Frederique Constant Highlife Worldtimer x Ace Jewelers Amsterdam

Ace Jewelers, the family-owned Dutch jewellery and watch retailer, has been in business since 1975 and has enough clout in the industry to secure interesting limited-edition collaboration pieces with some of the leading players. The latest collaboration of Ace Jewelers is with Frederique Constant, a fitting partner given the Dutch roots of the founding couple – Aletta and Peter Stas – and its current CEO. As a tribute to the vibrant city of Amsterdam, where Ace Jewelers is based, the Highlife Worldtimer flies the red, white and black colours of the city’s flag.

In a departure from the brand’s more classical line-up, Frederique Constant introduced its luxury sports watch range, the Highlife, in 2020. The integrated design of the case and bracelet and the globe pattern embossed on the dial gave the watch a tight, contemporary aesthetic. Two years after the inaugural launch of the automatic, perpetual calendar and Heartbeat, FC unveiled the Highlife Worldtimer fitted with the brand’s manufacture movement used previously in the Classic collection. Still adhering to the brand’s policy of “accessible luxury,” the Highlife Worldtimer complication was a natural fit to bring the globe decorating the dial to life.

Developed by Louis Cottier in the 1930s, the world time complication displays local time with central hour and minute hands coupled with a rotating 24-hour ring with the name of 24 cities representing the 24 time zones. The Worldtimer Manufacture for Ace Jewelers shares identical specifications to earlier editions. The brushed and polished stainless steel tonneau-shaped case with half-moon facets and a thin bezel measures 41mm across and has a height of 12.90mm. Fitted with a convex scratch-resistant sapphire crystal over the dial and a see-through caseback, the Worldtimer is water-resistant to 100 metres. All the functions – hours, minutes, date and rotating city disc – are adjusted at the crown.

However, you will notice differences on the dial of the model made especially for Ace Jewelers. The embossed globe on the dial has been replaced by a matte, grainy black surface with three red crosses applied beneath the brand name representing the white Saint Andrew’s crosses on Amsterdam’s city flag. Other bespoke features are the 24-hour ring now picked out in red (night) and white (day), and the city of Amsterdam in red on the rotating city disc replacing Geneva. The applied indices and hour and minute hands are treated with Super-LumiNova inserts, and the pointer date indicator at 6 o’clock also features a matte black background.

The Highlife Worldtimer is powered by the brand’s in-house FC-718 automatic movement with a 4Hz frequency and a 38h power reserve. As an integrated sports watch, the 3-link stainless steel bracelet matches the case finishings but can be easily exchanged for the additional black rubber strap with red stitching provided with the watch, thanks to a quick-exchange system.

Availability & Price

The Frederique Constant Highlife Worldtimer Amsterdam is available exclusively from Ace Jewelers Boutique in Amsterdam and online via AceJewelers.com. It is a limited edition of 100 pieces and retails for EUR 3,550 (excl. tax).