MeisterSinger Urban Day-Date Edition 75 Jaar Vrijheid

MeisterSinger has risen to fame with watches that show the time with one hand only. Luckily, this design limitation has not restricted its creativity. The German brand now introduces a limited edition piece with an important social message. The Urban Day-Date commemorates freedom in the Netherlands, and a part of the revenue from sales will be dedicated to a charity which supports initiatives “that contribute to a free and peaceful society“. Meet the new MeisterSinger Urban Day-Date Edition 75 Jaar Vrijheid.

Yesterday, on 5 May, the Netherlands restrainedly celebrated its annual national holiday named Bevrijdingsdag, literally translated as “liberation day”. The day was initially meant to commemorate the liberation from the German occupier in 1945, but in the last decades, the focus has shifted more towards freedom in general.

The piece now introduced by MeisterSinger is called the Urban Day-Date Vrijheidseditie – or Edition 75 Jaar Vrijheid. For each watch sold, EUR 75 will be donated to a foundation named vfonds, which supports hundreds of initiatives that contribute to a free and peaceful society. It is based on the entry-level MeisterSinger Urban Day-Date. This model was introduced in 2019 and has 50m water-resistance. It is the only Meistersinger that has a Japanese movement and displays double-digit hours – and not double-digit minutes.

Straight-forward technique

Technically-speaking, the Urban Day-Date Vrijheidseditie is pretty straight-forward. It is powered by a Miyota 8285, which is seen through an exhibition caseback. MeisterSinger carries modifications to bring its signature single hand display to this Japanese automatic movement, which has 42 hours of power reserve. It also has a day-date complication which has been assigned a very different task. Instead of telling us the date, this now reminds us of our freedom.

Unique design

The real news is in the design. For the first time ever, this is a watch that shows seven values that for the Dutch are inevitably connected to freedom. On the disc that normally shows the weekday, the following words are printed: Vrijheid [freedom], Democratie [democracy], Je Maintiendrai [French for ‘I shall maintain’, the motto of the coat of arms of the Netherlands], Privilege, Soevereiniteit [sovereignty], Onafhankelijkheid [independence] and Dankbaarheid [gratitude]. In addition to this daily reminder of freedom, every fifth day of the month the Dutch flag will be shown instead of the date at six o’clock.

The watch is designed in colours of the Dutch flag. The dial is sapphire blue with a slight gradient effect that goes dark blue around the edges of the dial. The “freedom discs” are painted red with white text. The minutes and hour indications are white, with red details. Same goes for the single hand that shows the time.

Price and availability

Although Liberation day was celebrated this week, it is worth mentioning that the watch is not available yet. Delivery of this piece will start on 15 August. MeisterSinger says this day was chosen because it wasn’t until that date that the Japanese Emperor finally surrendered. He thereby also “liberated” Indonesia, back then a part of the Dutch Kingdom.

The MeisterSinger Urban Day-Date Vrijheidseditie will cost EUR 1,075, and production is limited to 75 pieces. It will only be available at Dutch MeisterSinger retailers. More details at www.meistersinger.com.