Frederique Constant: Highlife Tourbillon Perpetual Calendar Manufacture

The flagship collection by Frederique Constant, coupled with an iconic complication in Fine Watchmaking and with the addition of the most complex mechanical calendar ever invented. Meet the Highlife Tourbillon Perpetual Calendar Manufacture. 

Many dreamed about it, others hoped for it. Available in 18 carat rose gold or steel, with this model, Frederique Constant demonstrates how it is possible to create a modern watch enriched with historical complications at an affordable price. Just € 22.995 for the steel version and € 39.995 for the gold one, incredible!

SIMPLE AND INTUITIVE

As with any such high-performance complication, optimum readability is key. Within the 41 mm case with the integrated strap characteristic of the Highlife collection, Frederique Constant has organised its complications into four segments. 

The day and date are the most useful pieces of information and read every day; the brand has therefore arranged them horizontally in this order, so as to be read in a natural and intuitive way in a fraction of a second. 

Brought together in a single counter at 12 o’clock are the month (large hand) and leap year indication (small hand). Adding the finishing touch to this perfectly mastered aesthetic composition, the tourbillon balances it out at 6 o’clock, counting down the seconds with its central hand. 

This subtle composition is powered by the FC-975 automatic caliber with 38 hours of power reserve, designed, produced and assembled in very limited numbers in-house at the Geneva-based manufacture. For greater precision (an essential characteristic of the tourbillon), Frederique Constant has equipped it with a silicone escapement – both the escape wheel and the lever. This choice of technology is a real favourite of the Manufacture, providing collectors with a piece that is stable and accurate, unaffected by temperature fluctuations and magnetic fields, including those associated with the digital environment, such as computers, smartphones, tablets, connected speakers, etc. 

You can appreciate the inner workings of this exceptional movement from the dial or caseback. Correctors used to set the watch are tucked away in the caseband. 

SHADES OF BLUE

The two versions are dominated by the colour blue. On both sides of the complications on display, Frederique Constant has opted for a face without a dial. This allows you to see the inner workings of the FC-975 Manufacture calibre, alongside the delicate blued screws, perlage and subtle Côtes de Genève. It also improves the contrast between the rhodium- plated movement and the perpetual calendar display. 

Although the Highlife Tourbillon Perpetual Calendar Manufacture is strictly limited to 30 pieces for the rose gold version and 88 for the steel version, collectors can create different looks for their numbered and engraved watches. Each one comes with two straps, which can be swapped around at will, without the need for tools. 

The rose gold version comes with a topstitched alligator leather strap, alongside a second rubber strap, this same rubber strap also comes with the steel watch, alongside a steel strap with a three-link design comprised of polished and satin-brushed links and a folding buckle bearing the Frederique Constant hallmark.