Dan Niederer’s Zurich brand turns cogwheels, copper pipes and bank vaults into square watches whose dials are built up in layers.
A Zurich brand
Dan Niederer founded SEVENFRIDAY, and the company behind it, SEVENFRIDAY AG, is based in Zurich. The brand says it is founded, developed, based and managed in Switzerland. Its production happens around the world, and it says that work is held to Swiss quality standards.
“SEVENFRIDAY is a brand built on the foundations of taking that leap of faith, one aimed at challenging the ‘norm’ and creating alternatives,” says Niederer. The tagline puts it more briefly: Show me don’t Tell Me, which the brand reads as action instead of words. It calls itself a global lifestyle brand, and it makes eyewear, apparel and accessories alongside the watches.
Machines on the dial
Its watches are industrial in inspiration, and often start from a single object. The P1B/01 takes its cue from the cogwheel, with two interchanging gears on the dial. The M2/02 draws on copper pipes, and the P2B/02 on the bank vaults of the industrial revolution.
The dials are built up in layers, six on the P1B/01 and seven on the M2/02. The brand calls its steel case the box, and adds a separate ring to it, the animation ring. On the S1/01, announced in April 2017, that ring became transparent. It revealed the inner workings and the construction of the box for the first time. The brand calls the clear ring, with visible screws around the box, its signature style.
There is technology in the caseback, too. Watches made before 2015 have no chip. Later ones carry an NFC chip in the caseback, so an owner can authenticate the watch and register it in the SEVENFRIDAY App.
The series
The P1B/01 measures 47 x 47.6mm and runs on an automatic Miyota movement with 40 hours of power reserve. On the M2/02, three discs show the hours, minutes and seconds, read from right to left. Most SEVENFRIDAY watches are water resistant to 3ATM.
The T-Series is smaller, thinner and lighter than the others. Its letter stands for the industrial technical department, whose blueprints inspired its graphics and skeleton movements. Some T-Series dials use a genuine piece of sunglass lens. The series took its inspiration from Normandy, birthplace of SEVENFRIDAY designer Arnaud Duval.
The C-Series is the smallest and thinnest series the brand has made, and the only one that is not automatic: the C1/01 has a Swiss Ronda 712 quartz movement. Its first two models were made with the Indian fashion label PAPA DON’T PREACH by Shubhika.
The retro-futuristic ME-Series, PE-Series and PG-Series follow what the brand calls the MAYA principle, short for Most Advanced, Yet Acceptable. The PG1/01 brought the brand’s first GMT function.
The brand today
SEVENFRIDAY also builds places to meet. The first SEVENFRIDAY Space opened in Jakarta in 2016, and others followed in cities including Hong Kong, Mumbai, Abu Dhabi and Zurich. The brand says it has grown to more than 50 countries. In its own story about the Spaces, Niederer is named as the owner.
The tagline asks for things to be shown rather than told. The watches take that literally: the gears, pipes and layers sit on the dial, and on the S1/01 even the case let the workings show.
At a glance
- Founder: Dan Niederer
- Based in: Zurich, Switzerland (SEVENFRIDAY AG)
- Known for: square, layered watches inspired by industrial machinery; NFC chips in the caseback
- Independent: yes; the brand names Dan Niederer as its owner
Sources: SEVENFRIDAY’s own website (home page, About us, legal notice, FAQ, product pages, and its stories on the S1/01, the T-Series road trip and the Spaces).