On a solid silver dial, a pantograph machine makes its mark. The three Arabic numerals are then passed to the Japanese engraver Keisuke Kano, who finishes each one by hand. Finally, the engravings are filled with blue Japanese urushi lacquer. This is how the new G.F.J. Calibre 135 from Zenith begins.
The watch is a co-signed project with independent watchmaker Naoya Hida & Co., the first in a series called The Double Signed Program. The initiative invites select partners to reinterpret a celebrated Zenith model. This first collaboration is a 10-piece limited edition in a 39.5mm platinum case, born from a meeting between Zenith’s Chief Product Officer, Romain Marietta, and Naoya Hida in his Tokyo workshop.
“The connection with Naoya Hida was immediate,” Marietta said, “rooted in a shared passion for the golden age of watchmaking.”
A Meeting of Minds
Naoya Hida founded his brand in 2018, building a reputation for a design language that is both precise and restrained. His work on the G.F.J. watch draws from the spirit of his own NH Type 1 and NH Type 2 models. The collaboration centers on the Calibre 135, a movement Hida has followed since the 1990s. The original Calibre 135 is one of watchmaking’s most awarded movements from the era of observatory chronometer competitions.
Zenith revived the movement’s legend in 2022 with a series of ten restored Calibre 135-O movements, a project handled by master watchmaker Kari Voutilainen. In 2025, for the manufacture’s 160th anniversary, a re-engineered version was placed at the heart of the new G.F.J. collection, named for founder Georges Favre Jacot.
Benoit de Clerck, CEO of Zenith, noted Hida’s contribution. “What I particularly admire in Naoya Hida's work is his ability to express great depth through restraint. I am grateful for the intelligence and sensitivity he brought to the G.F.J.”