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2022 Favorites, Part I 

At the end of the year, it’s time to note our favorite 2022 debut watches. Starting today, and through the end of the week, we’ll re-acquaint you with our top timekeepers of the year.

Today, we re-post entries about our favorite 2022 debuts, in no particular order.  We’ll have additional entries throughout the week.  

The TAG Heuer Autavia 60th Anniversary Flyback Chronograph.

TAG Heuer: 60th Anniversary Autavia Flyback Chronograph

TAG Heuer in early 2022 fit a Caliber Heuer 02 COSC Flyback movement into two new Autavia 60th Anniversary Flyback Chronographs.

One of the two new flyback chronographs features a ‘panda’ style silver dial framed by a polished stainless-steel case. The second Autavia flyback model features an all black dial and black DLC-coated case. As a reminder, the flyback function makes it possible to reset the chronograph hand and immediately restart a new timing event.

Prices: $6,300 (silver dial flyback chronograph), $6,950 (black dial, black case flyback chronograph) and $4,200 (GMT). 

 

Delma: Blue Shark III Black Edition

Independent Swiss watchmaker Delma continues to swim with the sharks with a new dive watch made to venture far deeper than most of its similarly priced competitors.  

The new Delma Blue Shark III Black Edition, water resistant to an incredible 4,000 meters, retains this collection’s very sporty technical features, including professional-level helium escape valve and crown protection, but now offers added protection of a scratch resistant black DLC coating on its 47mm steel case.

Built as a limited edition of 300 pieces, the new watch is hyper-visible on a diver’s wrist with large luminous hands and indexes and luminous markers along its broad bezel. 

Delma is making 300 examples of the new Blue Shark III Black Edition in each of three dial colors: black, blue or orange dial. All three versions come with an additional black genuine rubber strap and a black DLC-coated buckle with tools for interchanging the bracelets.

Price: $2,750. 

 

RGM: Fat Arrow

American watchmaker Roland G. Murphy, whose eponymous Pennsylvania-based RGM Watches pioneered independent watchmaking in the United States, teamed with renowned watch photographer and artist Atom Moore to create a terrific limited edition series of ‘Fat Arrow’ military style watches.

The series, the Equation of Time Fat Arrow, reprises a late 2021 prototype developed by Moore and Murphy’s Equation of Time division, which specializes in watches designed with input from collectors.

Moore’s original dial art piece “Fat Arrow” is based on the name given to the World War II-era watches with the larger dial arrows, which were used to signify British military equipment.Starting with Moore’s Fat Arrow dial design, Murphy devised a complementary steel-cased 36mm military style watch.

Visible through the caseback is a manual-wind Sellita SW210-1 finished with Geneva stripes and radially brushed gears. Price: $2,995 (limited edition of 99).

 

Franck Muller: USA Limited Edition Bill Auberlen Vanguard Racing

The seconds indicator on the new Franck Muller USA limited edition Vanguard Racing Skeleton Bill Auberlen starts with double zero at the bottom of the dial, not at the top. This layout, while rare on a watch dial, allows seconds to be read from both ends of the seconds hand and echoes the dashboard Auberlen would see while piloting his racecar.

The dial layout is just one of many racer-friendly details that Franck Muller built into the sporty automatic watch. The watch is the latest Franck Muller model built with Auberlen’s direct. One of America’s most successful racecar drivers, Auberlen has won sixty-three races.   

Another example can be found in Franck Muller’s choice of case materials for the tonneau-shaped 44m by 53.7mm Vanguard watch. One version of the watch is built with carbon, the same ultra-light, high-performance material racecar makers utilize. Another version features an unusual blue-tinged high-tech composite called Technologie Bleu, which the watchmaker says is created by mixing ‘high purity metals and other exotic elements.’

Franck Muller offers its Vanguard Racing Skeleton Bill Auberlen in three case materials:  rose gold ($34,000), carbon ($27,400) and Macro molecular Technologie Bleu ($26,200). 

 

Frederique Constant: Classics Worldtimer Manufacture

Frederique Constant celebrated the tenth anniversary of its Classics Worldtimer Manufacture with a pair of attractive blue-and-grey-dialed limited edition references.  

In keeping with this Geneva brand’s ‘affordable luxury’ tenet, the Classics Worldtimer has been among the highest-value Swiss-made examples of it type, particularly as it’s supplied with an in-house worldtimer caliber (visible through the sapphire caseback).

We’ve seen Frederique Constant release the Classics Worldtimer Manufacture in a variety of hues and metals during the past decade. This new offering, in a choice of a rose gold or steel case, combines the most classic combination that represents the earth’s blue oceans surrounded by white clouds.

The worldtimer dial allows the time to be read in twenty-four time zones with clear daytime or nighttime indication. Frederique Constant applies luminescent indexes (and on the hands in the steel model) to the fairly traditional globe décor world time display. This all frames a handsome sunray guilloché date hand display at the 6 o’clock position. 

Prices: $4,695 (steel) and $21,995 (pink gold). 

 

G-Shock: GMWB5000RD-4

 Casio in 2022 added an eye-catching, all-new watch to the G-SHOCK Full Metal Series, the brand’s premium line. 

This GMWB5000RD-4 carries on the look and feel of the original G-Shock DW-5000C with its classic square case shape and digital display. To that, G-Shock adds a hard-to-miss red stainless-steel case with screw-on back. And while it looks fashionable, the bracelet is as tough as the case, according to G-Shock, as it is made of solid stainless steel, here finished with a red IP color and diamond-like carbon finish that matches the case.

G-Shock lets the wearer rest assured that the Full Metal watch’s fashionable good looks are accompanied with G-Shock technical features, including Bluetooth Connectivity via the G-Shock Connected app, and Multi-Band 6 Atomic Timekeeping for self-adjusting hour and date display virtually anywhere on earth.

Additional technical specifications include: shock resistance, 200-meters of water resistance, Super Illuminator LED light, world time in 39 cities, stopwatch, daily alarms, countdown timer, 12/24 Hr. formats and a full automatic calendar.

Price: $600.

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Frederique Constant Darkens its Worldtimer

Frederique Constant celebrates the tenth anniversary of the Classics Worldtimer Manufacture collection by offering an all-black edition of the watch, one of the Geneva watchmaker’s best-selling designs.

Frederique Constant’s new Classics Worldtimer Manufacture Globetrotter Edition features a black PVD-titanium-coated case and a black dial.

 

Limited to 300 pieces, the new Classics Worldtimer Manufacture Globetrotter Edition features a black PVD-titanium-coated case and a black dial. For the first time, the names of the twenty-four reference cities featured on the city disc have been replaced by the airport codes at the cities.

The watchmaker accentuates the dial’s global display by embossing the continents and depicting the oceans using a sunray finish. The sunray guilloché subdial at 6 o’clock displays the date via a hand-polished black hand that matches the hour, minute and seconds hands. 

The only white elements on the dial are the airport codes on the city disc, the day indication on the 24-hour disk and the applied indexes. All are filled with a generous helping of luminous material.

Easy to use

Part of the watch’s success since its debut in 2012 is how simple it is to operate. All the features (hours, minutes, date, Worldtimer) can be adjusted using the crown thanks to an Frederique Constant’s own three-notch system. The first click winds the watch, the second adjusts the date (upwards) and the reference city (downwards) and the third adjusts the time in the central display.

To read the dial is equally straight-forward. The local time (with the central hands) and home time (via the moving flange) are automatically synchronized with each other. Day and night time zones are noted by their dark or white hues.

Frederique Constant has decorated the watch’s FC-718 movement with fine perlage decoration visible through a sapphire crystal caseback. Note the caliber’s blued screws and rose gold-plated oscillating weight adorned with vertical satin-finishing and “Frederique Constant Manufacture” engraving. 

Price: $4,495. 

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Frederique Constant’s Change of Heart

Frederique Constant unveils a new look for its Classics Heart Beat Manufacture collection, revealing a new dial, new indexes and a retro 39mm case.

The Frederique Constant Classics Heart Beat Manufacture in a 39mm steel case. The new design is also offered with a pink gold case.

Perhaps the most notable change in the new design, which debuts this week during Geneva Watch Days,  is how the Geneva-based watchmaker is exposing the watch’s escapement, or ‘Heart Beat.’

Rather than the ‘comma-shaped’ aperture at the 12 o’clock position that characterized the dial of the Heart Beat collection since 2004, the new collection erases the comma in favor of a true circle that is now positioned at the 6 o’clock position.

The first Frederique Constant Heart Beat models in 1994 quickly became a signature design for what was then a young watchmaking company. The look has been emblematic for the company in the years since, and Frederique Constant has used the design to introduce its FC-910 manual-wind manufacture caliber in 2004, as well as its FC-930, the watchmakers’ first automatic caliber, a few years later.

Original size

The aperture update is only one aspect the Heart Beat’s redesign. A 39mm case size is a return to the original dimension of the Heart Beat Manufacture models, which have been offered in larger sizes in recent years. And the 2022 collection also boasts more classical Roman numerals on the dial, paired with thinner indexes.

Frederique Constant notes that the new, subtler indexes overlay a lacquered white dial and are paired with traditional railway markers, echoing watches of the early 20th century.  Finally, Frederique Constant revives the same hand design it used in 2004, with a slender leaf shape for the minutes and “heart” hand for the hours.

The onion crown on the watch, which will be retained on the new collection, winds an automatic FC-930-3 manufacture caliber, which offers a thirty-eight hour power reserve. Frederique Constant decorates the movement with fine pearling and Côtes de Genève stripes, visible through the open caseback.

Frederique Constant is offering the new Classics Heart Beat Manufacture, in two limited series’. The first is cased in pink gold on a brown alligator strap and limited to 93 pieces ($17,995). The second is made of steel on a black alligator strap and limited to 930 pieces ($4,395).  Availability is in December 2022

 

 

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A Red, White and Blue Worldtimer

Frederique Constant helps celebrate this July 4th with a red, white and blue U.S.-exclusive limited edition worldtimer. The Geneva-based watchmaker issues its 42mm steel-cased Classics Worldtimer Manufacture: Summer of 76 as a limited edition of seventy-six pieces to commemorate U.S. Independence Day.

The new Frederique Constant Classic Worldtimer Manufacture: Summer of 76.

With a red seconds hand and date accent, blue hands, blue dial and an appropriately hued trio of straps, the new watch clearly favors the colors of the American flag. And to underscore its American tribute, each watch will be sold with a red alligator leather strap with off-white stitching, a white alligator leather strap and a blue rubber strap.

Not enough July 4 references? Check out the red star that replaces the 4 in the date display and the American flag amid the U.S. cities listed on the 24-hour time flange.

 

 

 

 

 

Ten-year anniversary

First seen ten years ago, the Classics Worldtimer Manufacture has been one of the watchmaker’s best sellers, combining classical world time functionality with a contemporary display ­– and a surprisingly affordable price tag. Collectors have also been drawn to its in-house traditional world time movement (the FC-718 automatic caliber), a rare feature in a watch priced less than $5,000.

Like its pricier counterparts, this worldtimer allows its wearer to read the time in the twenty-four cities that represent the global time zones of reference, all with immediate indication of daytime or nighttime. And all Classics Worldtimer indications are set with the crown. This means that a traveler need not worry about changing the time as he or she enters another time zone. The local time (by central hands) and the domestic time (by the moving disk) are automatically synchronized with each other.

This latest worldtimer is the third made by Frederique Constant to celebrate the watch’s tenth anniversary. The watchmaker says that this U.S. exclusive edition shows “the importance of the U.S. market for the brand.”

Frederique Constant will offer the Classics Worldtimer Manufacture: Summer of 76 as a limited edition of seventy-six, with pre-ordering now for delivery in November.

Price: $4,795.

 

Specifications: Frederique Constant Classics Worldtimer Manufacture: Summer of 76

(FC-718USWM4H6, limited edition of 76)

Movement: Automatic FC-718 in-house caliber with all functions adjustable by the crown. 
Perlage & circular Côtes de Genève decorations
, 38-hour power reserve, 28,800 alt/h.

Case: Polished 42mm by 12.1mm stainless steel three-part. Scratch-resistant and anti-reflective convex sapphire crystal, see-through caseback, water-resistant to 30 meters.

Dial: Light blue and silver with globe decoration, black pearl color applied indexes filled with white luminous treatment, 
24H disc with day (white) & night (blue) indication,
 white city disc with 24 cities and U.S. flag. 
Hand-polished blue color hour and minute hands Hand-polished red color second hand. Light blue date counter at 6 o’clock with sunray guilloché decoration in the center, hand-polished silver color hand and a red star replacing the number 4.

Strap: Red alligator leather with off-white stitching. 
Includes an additional white alligator leather strap and a blue rubber strap.

Price: $4,795. Limited to 76 pieces.

 

 

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Frederique Constant Celebrates with Austin-Healey

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.

The new Frederique Constant Vintage Rally Healey Chronograph Automatic.

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.

 

 

 

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