Frédérique Constant watches - Swiss watch brand with innovative watches

Switzerland is considered for centuries as the country's major watchmakers. There the art of watchmaking has a long tradition and many famous men have contributed to these developments. The watchmaker impress with their creativity and great innovative spirit of Swiss engineering. The Swiss watch brand Frederique Constant is one of the younger representatives.

History of Frédérique Constant

Frédérique Constant is a manufacturer of luxury watches and is located right in the Swiss city of Geneva. The company was founded in 1988 by Dutch businessman Peter Stas and Aletta Bax his wife. The company was named after the grandparents of the spouse Frédérique (carpenter) and Constant (Stas), already eighty years ago a company owned, produced the dials for big watches.

Time of expansion and world success

2002 bought the two founders of Frédérique Constant to another movement manufactory, the sports watch manufacturer Alpina watches and thus expanded the company's reach. Frédérique Constant moved with purchase much attention to the company and made it to a large Swiss watchmaker ascend. In 2011, production reached a new high: It produced 120,000 luxury watches and sold in over 2,700 retail outlets in more than one hundred countries around the world.

Frédérique Constant it presents itself as a manufacturer of luxury products that are definitely not everyone can afford it. Prices vary in a range from 1,000 to 5,000 Swiss francs, ie from 900 to EUR 4,500. Yet in 2011 declared as official positions of the company tremendous growth of 25 to fabulous 50 percent per year, doubling every three years would mean for the company in the worst case.

Four pillars of Frédérique Constant

Frédérique Constant has a model consisting of four pillars. The first pillar is design - the company does not only on the functionality of watches great value, but also on their appearance. They plan their luxury watches carefully and want to create a certain touch of traditional and classical. In addition, each timepiece is made with attention to detail and a lot of passion.

The second pillar of the company is innovation. Frédérique Constant invested every year by its own account very much of the gain in the invention of new technology. They employ watchmakers that this creativity indulge fully and therefore can conjure great innovations from his sleeve again.

The third pillar is the passion that goes into each crafted watch Frédérique Constant. The chronograph from stand for high quality, precision craftsmanship and design and constant change, despite the preservation of old values.

The fourth pillar is the quality. Each watch Frédérique Constant is built by hand and carefully checked. This happened over a long period in order to provide the customer with a watch of the highest possible quality. This is one of the strict principles of Frédérique Constant, because no object leaves the company without proper control.

Heartbeat - The heart beats

Luxury watches, there are a dime a dozen, so that a manufacturer can stand out from the crowd, need innovations will be presented. This does Frédérique Constant in 2001 with a stunning new technology and a consequent collection. The "Heartbeat" series was developed in a collaboration of the company with the Geneva School of Watchmaking, the School of Engineering and the "Zadkine school" for watchmaking.

Each watch the Heartbeat collection has a characteristic window in the dial through which the balance spring of the movement can be observed in the motion. Significant was primarily the development of in-house caliber FC 910, which was published and patented by over two years of development. The mechanical movement has a diameter of 30.5 millimeters and a power reserve of 48 hours.

Collections of Frédérique Constant

The watchmaker Frédérique Constant spray seemingly with creativity. The best proof of the views of the collections of the watch brand. The brand relies on in-house automatic movements. A real highlight are the Horological smartwatches that have numerous additional functions. then the information can be accessed visually appealing About the smartphone.

Heartbeat today

The "Classic Heartbeat" there are for sale in three versions: in golden case with leather strap, stainless steel case with leather strap or bracelet. In the built-up movement is a FC-315 Automatic, with a characteristic opening for observing the balance spring. The accuracy of the clockwork roughly corresponds to +/- 2.1 seconds when the watch is worn regularly. The watch displays hours, minutes and seconds and has a date indicator on the six.

The dial is colored silver in all three versions and the indexes are large Roman numerals that are extremely easy to read. The housing is made from the finest stainless steel in combination with a high-quality sapphire crystal. It has a diameter of 40 millimeters and is to a depth of 55 meters waterproof, this corresponds to a pressure of 6 bar (~ 6 ATM). The back of the case has a sight glass sapphire crystal through which the movement can be observed in its full glory. In the golden version is a stainless steel that has been coated with 24 carat gold.

Carlo Riva's legacy

In the twenties was Carlo Riva is a small, wooden motorboat "Runabout" built that could accommodate up to eight people. Frédérique Constant and the "Riva Historical Society" wanted the legacy of Carlo Riva honor and therefore developed in cooperation the RUNABOUT watch collection. Since 2009, these are offered with a strictly limited number of items for sale. The RUNABOUT watches are available in two series, as simple chronograph or watches with moon phase display.

Pro series there ever a watch classic stainless steel look and ever a timepiece in rose gold. The chronographs have an FC-393 Automatic movement, which is equipped with 25 jewels and a power reserve of 46 hours. The accuracy of the gauge is approximately +/- 1.8 seconds. Furthermore, have the watch for hours, minutes and seconds display, a built-in stop function and a date display. The housing is made of stainless steel, with a diameter of 42 millimeters and a water-resistance up to about 50 meters deep (5 bar). The chronographs are limited to a quantity of 2888 pieces and offered for 2,750 euros.

Elegance and precision

The "RUNABOUT MOONPHASE" has built a FC-365 movement that has 25 jewels and a reserve of 42 hours. The accuracy of the work is approximately +/- 1.9 seconds. The dial is silver and the indexes are plated with 18k rose gold. The watch has four internal indicators that show the day of the week, the month, the date and the moon phase. The housing is made of genuine sapphire crystal and is water resistant up to a pressure of 5 bar, which roughly corresponds to a depth of 50 meters.

The diameter of the shell is 40 millimeters and has a height of 11.21 millimeters. The back of the watch is glazed, thus can be the masterpiece from the inside look. The housing is supported by a high-quality leather tape in place, which is fixed by a buckle. The number of luxury watch is also limited to 2888 pieces per design. The price of the watch is 100 euros cheaper than the chronograph with a price of 2,650 euros.