RJ-Romain Jerome H9C-DNA X HardNine Choppers

RJ-Romain Jerome unveils a new timepiece in collaboration with HardNine Choppers, a Swiss based custom motorbike manufacturer. This exciting new project is not only a partnership between two driven personalities, but also a truly spirited encounter of two visionaries with the same artistic mission. 

Two worlds separate Manuel Emch, CEO of RJ-Romain Jerome, and Danny Schneider, world-class awarded custom motorbike builder. However, their common passion for design and machinery has allowed them to create an artistic package containing a subtly luxurious and unique timepiece as well as a one of a kind motorbike under one common denominator: H9C-DNA. 

Sold only in a pair, these two unique pieces share common design traits such as purple metal flake paintings, golden components, perforated leather and skulls which are strong biker symbols. 

The first part of this incredible custom set is the H9C-DNA timepiece. Housed in a see through 44 mm black PVD-coated steel case, the watch features a red gold bezel with matching hour and minute hands. The generous yet refined case nests a complex five layered skeleton movement that highlights the angled bridges recalling the intricate structure of a V-Twin motor. 

Immensely eye-catching, the skeletonised Skull has been delicately applied on the dial, and hand painted in a unique purple metal flake colour allowing the barrel to be seen through H9C’s skull logo depicted on its forehead while the balance wheel is discreetly tucked under gridded teeth. As you know, the Devil hides in the details... even the lugs have been hollowed to lighten the watch and hide a unique case closing system with fewer visible screws. 

Additionally, a perforated “guidoline” leather strap has been custom made for this unique timepiece recalling the motorcycle’s custom made handlebars. 

The second part of this creative package is HardNine Chopper’s latest customisation: a WLC 1943 Harley Davidson 750cc that was originally owned by the Canadian Army.

This mechanical piece of art has been entirely reworked by Danny Schneider during a 6 months customization process which consisted of the manual reshaping of the fenders, gas and oil tanks, the front fork, the exhaust pipe and the reconditioning of the original motor. 

This rumbling motorbike has also been beautifully hand painted in a purple metal flake colour highlighted by hand drawn pinstripes that have been placed on both sides of the gas tank, fenders and front fork. 

Like RJ-Romain Jerome’s timepieces, each detail has been thoroughly thought through to transform this historical object into a unique piece of Contemporary Art. For example, the steering column is subtly decorated, South Park’s famous “Cartman” figurine is used to manually change the bikes’ gears and the name of the hard rock group “Slayer” is cut-out on the grip of the right footstool. Additionally, the lettering “L.A” and the number “9” are hand painted on the visible parts of the motor. 

But guess what... This unique set has already been sold ! However not to worry, RJ-Romain Jerome has cre- ated a limited edition of nine H9C-DNA timepieces featuring a mirror polished H9C skull on the dial, keeping the intrinsic design of the original watch in a black PVD-coated steel case. 

Once again, RJ-Romain Jerome celebrates creative minds through its collaborations and has additionally discovered  a fascinating world through the eyes and masterful hands of Danny Schneider. We invite you to immerge yourself in this fascinating new collaboration and to discover two worlds that have been brought together through creativity and mutual respect.

About Danny Schneider 
Danny Schneider is the owner and founder of HardNine Choppers, a custom motorcycle garage in Switzerland. He launched his company in 2002 after a severe FMX accident that put an unexpected end to his career.

He was known to be one of the pioneers in Swiss FMX and has now established himself as a one-of-a-kind custom motorcycle builder. Following his injuries, Danny Schneider chose to radically change professional paths and learnt how to weld and manually build motorbikes. At first this hard working young entrepreneur created bikes for the simple pleasure of building and riding them. 

However Danny had his first break when he built the D’MX bike that attracted over 21 international major bike magazines and gave him a pass to all the major shows, such as the “AMD World Championship of Bike Building”, where he finished 3rd in the modified Harley category, as well as the “Artistry of Iron Master builders Champion- ship”.

He was also the first European bike builder to ever be invited as a special guest to the “Yokohama Mooneyes Show” in Japan. 

Following his growing success, Roja-Film Production Company released a 90 minute documentary about the creation of the D´MX and Danny’s trip to Japan. The documentary was shown in movie theaters all over Switzerland and in parts of Europe. 

Over the past years Danny has built many exceptional pieces which have become even more successful than the original D´MX. After travelling all year around the globe and attending all the international bike shows, Danny still finds the time to ride his bikes and has also recently been spotted riding a dirt bike again !