PRE-BASEL: The Frederique Constant Classic Manufacture Worldtimer Blue

First Impressions:

The Frederique Constant Worldtimer has been given a (facelift) with a minimal pricelift. The young brand continues to offer exceptional value.

Increasingly Frederique Constant is running their own race as a brand. They make a broad range of mostly dressy watches, powered by movements running the gamut of quartz to full on in-house assembled / designed by quite famously young watchmakers; the next generation, they are hoping.

And they do this at prices that are, how shall we say, flying in the face of wider (read: pricier) industry pricing morés.

Two of their most interesting collections are the Slimline, and the Manufacture Worldtimer. We’re looking forward to seeing what new Slimline offerings they have at Baselworld this year, but the watch we’re talking about today is the latest addition to their Classic Manufacture Worldtimer family.

Essentially it’s the same watch that’s been around for the last few years, but with the ever-popular navy blue colouring. It’s a great colour combination and one that really suits the classic styling of the piece. The dial is fairly busy, but given that you can, at a glance tell the time anywhere in the world (unless you happen to live in the city at the bottom of the dial, in this case Auckland, which is obscured by the sub seconds/date dial – sorrynotsorry guys) this is fairly unavoidable, and honestly it’s part of the appeal of the watch. If there is such a thing, it’s ‘good busy’.

A nice touch is that the main crown controls all the functions – usually watches with this complication will have an extra pusher to handle the city ring.

Once again though – practically all FC reviews conclude this way – the most impressive feature of the Worldtimer is the price. The retail on the Frederique Constant is $5800 AUD.

Let’s put this price into a little bit of perspective. Perhaps the nearest mainstream competitor to this watch is the just announced Montblanc Heritage Spirit Orbis Terrarum, which to be fair is a very different looking beast, and it does have a cool day/night indicator that the FC lacks. But it also has an Aussie retail starting at $7750 and is an in-house complication integrated into a base Sellita movement, whereas the Frederique Constant has a completely in house movement. Sure, there are other factors to consider, but at the end of the day there is a difference of almost $2000 between the two. Given that the Montblanc is already a well-priced watch, you’ve got to ask yourself – How does Frederique Constant offer this sort of quality at that price?

Whatever the answer, they’re staying classy with this very happy bout of the blues.

Frederique Constant Classic Manufacture Worldtimer Blue Australian availability and pricing:

The Constant Manufacture Worldtimer in blue will retail for $5,800 and will be available from April.