Frederique Constant’s partnership with Austin-Healey has produced many of the Geneva watchmaker’s most fetching watches, with most featuring British racing green somewhere on the dial.
Fortunately, this year’s debuts are no exception. But for 2022, which happens to be the 70th anniversary of Austin-Healey, Frederique Constant offers a twist with the debut of two Healey limited editions.
This year Frederique Constant will make two versions of a new Vintage Rally Healey Chronograph Automatic. The watch, with bi-compax dial and two racing red hands, will be made with one non-U.S. version limited to ten watches while a second will be made as a 700-piece limited edition.
The difference between the two is a simple numeral swap: On the ten-piece limited model the watchmaker references Austin Healey’s 70th anniversary by replacing the numeral 12 with the numeral 70 at the top of the dial. The 700-piece edition features the 12 in its traditional location, with “70th Anniversary” text at 6 o’clock.
Both watches are 42mm steel chronographs powered by the watchmaker’s Sellita-based FC-397 automatic caliber, visible via sapphire caseback. The dial here is one of this watchmaker’s finest thanks in part to its British Racing Green hue, red chronograph hands and the Healey logo in its original font.
The classic bi-compax dial offers a seconds counter on the left and the chronograph’s minutes counter on the right. The two chronograph hands are easy to read in their bright red hue with the central hand for the seconds and the 30-minutes countdown hand at the three o’clock position.
Frederique Constant provides an asphalt black strap finished with two lines of topstitching said to mimic the two white lines marking the edges of a racetrack.
The new Vintage Rally Healey Chronograph Automatic comes in its dedicated gift box alongside a miniature replica of the famous Austin-Healey 100S, number plate NOJ393.
Price: $3,195.
Specifications: Frederique Constant Vintage Rally Healey Chronograph Automatic
(Ref. FC-397HDGR5B6, a limited edition of 700)
Movement: FC-397 caliber (Sellita-base), automatic 48-hour power reserve, 25 jewels, 28,800 vph.
Case: 42mm by 14.45 mm polished stainless steel (3-part) with scratch-resistant convex sapphire crystal and case back. Water-resistant to 50 meters.
Dial: Dark green with matte finishing, white graduation printed on inner ring and outer ring, applied silver color indexes filled with white luminous treatment, Arabic number 12, Healey 70th anniversary logo at 6 o’clock, silver color hour and minute hands filled with white luminous treatment, red chronograph seconds hand, chronograph’s minutes counter at 3 o’clock with red hand, 60 seconds counter at 9 o’clock with silver color hand.
Bracelet: Black calf leather strap with off-white stitching.
Price: $3,195.
That number is painted in black on a white background with a glossy polished finish, and surrounded by a metal ring reminiscent of the bores used in racing cars.
This new style direction from Louis Moinet is a chronograph showing a modern flair with design roots inspired by the world’s first chronograph, which was produced by Louis Moinet in 1816.
Inside Shinola fits a Sellita automatic movement with a solid 56-hour power reserve. The movement, protected with 100 meters of water resistance, is visible through the watch’s fully open caseback.