We do not often review, or even write about, women’s watches here on WWR all that often. Yes, there have been some exceptions, but when you are a guy, writing about something not targeted at you is a tricky thing to do. Past that, it often times seems that a brand will simply take an existing model, shrink it some, and slap some gems and hearts on it, and call it a day – which seems lazy to me. On the other hand, the Frederic Jouvenot Surya puts those gems to a rather clever use.
As you can see by the pictures we have included, the watch look like it features a bi-color flower on the dial. Each of these petals is actually a sort of jump-hour indicator. As the day progresses, a successive petal flips (from light to dark, or vice versa), indicating the current hour. This also means that at 12 o’clock, the flower will be all one color.
All of this is handled by a mechanism that hides under the central minutes disc, which drives the time indication. Along with that, you also are getting a sort of 24-hour indicator (provided the time is set correctly), as you have a day/night indication with the color of the jewels.
The movement complications
In terms of overall design, this is definitely a gem-heavy watch. Aside from the sapphires on the dial, there is also a good bit of sparkle set into the bezel. Ignoring those, there is a sort of skeletonized lug setup that manages to both lighten the watch, as well as give it a bigger presence (or so I assume).
Sure, this is a watch that will take a bit of time to be able to read it quickly, with the combination of both the petal indicators and the central minutes disc. For the ones who tackle that, though, you will have quite the lovely bit of kinetic art on your wrist, keeping you on time. The Frederic Jouvenot Surya is available now for a price of $153,000 (green) or $173,000 (pink). Oh, plus the price of your vacation to Macau, as it’s only available at the Sunluxe Collection there. For those looking for a more masculine take on this idea, check out the Helios lineup. fjouvenot.com
Watch Overview
- Brand & Model: Frederic Jouvenot Surya
- Price: $153,000 / $173,000
- Who we think it might be for: You like your watches to have gems, but want something a bit more visually interesting
- Would I buy one for myself based on what I’ve seen?: No, not for myself, nor do I see this is as something my wife would necessarily wear
- If I could make one design suggestion, it would be: Why not go for the gusto, and craft those petals out of gems as well?
- What spoke to me the most about this watch: I do really like the marriage of the flower motif with the jumping-hour sort of functionality.
