Feynman One
Feynman is a Singapore based watch brand founded by Yong Keong. In December 2018, the brand announced its first timepiece, the Feynman One. To realize their first project, the brand successfully raised an amount of S$ 58,750 from its online crowd-funding campaign hosted on Kickstarter.
The inaugural model from the brand, the Feynman One is a mechanical wristwatch created as a tribute to the Mother Nature, and mankind’s creations inspired by the Nature. It is a modern mechanical watch specially designed for urban customers.
This timepiece takes its design inspiration from the Golden Ratio. If you closely observe the watch, you will find the perfect utilization of the Golden Ratio principles at multiple locations. Interestingly, some minor deviations to the principle were also made to allow for an overall sense of balance.
The Feynman One boasts an interesting, multi-layer dial design featuring three closely blended dials: The main dial ring, the centre dial and the small seconds dial. Adhering to the principle of the Golden ratio, these three dials are all in perfect proportion and distance to each other.
The main dial’s sunburst radial-effect surface provides a picture perfect aesthetic to the largely rounded designs of the other components. The honeycomb pattern on the centre dial is a reference to one of the finest examples of nature’s application of the Golden Ratio.
The honey-comb patterned centre dial is circled by a slightly escalated ring structure with a side opening (from 6h to 8h) beneath the top hour marker ring. This opening allows uninterrupted movement of the seconds-hand of the small-seconds dial, whose utmost area is placed on the centre dial and leftover area with the main dial. At the dial centre, you can see Feuille shaped hour and minute hands as well as a pinion cap.
In the small-seconds dial, the area placed on the centre dial features honey-comb pattern where as the area on the main dial has a radial pattern. A white colored dial ring with black markers circles the small-seconds dial.
Although the rehaut (flange) as well as the dial rings of centre and small-seconds dials share a similar design, you will find some small differences when you observe the dial details closely. On the rehaut, 12 & 6 hours are Roman numerals where as on the centre dial ring Arabic numerals are used to indicate 12h and 6h. On the small seconds dial ring, 30 and 60 are represented by their corresponding Chinese numerals.
The main dial also features an offset, three-dimensional ledge to display the brand name without distracting from the overall design of the watch face. It is interesting to see that the curved seconds-hand and branding ledge impersonate the tails of lizards, while the lugs of the watch were inspired by their legs.
Each Feynman One watch features a meticulously finished stainless steel case with 39mm diameter, which is a perfect size for classic dress watches. The case thickness is 12.5mm including the front and back crystals.
Front glass is domed sapphire crystal and the rear side of the watch is secure with a sloped sapphire exhibition case-back. The additional depth of the case design ensures sufficient space for the “floating” hour track, as well as the elevated hour and minute hands.
The coin-edged case-side is inspired by the fine gears within a mechanical watch movement, along with the facets of the crown. Finishing plays a major part in the Feynman One collection. Vertical brushing and mirror polishing alternate around the case, while the coin-edge case side is polished on every facet like high-end watches.
The Feynman One watch is driven by the ETA Peseux 7001 Swiss mechanical manual wound movement. The movements used in the Feynman One collection are all certified ETA TOP-Grade, and also fully decorated. This legendary movement can be admired through the sapphire crystal caseback.
All Feynman One watches come with a pair of genuine leather straps crafted by local artisan Yi Leather in Singapore. Each strap has been crafted from lizard leather, cut to taper, stitched by hand and painted to finish by Shuyi Ng. The straps feature a proprietary signed clasp attached, designed to provide a snug fit on the strap.
The Feynman One watch is available in six variants: Classic, One-Eye Panda, Founders edition, Eclipse, Wine and Olive retail exclusive edition.
Highlighted with a monotone and harmonious palette, the Feynman One Classic model features an elegant grey main dial, black honey-comb patterned centre and small-seconds dials, silver hands and blued pinion cap. This watch is fitted with a matching grey lizard strap.
Featuring a striking silver colored main dial that maintains a perfect contrast with its black honey-comb patterned centre and small-seconds dials, the Feynman One One-Eye Panda model offers an elegant view reminiscent of the classic Panda dial watches. This model features silver colored steel hands, blued pinion strap and brown lizard strap.
The Feynman One “Eclipse” model features a cosmos inspired blue main dial, black honey-comb patterned centre and small-seconds dials, silver colored steel hands, blued pinion cap and blue colored “XII” and “VI” Rehaut indices. The watch is fitted with a matching blue lizard strap.
The limited series Feynman One Founder’s Edition, which was made only in 50 pieces, features a teal-green main dial, black honey-comb pattern centre and small-seconds dials, rose gold hands and a gold pinion cap. This watch model is fitted with a black lizard strap with green side-edges and brown stitching.
The Feynman One “Wine” is the most vivacious timepiece in the Feynman One collection. This version features a wine inspired deep red main dial that varies its shade from burgundy to red influenced by the variations of natural light.
This lively dial is paired with black honey-comb pattern centre and small-seconds dials, silver colored steel hands, black pinion cap, red colored “XII” and “VI” rehaut indices and a wine-red lizard strap.
The Feynman One “Olive” model features an olive colored main dial paired with dark-grey colored honey-comb pattern centre and small-seconds dials. The model features silver colored steel hands, silver colored pinion cap, olive colored “XII” and “VI” rehaut indices and an olive-green lizard strap.
This model is a retailer exclusive, and is only available through the brand’s authorised dealers: The Watchdrobe (Hong Kong), Watch Wonderland (Singapore) and Stitches & Buckles (Singapore).
Technical details
Movement
ETA Peseux 7001 Swiss made manual winding movement
Reserve: 42 hours
Frequency: 21600 vph
Jewels: 17
Case
Stainless steel case
Diameter: 39mm
Lug to Lug: 45mm
Case Height: 12.5mm
Lug Width: 20mm
Water resistance: 50m / 5atm
Strap
Genuine lizard leather strap with tang buckle
Strap width: 20mm, Tapers to 18mm
Retail price
SGD$1,388.00
