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The Watches

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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The Watches

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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Alpina

Alpina Debuts Recycled-Steel-Case Diver

Alpina launches the Seastrong Diver 300 Automatic Calanda, its first timepiece made with a 100% recycled stainless steel case. The watch, named to pay tribute to the Calanda, the first ship to fly the Swiss flag, uses recycled steel sourced from the shipping industry and made by Thyssen Krupp. Alpina pairs the watch’s 42mm case with a recycled plastic wristband.

The new Alpina Seastrong Diver 300 Automatic Calanda.

The Geneva-based watchmaker adds the new dive watch to its expanding lines of eco-friendly models. You might recall that Alpina also launched the Seastrong Diver Gyre Automatic collection in 2020. That watch features a case made largely (70%) from plastic fishing net debris. In addition, that model’s strap is made using recycled plastic bottles while its box is made from recycled plastic.

Available as a limited edition of 300 units, the Seastrong Diver 300 Automatic Calanda’s case is polished with a satin finish, while its unidirectional rotating notched bezel is brush-finished. Alpina embeds the hour and minute hands with vintage beige luminescence and tips the seconds hand with a red triangle Alpina logo.

Alpina sets the watch’s matte black dial with appliqué indexes that have also been brushed with the vintage beige luminescence. Fit with an AL-525 Sellita-based automatic movement, the watch is water-resistant to 300 meters thanks to its full screw-in case back and crown. Alpina embellishes the caseback with mountain peaks placed under a trident in a nod to the watch’s seaworthiness.

As noted above, Alpina has paired the watch’s recycled case with a recycled plastic (PET) strap in grey and black. Each watch comes in a case entirely made from recycled plastic, alongside a single-page warranty and a certificate of authenticity printed on FSC Recycled-certified paper.

Price: $1,895.

 

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The Watches

Franck Muller Crazy Hours Commemorates 30th Anniversary

Franck Muller is celebrating its thirtieth anniversary with a diamond-flecked nod on the dial of a new Crazy Hours 30th Anniversary, a series of glittery Crazy Hours watches.

As one of the Geneva-based watchmaker’s best-known designs, Crazy Hours features dials with numeral markers set in a clearly untraditional order around the dial.

Muller’s genius was to create a jump-hour movement that has the hour hand jump from one hour to the next in the correct numerical order while the minute hand moves around the dial in its traditional manner. Reading the minute hand, and ignoring the hour hand’s placement on the dial, the wearer sees the correct time.

For this thirtieth anniversary set, Franck Muller combines its own collection of Art Deco-styled dial numerals, set off-center amid another set of decorative ‘hologram’ numerals stamped into a guilloché sun pattern dial. The dial seems effervescent thanks to the twenty layers of translucent lacquer.

Franck Muller specifically celebrates its three decades with a diamond-set ‘30th’ at the top left side of the dial, impishly combining the 3 o’clock marker and the zero from 10 o’clock marker.

All this is set within Franck Muller’s best-known case, its Cintrée Curvex, an extended tonneau design. Franck Muller’s own finely finished MVD FM 2800-CHR
automatic movement with a bi-directional rotor powers the collection.

Franck Muller offers the Crazy Hours 30th in three size options in rose gold, white gold or steel cases with a royal blue dial or the deep burgundy dial. Also look for a white-dialed Crazy Color Dreams version with colorful numerals and a white or red leather strap. All are available with or without a diamond-set bezel.

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The Watches

Frederique Constant’s Blue Moon

Frederique Constant refreshes its Classics Heart Beat Moonphase Date with a new model that boasts a rich blue dial emphasizing the watch’s mostly contemporary design.

The Frederique Constant Classics Heart Beat Moonphase Date, now with a rich blue dial.

In this handsome update, the light blue classic moonphase display nicely balances the very modern open Heart Beat aperture exposing a portion of the movement – a long-time Frederique Constant signature.

This pleasing symmetry is just one of many pleasures Frederique Constant reliably (and affordably) delivers with this refreshed design, which the Geneva-based manufacturer first debuted with lighter dials eight years ago.

The 40mm steel watch allows the wearer to read the current moonphase, the time and the date while also gazing at a portion of the balance wheel within the Heart Beat aperture beating at 28,800 vibrations per hour. On display is the watch’s Sellita-based automatic FC-335 movement, which is also visible through the sapphire back.

The watch’s Sellita-based automatic FC-335 movement is visible through the clear sapphire back.

To maintain its visual balance, the watch features no third aperture to display the date. Instead, a fourth hand with its own arrow tip points towards the date, shown in a circle on the flange.

The watch’s winding, hours, minutes, date and moon phases are all adjusted with the single crown. Its four positions allow for full control of the displays. The first position winds the movement, while the fourth adjusts the time. In an unsurprisingly display of technical fluency, the wearer can change the date in the second position and the moon phases in the third, as long as the hands are first positioned at 10:10. This protects the mechanism from being damaged.

As is often the case with Frederique Constant’s Classic models, the dial here is decorated with Clou de Paris guilloche.

Price: $2,095

  

Specifications: Frederique Constant Classics Heart Beat Moonphase Date

(Ref. FC-335MCNW4P26)

Movement: Automatic FC-335 caliber (Sellita-based), 38-hour power reserve, 28,800 vph.

Case: 40mm by 10mm polished stainless steel, two-part, scratch-resistant convex sapphire crystal, see-through case back. Water-resistant to 60 meters.

Dial: Navy blue with clous de Paris guilloché in the center. Printed white Roman numerals
, date graduation on outer ring, white hour, minute, second and date hands. Heart Beat opening at 12 o’clock, moonphase display.

Strap: Navy blue calf leather with off-white stitching, steel pin buckle.

Price: $2,095

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