Zenith has launched the G.F.J. Calibre 135 Double Signed with Naoya Hida & Co. It’s a ten-piece limited edition watch that brings together Swiss watchmaking and Japanese independent craft in one beautiful (and slightly unexpected) collab.
The watch is built around the Calibre 135 – Zenith’s most decorated movement, widely regarded as the standout from the golden age of observatory chronometer competitions.
Naoya Hida has been fascinated by the movement since the 1990s, so, rather than a brand slapping a co-signature on an existing product, this feels like a genuine meeting of minds.
The case is 39mm in platinum and the dial is solid silver, echoing Hida’s NH Type 2A aesthetic – all of the proportion, restraint and precision.
Every indication, including both brand signatures, has been hand-engraved by master engraver Keisuke Kano and filled with blue Japanese urushi lacquer. It’s an extraordinary amount of hand-work for a dial that reads, at a glance, as quietly minimal.
The hands follow the same pattern – hour and minute hands are milled from solid gold and hand-polished. The small seconds hand at six o’clock is heat-blued steel.
The movement itself has been re-engineered for modern use while preserving the character of the original. It beats at 2.5Hz, offers a 72-hour power reserve, features a stop-seconds mechanism and a Breguet overcoil, and is COSC-certified to +/-2 seconds per day.
The architecture is visible through a sapphire caseback, finished in broad Geneva stripes with a dark ruthenium treatment and yellow gold-coloured markings.
The strap situation is where things get really interesting. There are three options are included: Himeji Kurozan leather, a rare Japanese material finished with layers of hand-polished urushi lacquer; Wagyu leather refined by craftsmen at Kyoto Leather; and a deep indigo Japanese non-stretch denim from Kaihara of Fukuyama, Hiroshima.
All three close with a platinum pin buckle engraved with the G.F.J. initials.
This is the first release under Zenith’s new Double Signed Program, which will invite selected independent watchmakers to reinterpret the G.F.J. going forward. This sounds really exciting – I can’t wait to see a Swatch G.F.J. in Bioceramic (I jest).
The G.F.J. Calibre 135 Double Signed with Naoya Hida & Co. is limited to 10 pieces, priced at 58,900 CHF (approx. US$75,000 / £55,000).
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