Frederique Constant Redefines Everyday Elegance with the New Classics Première Collection
Frederique Constant is proudly unveils two brand new Classics Premiere models sporting a dial in Blue or salmon – the year’s signature colours – and for the first time, a fluid, flexible steel bracelet and case combo. Retaining the compact 38.5-millimetre case format, each watch offers a more urban, contemporary look than the earlier leather-strap versions. Suitable for women and men alike, these two new Classics Premiere will win over collectors in search of a new automatic watch for everyday wear – as well as first-time buyers looking for a quality Swiss Made watch.
Thank you for reading this post, don't forget to subscribe!Rooted in the age-old canons of Geneva watchmaking, the two new timepieces also reflect the return of dials in pastel shades: one is blue, the other salmon pink. Both colours have emerged as collectors’ favourites at major international watch shows, being acclaimed for their elegance and discretion – and their homage to the finest watches of the 1950s and 60s.
The styling here unashamedly emulates vintage watchmaking’s greatest classics. A typical twentieth-century font has been used for the Arabic numeral hour markers; above them glide ‘pomme’ hands that became popular in the mid-eighteenth century, while the ‘railtrack’ minute circles hark back to the Art Deco timepieces of the 1920s and their sector dials. The dial itself showcases Frederique Constant’s watchmaking expertise, with a delicately grained matte finish capturing the light on the central section and a circular sunray finish on the surrounding raised hour circle diffusing light to the markers arrayed around the dial.
Both models feature a new bracelet that adds a decidedly urban touch: a flexible five-link strap. Here too Frederique Constant demonstrates its devotion to fine watchmaking finishes, with three mirror-polished links nestled amid the two others; meanwhile the case is mirror-polished throughout, matching the similarly finished hands and hour markers. The horological pedigree of both variations is clearly visible too, thanks to a sapphire caseback that reveals the innermost workings of the automatic FC-301 calibre. The latter is a Swiss Made product through and through, developed from a highly-acclaimed La Joux-Perret base, packed with mechanical precision and boasting a power reserve of 68 hours – almost three full days.
LIVE YOUR PASSION!
Founded in 1988, Frederique Constant is a Swiss watchmaking manufacture based in Geneva. Having celebrated its 35th anniversary in 2023, the brand continues to showcase its ever-advancing watchmaking expertise as it pursues its aim: providing Swiss Made luxury watches at fair prices. Through the decades, Frederique Constant has been characterised by creativity and inventiveness – and even more so by mechanical ingenuity and pragmatism.
Born out of the shared passion of an independent entrepreneurial couple, Aletta and Peter Stas, Frederique Constant has written its own rules, blazing a trail into territory where none had dared venture before. Today the brand can proudly offer a range of quartz and mechanical models – and most importantly, a collection of 34 calibres designed, developed and assembled in its own Manufacture in Plan-les-Ouates, Geneva. These movements include Tourbillon, Perpetual Calendar, Flyback Chronograph, Worldtimer, Power Reserve and Big Date complications as well as the Monolithic escapement, made out of a single piece of silicon and beating at a rate of 40Hz.
Frederique Constant presently has close to 3,000 points of sale in 120 countries. To pursue its international expansion and develop new synergies, since 2016 the Frederique Constant Group (Frederique Constant, Alpina Watches, Ateliers deMonaco) has been part of the Japanese group Citizen.
