Review: Schwarz Etienne Fiji Floral Seconds

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Schwarz Etienne released last year their first line of watches dedicated exclusively to the ladies. The Schwarz Etienne Fiji Floral Seconds is not the smaller counterpart of a masculine piece but a completely separate design – created by a woman for women.  The brand created the Fiji Floral Seconds as a daily timepiece for the ladies with a keen for the horology.

Schwarz Etienne is an exceptional independent brand, a little too unknown to the general public. And besides its beautiful watches, the brand supplies various watch manufacturers. As examples: Lonville Watches and Ming. The modular design and extended personalisation possibilities make Schwarz Etienne a serious option for those searching for a great movement.

Schwarz Etienne Fiji Floral

When I found out that Schwarz Etienne released a ladies piece, I was more than curious.  Knowing their pieces for some years, I wanted to know their approach for a piece dedicated to women. And I was not disappointed. I have photographed the Fiji Floral during Baselworld 2019. Enjoy!

Modularity is the name of the game

I have previously mentioned about the modularity movement design. But the modular design does not stop at the movement. The case is also modular built. Yes, I know. Three times modular in three different sentences. But the case is built using three elements: bezel, caseband and caseback. This sandwich is fixed with four screws. The interesting construction element stands in the lugs that are part of the caseback, and not from caseband.

This construction permits a continuous decoration of the caseband. The bezel is polished to a mirror finish. The caseback and lugs also suffered mirror polishing. The contrast between the finishes is delightful. The case is manufactured from stainless steel or red gold. Diamond setting is also possible.

Another attraction of the Schwarz Etienne Fiji Floral Seconds is the crown. With has a relatively large size, but excellently dimensioned in relation with the case. The crown was decorated with a VS diamond 0.02 ct. The only diamond touch for Fiji. Except, of course, of the full diamond set piece.

The watches are delivered with two straps, harmoniously selected to fit the theme. The easy change system is a smart choice. Both straps are pre-fitted with a Schwarz Etienne pin buckle.

Dial with tone on tone floral motif

The Schwarz Etienne Fiji Floral Seconds comes with super dials. Three colours are available on the brand’s website: black, silver and pale salmon. All dials are decorated with a ton on ton floral motif. The detail is subtle but lovely.

The face of the Fiji Floral Seconds is adorned with applied drop-shape hour indexes. Twelve o’clock received a curvaceous, almost calligraphic, Arabic numerals. The minutes’ indexes are represented on a register on the inner bezel.

At six o’clock, an elongated index represents the stem of the living flower – the small seconds sub-dial. The view is mesmerising. It reminds me of childhood and dandelion flowers (Taraxacum officinale)

Each of the dial variants is decorated according to their colour theme. The black dial is fitted with brass hands with rhodium treatment and Super-Luminova®.

The salmon dial was decorated with the same rhodium-plated indexes. The hands, the twelve and six o’clock indexes are blued.

The precious gold version was decorated with gilded hands and indexes.

The diamond-set timepiece comes with a black dial with gilded hands and indexes. The central floral motif was replaced with a blanket of diamonds. Quite a spectacular piece.

A three-bridge version of the ASE calibre designed for ladies

The Schwarz Etienne Fiji Floral Seconds is powered by Calibre ASE 200.00. This in-house movement was especially design for the ladies pieces. Here we find the modularity mentioned at the beginning of the article.

The movement is self-winding with a help of a micro-rotor with bidirectional winding. There are few brands using micro-rotor and even less that use this complication in a ladies watch. The barrel is capable to push 86 hours of power reserve using a 3Hz escapement. Impressive numbers.

The movement is nicely decorated: snailing, perlage, brushing, polishing. The choice of finishes is very pleasant.

Final notes and remarks

Schwarz Etienne Fiji Floral Seconds is a pleasant surprise. The watch was designed by a woman for women. The details are subtle and lovely. It is important to mention that the calibre used is entirely manufactured in-house. That includes the hairspring and the balance wheel. The large power reserve is impressive for any mechanical piece, but for a lady that changes watches from time to time is a big plus. Along with the fast-changing strap system, the Schwarz Etienne ladies piece is a very attractive proposal.

Diana’s take

For daily use, my favourites will be the steel version with black dial and the red gold one with a silver-white dial. Simple on a first look, the Fiji Floral Seconds does not distract your attention with unnecessary details. A second look will reveal cute and feminine details. At the same time, the details reveal the true complexity and mechanical beauty of this piece.

The attention for details is delightful. No tiresome and exhausting details just for the sake of it. Rather a simple elegance. I definitively see the feminine touch in the Schwarz Etienne Fiji Floral Seconds. Indeed a ladies’ piece.

Note: The full paved gold version is a prototype. The final version migh have some changes in the end design and finishes.

Schwarz Etienne Fiji Floral Seconds Technical Specifications

Ref. WFI15MA01SS01AA

Ref. WFI15MA08SS04AA

Ref. WFI04MA16RB13-A