t’s 2012. The watch industry is ticking along, literally! Strong growth, eager and inquisitive customers pump the creative juices of young independent brands. Surfing that wave, SEVENFRIDAY bursts onto the scene with a timepiece that was, well, rather unorthodox for the time, as adherence to norms and accepted tenets is not the SEVENFRIDAY way.

It’s big, it’s chunky, it’s heavy and screams “look at me” or, as the brand’s mantra puts it: “Show, don’t tell!”. And boy does this first SEVENFRIDAY tell it loud and clear! Its industrial design stands out, with odd quirks here and there, like the imposing outer stainless steel aniNFXmation ring which surrounds a striking multi-level dial wherein lies an eye-catching and unusual way of telling time. Meet the original P1/01. A design which wouldn’t look out of place in a stand-off between Mad Max and Burning Man festival-goers, but this was the whole point, to create something independent of influence, to sit happily on its own and away from a particular industry.

P1/01, the first model launched in 2012

But originality does not stop at the product – it introduced a new attitude which can be best expressed by this Latin maxim “Carpe Diem”. Now we’re not talking about picking fruit and veg (for you purists that’s the original context!). No, we’re talking about having fun and enjoying life; not having to bother about work-life balance because they are one and the same! Why not have fun doing what you love?

Dan Niederer, CEO and co-founder of SEVENFRIDAY

“Our entire ethos is just that,” says CEO and co-founder Dan Niederer. “Of course, there are days when life is a little more stressful and serious, but in essence we believe in seizing every day as if it’s a Friday - it’s in the name.”

An activity during the 2019 SEVENFRIDAY Games in Davos

And over the next decade, SEVENFRIDAY, with vigorous fun, spread that gospel far and wide through everything it did. Away with boring meetings. Let’s have Games, another fixture of the Latin world. Rest assured: no animals were killed, only morosity and boredom! “We move the Games around the world to different locations and they have been hugely popular,” adds Dan. “It’s a new way of bringing people together to converse and interact within the lifestyle we all lead.”

SEVENFRIDAY Space, a concept re-inventing the traditional retail environment

Their crusade for more conviviality and meeting like-minded people led SEVENFRIDAY to introduce Spaces, where the aim is to create an ‘enjoyable’ space where product promotion is kept to a minimum and people can come together to eat, drink and chat without the traditional pressures of a retail environment.

FREE-D, SevenFriday’s latest model

“Evolving and always challenging ourselves is important, it’s what keeps the passion burning. Of course, we have products that are favourites, such as the M2/02 and the first P-Series, but our market is so vast and varied that we have a duty to be as creative and diverse with everything we put out there,” Dan concludes. Now 10 years on, this passion is evident in the newly introduced FREE-D, which introduces cutting edge additive manufacturing and sustainability, all wrapped in yet another iconic and original design - SEVENFRIDAY FECIT.

CLICK HERE FOR MORE INFORMATION