Zenith’s G.F.J. line is quickly becoming more than a home for one of the manufacture’s great chronometer movements.
After a first Double Signed edition with Naoya Hida & Co., the collection now turns to California-based J.N. Shapiro for a rose-gold limited edition shaped by hand-cut guilloché and American watchmaking references.
The result is a more decorative, more openly artisanal take on the G.F.J. Calibre 135, with attention paid not only to the dial but also to the movement visible through the caseback.
At a glance
- Zenith has introduced the G.F.J. Calibre 135 Double Signed with J.N. Shapiro as a 25-piece limited edition.
- The watch features a hand-cut silver guilloché dial made at J.N. Shapiro’s California atelier and a damaskeened Calibre 135 movement.
- It is priced at CHF 68,900 and supplied with three leather straps, with a rose-gold bracelet available upon request.
California guilloché on a Swiss chronometer platform
J.N. Shapiro brings a specific kind of craft language to this watch, one rooted in engine turning and the revival of American watchmaking.
Founded by Joshua Shapiro in 2018, the brand began in a home workshop in Los Angeles, where Shapiro taught himself to use rose-engine and straight-line machines for fine geometric dial work.
That skill has become central to the identity of J.N. Shapiro, which has since developed its own proprietary calibre 26 and the Resurgence watch.
For Zenith, the collaboration adds a distinctly American layer to a model that is already tied to Swiss chronometry and observatory competition history.
The watch follows the established G.F.J. proportions, with a 39.15mm rose-gold case, a thickness of 10.5mm and a 45.75mm lug-to-lug measurement.
A sapphire crystal covers the dial, while the exhibition caseback reveals the movement decoration, and water resistance is rated to 50 metres.
A three-part dial with Shapiro’s Infinity Weave
The silver dial is the most immediate point of difference from the earlier Naoya Hida edition, which took a quieter route with solid silver, hand-engraved numerals and blue urushi lacquer.
Here, the surface is divided into three engine-turned zones, each cut using traditional machinery at J.N. Shapiro’s California atelier.
The outer dial carries a barleycorn pattern, a classical guilloché motif that gives the perimeter a tightly ordered rhythm.
Toward the centre, the texture changes to a basketweave pattern, creating a more interlaced effect that shifts the visual weight inward.
The small seconds at six o’clock uses Shapiro’s signature Infinity Weave, an interpretation of basketweave in which the pattern repeats within itself.
Applied 18k rose-gold rings separate the dial sections, while matching markers and hands bring warmth against the silver surface.
The two brand signatures, Zenith and J.N. Shapiro, appear on an applied rose-gold plate with the G.F.J. initials.
The Calibre 135 gets an American decorative treatment
The hand-wound Calibre 135 is central to the watch’s appeal, and Zenith has good reason to keep it in focus.
Developed by Zenith watchmaker Ephrem Jobin and introduced in 1948, the calibre was created for observatory chronometry competitions.
The competition-grade Calibre 135-O achieved five consecutive first-place victories at the Neuchâtel Observatory between 1950 and 1954.
Zenith re-engineered the movement for the modern G.F.J. collection in 2025, keeping its essential architecture while adding contemporary technical improvements.
In this form, the movement runs at 18,000 vibrations per hour and offers a 72-hour power reserve.
It uses a large variable-inertia balance with a Breguet overcoil, Charles Fleck’s double-arrow regulator and a stop-seconds mechanism.
The movement is COSC-certified and regulated to ±2 seconds per day.
For this J.N. Shapiro edition, the bridges are finished with damaskeening, a decorative style historically found on American pocket watches.
The technique combines elements of traditional Côtes de Genève and guilloché to create a wave-like pattern across the bridges, which are rhodium plated for a more contemporary finish.
Details & Specifications
| Brand | Zenith |
|---|---|
| Model | G.F.J. Calibre 135 Double Signed with J.N. Shapiro |
| Case size | 39.15mm |
| Case thickness | 10.5mm |
| Lug-to-lug | 45.75mm |
| Case material | Rose gold |
| Crystal | Sapphire crystal and exhibition caseback |
| Dial | Silver guilloché dial hand-cut at J.N. Shapiro’s California atelier |
| Movement | Hand-wound Zenith Calibre 135 |
| Frequency | 18,000 vibrations/hour |
| Power reserve | 72 hours |
| Certification | COSC-certified, regulated to ±2 seconds per day |
| Water resistance | 50m |
| Straps | Brown Cordovan, beige nubuck alligator and black calf leather |
| Buckle | 18k rose-gold pin buckle engraved with G.F.J. initials |
| Bracelet | 18k rose-gold bracelet available upon request |
| Production | Limited edition of 25 pieces |
| Price | CHF 68,900 |
This is a watch for collectors who already understand the appeal of the Calibre 135, but want to see it interpreted through a different decorative tradition.
By pairing Zenith’s chronometer heritage with J.N. Shapiro’s engine-turning and damaskeening, the G.F.J. becomes a more expansive project, one that treats collaboration as craft rather than branding.
