SevenFriday has been making waves in the watch industry since the launch of its inaugural collection, the P Series, in mid-2012. The M Series followed in 2014, and was an instant hit as well; by the end of that year, the brand had sold nearly 40,000 watches worldwide. Much of SevenFriday’s success can be attributed to its potent mix of quirky designs and affordable prices, which has made them popular with both casual watch buyers and hard-core collectors alike. Who could resist owning a fun watch like the P2, especially since it isn’t ruinously expensive?

The brand has tweaked this winning formula to create its third collection, the V Series, currently available in two colourways. The new watch remains chunky and, like its predecessors, uses integrated lugs to ensure a proper fit even on smaller wrists. With its asymmetric cushion-like shape, however, the V Series’ case is decidedly more complex. The intricately layered dial also makes its return and sports a new patent pending “additioner” system to indicate the time. Finally, the engine driving the watch is still a Japanese Miyota movement.

This “additioner” system probably requires an explanation. First, the easy bit: The sweep (and only) hand points to the minutes, which are read off the chapter ring on the flange like a conventional watch. Telling the hour, on the other hand, requires the fan-shaped sector lying between 11 and three o’clock, the centrally mounted rotating disc, and a little mathematics. As the image on this page shows, the disc currently points at the sector with its “+4” marking, which has advanced past the “1” on the sector. Adding the numbers together gives the hour – five o’clock. The seconds are indicated with the same system between three and six o’clock, but segregated from the hours as the displays are placed on separate layers. Finally, a day/night indicator at 10 o’clock completes the information presented on the dial. There’s nothing intuitive here. Rather, having fun – without breaking the bank on something like a wandering hours complication – is the name of the game.

Besides having a new visual complication, the V Series also contains a few upgrades over SevenFriday’s previous collections. There’s the quick change system for its straps, which requires just any pointy object like a pen. In addition, each V Series watch has an integrated Near Field Communication (NFC) chip that allows it to be authenticated and registered easily. These are subtle tweaks, but welcomed nonetheless.

Specs

• Dimensions: 44.3 x 49.7mm
• Functions: Hours, minutes, seconds, day/night indicator
• Power Reserve: 40 hours
• Movement Self-winding Miyota 82S7
• Material: Steel
• Water resistance: 30 meters
• Strap: Black or brown calf leather with ardillon buckle

Story Credits

Text by Jamie Tan

This story first appeared in World of Watches.