Over thousands of years, the number seven has developed a solid reputation for being a symbol of fortune, thanks to a diverse range of religious, cultural, historical and even mathematical reasons – it was selected as the world’s favourite number in a global online poll The Guardian conducted over a decade ago, ahead of three and eight.
This preamble may appear completely unrelated, but seven also happens to be the number of years it took for Feynman Timekeepers to earn its first award nomination since the Singapore-based microbrand was co-founded in 2018 by Lim Yong Keong, its brand owner and designer. Not the result of mere luck or a fluke, but an outcome of years of striving, Feynman Timekeepers’ Coalesce – Dragon metiers d’art watch was shortlisted for the Jewellery & Artistic Crafts category at this year’s Timepiece World Awards, held in Toronto in September.
“It means the world to us that our efforts have been recognised by the international jury,” Lim remarked. “To us, this is already a win, and I’m proud to represent Singapore and showcase our local talent on the global stage.”
The inaugural piece of Feynman Timekeepers’ Coalesce Zodiac series from 2024, inspired by the Year of the Dragon on the Chinese lunar calendar, the Coalesce – Dragon was the culmination of the skills of a number of artisans from Singapore and their craft: the cloisonné enamel dial by enamellist Charlotte Hoe of Royal Insignia; the handmade leather strap by Ng Shu Yi of YI Leather and the bespoke display box by Gene Khoo of Ten10 Horowerkz, with both items painted by Aries Liew of Hui Art; and a watch assembled and perfected by watchmaker Alvin Sim. “We are [making metiers d’art watches] because we really want to showcase what we can do, aside from our normal production,” Lim added. “We want to promote what we can do in Singapore itself, because many of [these artisans] are actually quite good at what they’re doing.”
Feynman Timekeepers has been on a roll lately. Its most recent collection, the Feynman Q, has been well received since it was launched in July – back orders will take until next February to fulfill, Lim elaborates – and represents a turning point of sorts for the brand. “I tried to move a little away from a mechanical watch point of view, and I’m trying to do quartz watches to see how the market will respond,” he adds. “So it was like a gamble for us.” Christened the Feynman Q for the quirky case, an homage to the Roger Dubuis Sympathie, and also for it being a quartz movement, the first for Feynman Timekeepers, the 34mm watch features an on-trend dial of ornamental hard stone (malachite, turquoise, tiger’s eye or lapis lazuli) together with the lizard-tail small-seconds hand, a Feynman Timekeepers signature, and crimped hour and minute hands that intersect once every hour to form a rhombus. The Feynman Q follows the brand’s August 2024 release, the Feynman VI. Also named with wordplay in mind, the Feynman VI references vintage TV cases, as well as the sixth year of Feynman Timekeepers. The 40.8mm by 38mm watch features a sloping rehaut, with the Feynman logo tucked away discreetly near 6 o’clock; a custom-designed skeleton handset; and a dial with (for the earlier iterations) a scratched pattern achieved through fine vertical brushing, and rendered in dark blue, silver, or g
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