Frederique Constant – Watch Advice https://www.watchadvice.com.au Luxury watch reviews, news & advice Thu, 20 Jul 2023 00:53:21 +0000 en-US hourly 1 https://wordpress.org/?v=5.8.1 Our Top 10 Picks For Only Watch 2023: Part 1 https://www.watchadvice.com.au/17233/our-top-10-picks-for-only-watch-2023-part-1/ https://www.watchadvice.com.au/17233/our-top-10-picks-for-only-watch-2023-part-1/#respond Mon, 10 Jul 2023 08:36:33 +0000 https://www.watchadvice.com.au/?p=17233 Every two years, the watch world gathers for a one of a kind auction to support Duchenne Muscular Dystrophy, and this year, we’ve taken a much closer look at what’s on offer. Here’s the Part 1 of the Watch Advice team’s Top 10!

Being in the watch world is a funny thing. We covert this little machine that runs on our wrist and tells the time, quite often spending up to tens of thousands of dollars on any given piece. People can be precious about their opinions and at times, the watch world can be snobby with people buying pieces purely to show off or as a status symbol. So it’s nice that every two years, some of the greatest brands in the world get together to show off their unique pieces at Christie’s auctions for the purpose of charity.

Whilst it’s not lost on us that many brands participate to show off their haute horology and technical skills to pave the way for future commercial pieces, the fact still remains that the proceeds of each lot go to a worthy cause: Supporting Duchenne Muscular Dystrophy – a disease affecting 1 in 3500 boys that progressively weakens all their muscles, including the heart, the loss of the ability to walk and global autonomy as they get older. This year, Only Watch is back for 2023 and with 62 Lots, we should see it raise a significant amount for the charity. 2021’s Only Watch raised CHF 30,000,000 (Just over AUD $50,000,000), so here’s hoping the watch world and collectors can eclipse that figure this year.

H.S.H Prince Albert II of Monaco with Luc Pettavino, Founder and Organiser of Only Watch

The Watch Advice team has looked over each and every Lot offered at this year’s Only Watch to come up with the ten most unique pieces from the brands. Our criteria were simple; pick the pieces that we felt were either totally unique or something out of the box for that brand. Some brands do small things like change a dial colour or use a different case material for a standard production watch, so we have overlooked these and gone for those pieces where the brands have pushed themselves. We’ve started at the start, by Lot Number, so without further ado, here are our first 5 top 10 watches…

LOT 7 – BALTIC EXPERIMENTS – PREMIER QUANTIÈME PERPÉTUEL

Why We Love It

Baltic is known for its value proposition and makes good-looking, reliable, vintage-inspired watches with most of its pieces coming in under about AUD $2,000. So when we saw that Baltic has done a Perpetual Calendar and in purple no less, it stood out from the crowd!

At 37mm and only 9.8mm thick (add an extra 1mm or so for the domed crystal) it’s a good sized watch and under Baltic’s new fine watchmaking studio, Baltic Experiments, has an in house perpetual module on the Vaucher VMF 5401 Micro-rotor extra-slim movement that took 2 years to research and develop. Complete with 50hrs power reserve, moon phase accurate to 122 years and 30m water resistance, it’s a watch that we think is worthy of Only Watch and showcases Baltic doing some very cool things with their brand.

Full details: Only Watch – Baltic

LOT 9 – BELL & ROSS BR03 CYBER RAINBOW

Why We Love It

Bell & Ross are not known for their out there watches. Being a brand whose heritage is rooted in aviation, designing watches for purpose and legibility, their Only Watch entry this year took us by surprise. They have completely reinvented their BR03 series and given their Cyber Rainbow a fully skeletonised 3D dial and oscillating weight.

Bell & Ross have meticulously applied varnished pieces to the DLC titanium case, and to give the piece continuity, soft colour material to the rubber strap as well. This look is also on the rotor and they’ve then filled the pockets of the skeletonised dial with the same coloured varnish. The overall look is something you might see coming from Hublot, so it’s definitely worthy of Only Watch 2023.

Full Details: Only Watch – Bell & Ross

LOT 15 – BULGARI OCTO FINISSIMO TOURBILLON MARBLE

Why We Love It

Bulgari is known for doing some great watches and pushing the boundaries, especially with the Octo Finissimo range creating some of the world’s thinnest watches. But this one is made of Marble… A marble watch less than 7mm thick and with a Tourbillon just to top it off! The craftsmanship that has gone into this is incredible, and when you think the marble layer used is between 0.4mm and 0.6mm thin, you can start to see why we chose this.

They’ve layered Verde di Alpi green marble from the Alps between Italy and Switzerland on top of the DLC treated Titanium case and bracelet and offset this with stunning gold hands and indices. Outside of the crazy green aesthetic Bulgari has given this piece their BVL 268: The World’s thinnest manual movement with flying tourbillon and special ball bearing system. All in all, 800 hours of work, or just over 14 weeks working 8 hours a day/7 days a week went into this piece.

Full Details: Only Watch – Bulgari

LOT 19 – CZAPEK PLACE VENDÔME COMPLICITÉ – COURAGE EVERY SECOND

Why We Love It

The Czapek Place Vendome Complicite – Courage Every Second stood out to us due to the combination of the Only Watch colours blended with the dial complexity of the dual escapements and differential on display on the open worked dial. Whilst not technically majorly different from their current Place Vendome collection, what sets this part is the combination of elements from the Quai de Burges collection with the Place Vendome Collection.

Czapek deliver great works of art normally and this piece is no exception. The star is the dial with the Champlevé enamel ring created in collaboration with Donzé Cadrans and the circular satin-polished brass réhaut with Czapek’s Only Watch “Courage every second” signature framing the Czapek Calibre 8 on show, including the two sapphire glass bridges. Something tells us that it will fetch more the the CHF 80,000 – CHF 100,000 estimate.

Full Details: Only Watch – Czapek

LOT 23 – FREDERIQUE CONSTANT x CHRISTIAAN VAN DER KLAAUW TOURBILLON PLANETARIUM

Why We Love It

Frederique Constant isn’t a name you usually associate with high horology. Sitting in the lower-end luxury segment, Frederique Constant is, in its own words, “high-quality watches at a sensible price”. This is anything but! Frederique Constant has teamed up with Christiaan Van Der Klaauw to produce the world’s most miniature planetarium and added an Adventurine dial with a Tourbillon at 6 o’clock.

All this is housed in a respectable 42mm Platinum case, and the hands and indices are all diamond cut and hand finished to add to the quality. This piece is a combination of firsts for both brands and whilst typically reasonably priced, the estimated CHF 110,000 is anything but. However, for a 14mm thick Tourbillon with planetarium and day/date counter, maybe it is?!

Full Details: Only Watch – Frederique Constant X Christiaan Van Der Klaauw

LOT 29 – HERMES ARCEAU LE TEMPS VOYAGEUR

Why We Love It

Hermes has its roots in leather goods and fashion, but in recent years has started to really make strides in its watchmaking division. Whilst you wouldn’t say Hermes was cutting edge, some designs, like the H08, are more modern than others, but their Arceau collection is on the more subdued side. This is why when we saw their Only Watch entry, the Arceau le Temps Voyager, we were slightly taken back.

There’s a lot to like about this watch. Its use of the Only Watch colours is playful but makes sense to accentuate the cities on the world time. The asymmetry of the dial is reminiscent of A. Lange & Sohne or Glashutte Original, and the small offset time dial plays tribute to the Arceau collection with the italicised numerals. The ‘travelling time’ mechanism was also developed exclusively for Hermes, and the 41mm DLC coated case with the asymmetrical Platinum lugs just add to its uniqueness.

Full Details: Only Watch – Hermes

So there you have it. The first half of our top 10 picks for this year’s Only Watch. Let us know if you agree or disagree and what your picks were in the comments section below. And stay tuned for Part 2 of our Top 10 Picks For Only Watch next week.

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Frederique Constant Highlife Perpetual Calendar https://www.watchadvice.com.au/6567/frederique-constant-highlife-perpetual-calendar/ https://www.watchadvice.com.au/6567/frederique-constant-highlife-perpetual-calendar/#respond Wed, 09 Sep 2020 21:23:43 +0000 https://www.watchadvice.com.au/?p=6567 Frederique Constant is breathing new life into an historically significant model line for the brand. The ‘Highlife’ range was first introduced 20 years ago, and in 2020 at watches and wonders, Frederique Constant took the highlife to new heights. Here is your first look at the Frederique Constant Highlife Perpetual calendar manufacture. 

Reference FC-775V4NH2B

Three different models of the brands new perpetual calendar timepiece are available for purchase. Firstly, a two-tone steel and rose gold plated offering combines a stainless steel outer case with an elegant plated rose gold bezel. The piece features the ranges signature dial decoration, a globular pattern of latitude and longitudinal lines, here stamped into a clean white dial. The dial is adorned with similarly rose gold plated hands and hour markers, further adding to the luxurious feel of the watch. This model will be supplied with a two-tone bracelet and an additional textured black rubber strap, which itself features a rose gold plated buckle.

Reference FC-775N4NH6B

There are two stainless steel variations of the watch available, the first being a full bracelet offering with a deep blue dial. The second, a silver dial available on a black calf leather strap. Again, both offerings come with a black rubber strap included as part of the purchase package. 

Reference FC-775S4NH6

The dial of the watches features a fantastic amount of complication without the common dilemma of appearing cluttered and unsightly. With a tri register design, Frederique constant are able to continually display the time, day, date, month and leap year cycle. The dial also cleanly and clearly includes a moon phase indication at 6 o’clock. Discreet controllers placed in the middle of the case make it possible, as with the crown, to adjust all the indications.

Reference FC-775N4NH6B

In order to achieve this level of complication, the brand uses their manufacture calibre FC-775 automatic movement. The movement itself is moderately decorated with varying levels of Perlage and circular Côtes de Genève, but the draw card here is not the decoration, it’s the functionality. 

Reference FC-775N4NH6B

The perpetual calendar complication is one of the most complex achievements in all of watchmaking. Brand like Patek Phillipe and A Lange and Sohne, stake their reputations on their perpetual calendar watches. This level of complication is renowned for being extremely expensive and notoriously difficult to execute. With the new Highlife perpetual, Frederique Constant are able to offer the complication, in an attractive and modern aesthetic for as little as $13,466AUD. 

The watch itself measures 41mm in diameter and is rated up to 50 metres of water resistance. All three models will feature quick change bracelets and straps, allowing a high level of customisation for the wearer.

The all new Frederique Constant Highlife Perpetual calendar is available for purchase now.’

Australian Pricing :

Reference FC-775V4NH2B (Two-tone) : $14,218.00

Reference FC-775N4NH6B (Steel bracelet) : $13,917.00

Reference FC-775S4NH6 (Leather bracelet) : $13,466.00

For more information visit Frederique Constant.

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