape of the case.

Inside each of the SevenFriday P1, P2, and P3 watches are Japanese Miyota automatic caliber 82S7 movements. The hands are, of course, highly customized for SevenFriday watches, especially as two of them are discs with indicator hands on the dial. The movement has 21 jewels and operates at 21,600 bph (3Hz). The power reserve on the 82S7 is about 40 hours and as a mid-range Japanese mechanical it won't be the most accurate watch in the world, so if worn regularly it is best to adjust the time each week or so.

It is difficult to sum up the overall collection of SevenFriday P watches since there are so many varieties. About 10 versions currently exist and I am sure that more will be included in the future. I think my favorite is actually the original SevenFriday P1-1 watch in polished steel matched to a slightly glossy leather strap. The others are also cool but it depends on your mood and what colors you tend to normally wear. I don't consider the SevenFriday as being a watch I would wear on a daily basis, but that is OK, timepieces like this exist for fun when you want to show off, not for business meetings or going on a hike.

Personally, I think it is wonderful when a brand finds a niche and becomes successful at filling it. SevenFriday isn't reinventing bread, but it offering a new flavor for those tired of the same taste all the time. Considering the typical watch crowd who is used to spending $5,000 and up for a single watch, the roughly $1,100 price of a new SevenFriday P model seems like an inexpensive investment–and in truth, for the money, the quality ain't bad. For those who can't afford the truly remarkable wild mechanical watches that go for five figures or more, a very suitable (and cool) option exists with a SevenFriday timepiece. The average price of a SevenFriday P collection watch is 982 Swiss Francs but the collection currently ranges from 925 - 1288 Swiss Francs.

Necessary Data
>Brand: SevenFriday
>Model: P1-1, P2-1, P3-1, and P3-2 watches reviewed
>Price: 925 - 1,054 Swiss Francs
>Size: 47mm
>Would reviewer personally wear it: Yes
>Friend we’d recommend it to first: Seasoned watch lover looking for a modern looking mechanical watch that looks like nothing in their collection to wear a few times a month.
>Best characteristic of watch: Genuinely fun and innovative design with a good level of quality for the money. Refined produced presentation.
>Worst characteristic of watch: Dial can be difficult to read and it is hard not to want a Swiss Made movement. Large case size might be difficult for some to pull off"

Having lived and worked in Europe for a good few years prior to my return to Malaysia, I still have many mates there that I could ask a favour from. One of them, a watch enthusiast too, was also enthusiastic about the SevenFriday P3-01 and wanted to make an order from Zurich. I asked if he could assist me with an order too, which he kindly obliged; and with his recent visit hereabouts, I finally managed to get hold of this elusive piece tonight.

It felt solid enough and there were lots of details that helped to make the watch felt more upmarket compared to its circa RM4k price tag. In fact, it was reported in other blogs or forums that SevenFriday's case was from Corum, and the dial from Tag Heuer. How true was this, I have no ways to verify- all I could say from handling the watch tonight was that it felt solid enough. 

This was a genuine piece from Zurich, and there was even a personally-signed letter of appreciation from Daniel Niederer included in the package- something that you won't get from the locally-sold ones. Add to the fact that my particular piece had a 0001 serial number and this was indeed quite a piece that came with some bragging rights, but at an entry-level cost for a Swiss brand.

I have yet to take off the protective covers from the watch, and I would follow-up with another review after this has been done. In the meantime, please enjoy the following pictures courtesy of my mobile phone:

This pic was sourced from the Net though.

To be continued in SevenFriday P3-01 Part 2.