SevenFriday V-Series V3-01: The Review

On Saturday morning, at the hour when the countryside turns pale, I headed down to the harbour with the firm intention of photographing the SevenFriday V3-01, the third-born of the brand-new V-Series range, on my boat.

Wouldn’t the vintage, sporty gauges and the upholstery of my craft be the ideal setting to capture this lovely watch from every angle? I was already salivating at the thought.

But fate had other plans, as my mechanic had taken it upon himself to haul my faithful tub out of the water for winter storage, leaving nothing but an empty berth where my vessel usually floats. I then vowed to slap the scoundrel with a glove at the earliest opportunity, and wisely decided to fall back on the harbour as my shooting location.

Enough of this heavy-handed introduction, which the reader couldn’t care less about, since he obviously wants to know more about the latest SevenFriday (and he’s absolutely right, the rascal).

I can hardly hide my crush on the SevenFriday brand, so I’ll try to be as biased unbiased as possible.

After the P-series and the M-Series, as if it weren’t enough to score a hit and trigger stock shortages, the Zurich-based team is launching the V-Series.

Something new… with staying power

SevenFriday was clearly expected to deliver. The first two series sold in the tens of thousands, but the design is so distinctive that a new watch had to stand apart from the previous one—without cannibalising it—while still bringing something fresh.

This third model would therefore either anchor the brand for the long haul, or condemn it to being nothing more than a passing fad.

The P-Series (the brand’s first collection) made an impact with its design, piquing the curiosity of watch enthusiasts—particularly impressed by the price point and the finishing.

The M-Series intrigued people, with a different way of telling the time based on discs.

The V-Series takes the brand’s strengths and evolves them: signature cases, impeccable finishing, a multi-level technical dial, accessible prices, a design inspired by industrial codes and… an original way of reading the time.

Visually, you instantly recognise the V-Series as a SevenFriday, while it remains distinct from the other series. Clearly, the brand has succeeded in asserting its identity.

The case

The cases of the M and P series are square with rounded corners. The V-Series adopts a hybrid case, somewhere between a cushion and a rectangle. The finishing remains just as faultless at this price.

The V3-01 case is in matte “Gun metal” PVD with a brushed bezel.

It measures 44.3 mm in height by 49.7 mm in width (47 x 47.6 mm for the M and P-Series) and is 12.85 mm thick.

The case owes its distinctive shape to the two pushers on the left side of the caseband.

These pushers are a new quick-change strap system. The buckle is equipped with the same device, too.

This detail may seem trivial, and yet it’s also where the brand’s strength lies: listening to its market.

Indeed, it didn’t take long for Instagram to fill up with photos of SevenFriday watches fitted with straps customised by their owners (by the way, are you following me? No? That’s bad, very bad -> @montrespassion). Consumers fell in love with customising their SevenFriday via straps.

The brand, particularly active on social media, looked into this trend and created a system capable of satisfying its clientele.

Telling the time on the SevenFriday V-Series

“THE” topic that’s making noise around this watch: telling the time. It has to be earned, to say the least. It’s the result of mental arithmetic—an addition.

I find this way of reading the time very fun, because it isn’t accessible without an explanation. So you alone are master of time-reading on your wrist. It’s up to you whether you share the secret of this SevenFriday V-Series with those who ask about that very curious dial.

Since we’re nice folks at Montres Passion, we’ll give you the method—which, rest assured, quickly becomes second nature.

The hour

Focus only on the central disc (0+, 4+ and 8+) and the fixed scale graduated from 0 to 4 (carbon background) to read the hours.

Simply add the number on the disc to the graduation opposite it, on the carbon background, between 0 and 4. So, in the photo above, it is 8+ 2 = 10 o’clock.

Don’t worry about the other numbers on the disc as long as they’re not in the carbon zone.

The minutes

The minutes are read using the red hand. The hand makes the classic trip around the dial to run through the 60 minutes.

Above, we saw that it was 10 o’clock, and we can see that the red hand is on 16. So it’s 10:16.

The seconds

The principle is the same as for the hours, except you align the rotating seconds disc with its fixed scale graduated from 0 to 20 (metal background).

In the previous photo, you can see +40 opposite 03, so 43 seconds.

Day and night

On the left of the dial (around 9:30), you can make out a round aperture marked “DAY” and “NIGHT” hovering above a disc. A white pointer (small dot) indicates day (when the disc is blue) and night (when the disc is black).

So it is indeed 10 h 16 min 43 sec.

Take a break and swallow an aspirin—everything will be fine.

Watch the video below: I scroll the time from midnight to noon. You’ll see the day/night indicator switch to day mode at 6 a.m.

It’s a pleasure to admire the dial—its 12 components, its different layers and textures. The carbon and the red hand give the watch a decidedly sporty tone, without it being a chronograph, as is too often the case.

The dial is skeletonised, offering a glimpse of the anchor and the balance spring.

The movement

An excellent transition to talk about the movement. SevenFriday has never hidden the fact that it uses Japanese movements. Here it’s a Miyota 82S7 delivering a 40-hour power reserve. It’s known to be reliable over time and less expensive than a Swiss ETA movement.

The NFC chip and the SevenFriday app

Even if you can’t see the movement through the caseback, SevenFriday plays the transparency card and makes things clear: design and concept conceived in Switzerland, manufacturing in Hong Kong and China, and a movement from Japan. You can’t get more transparent than that!

The planet contains the famous NFC chip. NFC, Near Field Communication, is a technology that allows data to be exchanged between two equipped devices at a distance of less than 10 cm. You may not realise it, but there’s a good chance your smartphone has it.

The chip integrated into the V-Series allows its owner to register the watch via an app (iOS and Android) and prove its authenticity. Today, the benefit is limited to after-sales service and registering the watch for warranty purposes, but there’s no doubt the brand will know how to use this technology for other applications (collectors’ club, perks, personalised information, etc.). Below are screenshots taken during the watch registration process.

And the price?

Hold on tight, Maryse, because the SevenFriday V3/01 will set you back the modest sum of €1,290.

And yes, that’s 100 times cheaper than a Richard Mille, Maryse—100 times!

The downside

I’ll finish with a small negative point, a sign of my legendary impartiality and irrefutable proof that SevenFriday isn’t topping up my offshore account on the Isle of Man in exchange for good reviews: the crystal!

Once again, it’s a mineral crystal. You get attached to these little objects, and it would sting a bit to see them scratch more easily than with a sapphire crystal, which would be the icing on the cake.

Let’s end with a nice wristshot on my hairy wrist, wearing the superb SevenFriday V3-01.

 

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