2023-09-03 15:51:00
Few brands can boast of powering all of their models with calibers developed, manufactured, assembled and checked in-house. The Frédérique Constant brand has succeeded in this challenge, with the additional bet of respecting the spirit of its founders: Aletta and Peter Stas, a couple of daring Dutch entrepreneurs in love with Swiss luxury watchmaking to the point of wanting to democratize it.
Installed today on the Plan-les-Ouates site, on the outskirts of Geneva, the 6,200 m2 factory may have Patek Philippe, Rolex, Vacheron Constantin and Piaget as prestigious neighbors, but its philosophy is always to offer quality watches. quality at a very competitive price. Through creativity, mechanical ingenuity and pragmatism, the brand has established itself over the decades without ever deviating from its initial objective.
By tracing a path that no one had dared before, it managed to acquire a collection of thirty in-house movements, including high-flying complications: tourbillon, perpetual calendar, flyback chronograph.
The meticulous work specific to Frédérique Constant is immediately recognizable in the Highlife Worldtimer Manufacture. The brand has chosen this star timepiece to celebrate its 35th anniversary in style. The non-limited anniversary version in steel sports a superb chocolate dial. 41 mm, 38-hour power reserve, water resistance 100 m, 4,295 euros. ©DR
On August 29, a new caliber was officially added to its horological list: the FC-735. The first movement from the house to bring together a large date, moon phase and power reserve, it is nonetheless cut out for everyday use thanks to its ease of use. The three complications, as well as time-setting and winding, are regulated via the crown alone. Nothing complicated, finally, for future owners: no pushers, correctors or styluses! The inner workings of the FC-735 are housed in the elegant case of the Classic Power Reserve Big Date Manufacture.
With a diameter of just 40 mm, a resized profile and refined indexes, the steel timepiece with a 50-hour power reserve demonstrates great fidelity to watchmaking canons. On the silvered or blue dial, balance reigns between the moon phase poetically sprinkled with stars at 6 o’clock, the large date displaying tens and units in a double aperture surrounded by metal and the power reserve indicator at 9 o’clock. , whose thin hand travels an arc segmented from 0 to 50.
To jointly celebrate the arrival of the thirty-first manufacture caliber and the 35th anniversary of the Swiss house, the model is also available in two precious limited editions, one in platinum and adorned with a meteorite dial, the other in rose gold and fitted with a gray sunburst dial. All offered in 35 and 350 copies, much less democratic, but certainly already highly coveted by informed collectors.
Last February, Frédérique Constant already celebrated its 35th anniversary with the launch of two new variants of the iconic Highlife Worldtimer Manufacture. The drawing of the Earth, crossed by its latitudes and longitudes, makes it an ultra-identifiable piece. The length of the hands which travel there is studied in order to release the two discs of the worldtimer: the external disc displays the names of twenty-four cities for as many time zones and the external disc, the corresponding time. All of the indications are adjusted via the ingenious three-notch system of the crown. A fine example of simplicity which, anniversary requires, offers the choice between pink gold limited to 35 copies and steel, much easier to afford.
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