Not all images were able to load for printing. Please close the print window and try again. Two New Frederique Constant Highlife Limited Editions with Emerald Dials (Live Pics & Price)
Presented during this year’s Dubai Watch Week, Frederique Constant turns green with harmony & prosperity with this pair of Highlife watches.
The Dubai Watch Week is in full swing, with many of the attending brands releasing new iterations of existing models. One of the brands participating in the event is Frederique Constant. And not to be overlooked, the watch manufacture dedicated to affordable luxury has dressed two of its most revered Highlife watches in luscious green. We give you the Frederique Constant Highlife Emerald Worldtimer Manufacture and Highlife Emerald Tourbillon Perpetual Calendar Manufacture.
Green has always been a symbol of hope, nature, harmony and prosperity. In Arabic cultures, it is a very important colour, often used in flags to pay homage to the land, but also to symbolise youth, fertility and new life. It has been a strong trending colour in recent years when it comes to watchmaking and one that does not seem to be losing any traction soon.
The Frederique Constant Highlife collection is the sports-oriented range of watches by the Swiss manufacture. The Highlife is available in a wide range of models; both geared towards men and women. With multiple materials, colours and complications, there’s pretty much a Highlife for everyone. Both these new limited editions use the same architecture but are quite different in appearance. We start with the practical Frederique Constant Highlife Emerald Worldtimer Manufacture and then move towards the Highlife Emerald Tourbillon Perpetual Calendar Manufacture.
HIGHLIFE EMERALD WORLDTIMER MANUFACTURE
The Frederique Constant Highlife collection was introduced during the pandemic last year, and one of the latest iterations is the Highlife Worldtimer which was launched only recently. It combines the sporty-chic appearance of the Highlife with the practicality of a world timer.
The watch is 41mm wide and 12.90mm thick and comes in a stainless steel case with a distinct barrel shape. The case has alternating brushed and polished surfaces. A polished bezel sits atop the mid-case and gives way to the emerald green dial, the second colour to be introduced following the inaugural blue. A knurled crown on the right allows for winding and setting the watch, including all the indications seen on the dial.
The emerald green dial has a globe-like decoration on the middle section, with applied hour indices from 8 to 4 o’clock. The lower area of the dial hosts the date display with a polished silver hand. Circling the middle section is a white and green 24h disc, with a city disc one step further out. The city disc has 24 reference cities in white, with yellow GMT and -1/+1 indications to help navigate the setting. The sword-shaped central hour and minute hands are polished and feature a central Super-LumiNova stripe.
The Frederique Constant Highlife Emerald Worldtimer Manufacture is fitted with the FC-718 in-house movement. This automatic movement can be seen through the sapphire crystal caseback. It runs at a frequency of 28,800vph and provides 38 hours of power reserve. The movement is nicely decorted with perlage, circular Côtes de Genève and blued screws. A skeletonised gold-coloured rotor winds the barrel.
The Frederique Constant Highlife Emerald Worldtimer Manufacture comes on an integrated three-link stainless steel bracelet and an additional green rubber strap. Both feature a quick-release system to easily change from one to the other. It is limited to 222 pieces and retails for EUR 3,795.
Quick Facts: 41mm x 12.90mm – stainless steel, barrel-shaped case, brushed and polished – sapphire crystal front and back – emerald green dial with globe decoration – white and green 24h disc – rotatable city disc – polished hour and minute hands with Super-LumiNova – polished silver seconds hand – FC-718 manufacture movement – automatic winding – 26 jewels – 28,800vph – 38h power reserve – stainless steel bracelet and green rubber strap – limited edition of 222 pieces – EUR 3,795
HIGHLIFE EMERALD TOURBILLON PERPETUAL CALENDAR MANUFACTURE
The Frederique Constant Highlife Emerald Tourbillon Perpetual Calendar Manufacture is the most complex watch the brand offers and quite the engineering masterpiece. It’s a very impressive achievement to develop a tourbillon movement in-house, let alone one combined with a perpetual calendar display. It might sound strange for a brand dedicated to accessible luxury to introduce such a piece, but this one is not priced as you might expect, but we’ll get to that in a bit.
As you would expect, this “greenified” Highlife uses the same style as other models, meaning a brushed and polished barrel-shaped steel case. With its 41mm diameter and 12.65mm height, it’s slightly slimmer than the Worldtimer Manufacture. Although several indications are adjustable via the crown, the perpetual calendar display necessitates three additional recessed correctors in the caseband.
Frederique Constant has wisely decided to give the watch an openworked dial, executed in emerald green. This reveals the mechanical heart powering it and makes the sub-dials stand out a bit more. If we start at noon and go around the dial in a clockwise direction, we see an integrated month and leap year dial on top. Next, we come across a date indication before we have a full view of the tourbillon escapement. Coming full circle, the final sub-dial is dedicated to the days of the week. All the inscriptions are white, with polished silver hands for added contrast. The central hour and minute hands are once again sword-shaped and given a Super-LumiNova stripe.
The movement inside the Frederique Constant Highlife Emerald Tourbillon Perpetual Calendar is developed and produced in-house. The FC-975 calibre was first introduced in the more classical Perpetual Calendar Tourbillon Manufacture and made the jump to the Highlife collection just a couple of weeks ago. The movement has a total of 188 components, including 33 jewels. It displays central hours, minutes and seconds, with the day of the week, date, month and leap year. The tourbillon regulator has a silicon escapement wheel and anchor for greater precision.
Like its Worldtimer sibling, the Frederique Constant Highlife Emerald Tourbillon Perpetual Calendar Manufacture comes with an integrated bracelet and rubber green strap. Limited to 30 pieces, the watch has a price of EUR 22,995, which is quite a lot of money, but it is still the most affordable Tourbillon QP by some margin.
Quick Facts: 41mm x 12.65mm – stainless steel barrel-shaped case, brushed and polished – sapphire crystal front and back – emerald green skeletonised dial – green outer ring with white seconds scale – counters for days at 9′, month and year at 12′ and date counter at 3 o’clock– polished hands – Super-LumiNova coated hour and minute hands – FC-975 manufacture movement – automatic winding – tourbillon escapement visible at 6 o’clock – perpetual calendar display – 33 jewels – 28,800vph – 38h power reserve – stainless steel bracelet and green rubber strap – limited edition of 30 pieces – EUR 22,995
For more information, please visit FrederiqueConstant.com.
