When Le Locle Met Tokyo: The 10-Piece Zenith G.F.J. That Could Redefine Independent Watchmaking

In the imagination of Georges Favre-Jacot, the visionary who founded Zenith in 1865, watchmaking was never merely measuring time. It was about mastering it.

One imagines him standing in Le Locle, amid the sharp mountain air of the Swiss Jura, pursuing an audacious idea: to unite every craft required to build a watch under one roof, creating a manufacture capable of producing chronometric excellence without compromise.

More than 160 years later, that same spirit appears to echo across continents.

From Le Locle to Tokyo, from the birthplace of Swiss industrial watchmaking to the intimate workshop of Naoya Hida & Co., Zenith’s latest creation feels less like a collaboration and more like a meeting of philosophies.

The result is the G.F.J. Calibre 135 Double Signed with Naoya Hida & Co., an extraordinarily limited edition of just ten pieces about that may well become one of the most desirable collector’s watches of the decade.

At its heart lies one of horology’s most revered movements: the legendary Calibre 135.

Among serious collectors, few mechanisms command such reverence. Developed during the golden age of observatory chronometer competitions, the Calibre 135 remains the most awarded movement in Zenith’s history, responsible for a remarkable share of the manufacture’s record 2,333 chronometry prizes.

It represents a period when watchmakers competed not for marketing headlines but for measurable precision, with victories determined by science rather than sentiment.

The calibre’s modern renaissance began in 2022 through an ultra-exclusive revival overseen by master watchmaker Kari Voutilainen. In 2025, during Zenith’s 160th anniversary celebrations, it returned again, comprehensively re-engineered to power the new G.F.J. collection, named after Georges Favre-Jacot himself.

Now comes perhaps its most intriguing chapter.

The launch also inaugurates Zenith’s new Double Signed Program, a concept rooted in a compelling belief: iconic designs should evolve through creative dialogue.

Historically, double-signed watches represented some of the most coveted partnerships in watchmaking, uniting the identities of two respected names on a single dial. Zenith revives that tradition not as nostalgia but as a platform for contemporary creative exchange.

For its first partner, the maison could scarcely have chosen a more fascinating counterpart.

Founded in 2018, Naoya Hida & Co. Has quietly established itself as one of Japan’s most respected independent watchmakers. While multinational luxury groups often pursue scale, visibility and commercial expansion, independent watchmakers operate according to a different rhythm.

Their appeal lies in freedom: freedom to obsess over minute details, to pursue unconventional ideas and to create watches unconstrained by quarterly targets or corporate consensus.

That freedom is evident throughout Naoya Hida’s work. His watches are celebrated for their restraint, proportion and devotion to classical aesthetics from the 1930s to the 1960s.

Rather than shouting for attention, they reward prolonged observation. In a market increasingly crowded with spectacle, such understatement has become a luxury in itself.

The encounter between Zenith Chief Product Officer Romain Marietta and Naoya Hida reportedly sparked an immediate connection rooted in a shared fascination with watchmaking history. That mutual admiration is visible in every detail of this watch.

The 39mm platinum case houses a dial crafted from solid silver, inspired by the elegant visual language of Naoya Hida’s NH Type 2A.

Every inscription, including both Zenith and Naoya Hida & Co. Signatures, is hand-engraved by master engraver Keisuke Kano before being meticulously filled with deep blue Japanese urushi lacquer.

The hands are equally remarkable. The softly rounded hour and minute hands are milled from solid gold using ultra-precise CNC technology before being hand-polished. The small seconds hand, fashioned from steel, is heat-blued to achieve its rich colour.

Turn the watch over and the true star emerges.

Visible beneath the sapphire caseback, the manually wound Calibre 135 combines historical architecture with contemporary engineering. Broad Geneva stripes, hand-executed bevels and a sophisticated dark ruthenium finish create a movement that feels simultaneously vintage and modern.

Technically, it remains every inch a precision instrument. Beating at 18,000 vibrations per hour (2.5Hz), it features a large variable-inertia balance wheel with a Breguet overcoil, Charles Fleck’s distinctive double arrow regulator, a stop-seconds mechanism and an impressive 72-hour power reserve.

Certified by the COSC and regulated to an accuracy of ±2 seconds per day, it embodies the chronometric obsession that made the Calibre 135 legendary.

For collectors, however, the significance extends beyond specifications.

Japanese independent watchmaking occupies a unique place within contemporary horology. While Switzerland remains the industry’s spiritual centre, Japan has cultivated a reputation for obsessive craftsmanship, meticulous finishing and a philosophy that values mastery over scale. Independent makers such as Naoya Hida have become objects of fascination precisely because they offer something increasingly rare: authenticity expressed through limitation.

Yet independence carries its own challenges. Competing against brands with centuries of history, global distribution networks and immense marketing power demands unwavering conviction. The reward is creative purity. The risk is obscurity.

That is precisely why this collaboration matters.

For Zenith, it demonstrates confidence. A manufacture secure in its heritage is willing to invite another voice into its narrative. For Naoya Hida & Co., it provides global visibility while preserving the integrity that collectors admire.

For enthusiasts, it offers something genuinely uncommon: the convergence of Swiss chronometric history and Japanese artisanal sensitivity in a single object.

Naoya Hida perhaps captured the spirit best when he reflected: “I have been captivated by the Calibre 135 since discovering it in the 1990s.

Being offered the opportunity to reinterpret the G.F.J. with ZENITH was both a surprise and a delight. The idea was to capture the atmosphere and spirit of the Calibre 135 era in a modern way.”

Romain Marietta echoed the sentiment: “When different disciplines and sensibilities engage with a classic design, they can bring nuance, tension, and harmony in equal measure—qualities from which true beauty often arises.”

Only ten examples will exist.

In a market saturated with limited editions, genuine rarity has become elusive. This is not rarity manufactured through marketing. It is rarity born from craft, collaboration and a shared reverence for horological history.

And somewhere between the mountains of Le Locle and the quiet precision of Tokyo, Georges Favre-Jacot would likely recognise the ambition. Not simply to preserve excellence, but to allow it to evolve.

The finest watches do not merely tell time.

They tell stories.

This one tells two.

The 10-piece Zenith G.F.J watch collection co-signed with Naoya Hida & Co. Is available now in all Zenith Watches boutiques and authorised retailers worldwide.

*Photos courtesy of Zenith Watches.