Frederique Constant Highlife Tourbillon Perpetual Calendar Manufacture in Rose Gold

2023 will be a year to remember for Frederique Constant. To celebrate its thirty-fifth anniversary, as well as the fifteenth anniversary of its Manufacture tourbillon, the Geneva brand has unveiled a new highly limited edition in its Highlife collection: the Tourbillon Perpetual Calendar. Thirty-five pieces are being released sporting a blue dial housed in an 18-carat rose gold case. The two historic complications benefit from all the modernity characteristic of the Highlife collection, including its integrated and interchangeable strap. Combining the best of tradition and innovation, the timepiece bears witness to the ongoing progress of a manufactory dedicated to watchmaking excellence.

Born in 1999, the Highlife collection has been a major part of the Frederique Constant story and returned centre stage in 2020. Younger generations and veteran collectors alike have been drawn to the contemporary lines of the collection’s case, the alternating satin and polished finishes, and more especially its integrated, interchangeable strap – each Highlife watch systematically comes with at least one additional strap.

Now, the Highlife collection is reaching higher still. This highly limited edition of just 35 pieces is a new Manufacture version that combines two distinguished complications: a Tourbillon and a Perpetual Calendar, both housed in an 18-carat rose gold case just 41 millimetres in diameter – rightly so, for purists will not settle for anything larger. The timepiece comes with interchangeable leather and rubber straps, allowing its owner to switch between classic and sporty looks in a tool-free change that takes just a few seconds to complete.

A paragon of readability

The dial layout has been painstakingly designed. The day, date and month indications are at 12, 3 and 9 o’clock respectively, each with its own hand – or, in the case of the display at 12 o’clock, two: in addition to the month, another hand indicates leap years on a scale running from 1 to 3 – plus an ‘L’ marking leap years.

Positioned at 6 o’clock, the tourbillon completes the arrangement, housed beneath a cut-out characteristic of the Maison’s style featuring an upper indentation so that it fits snugly into the layout of the perpetual calendar. This expansive aperture reveals the sophisticated escapement for which a patent application was first filed in 1801. Atop it sits the seconds hand, gliding above the balance wheel, blued screws and baseplate with its gold finish, engraved with each piece’s individual serial number.

Highlife touch

This carefully designed arrangement, featuring outstanding complications whose modernity is matched only by their setting, sits amid a dial imbued with the Highlife collection ethos, engraved with a globe complete with meridians and parallels. The hour markers are suspended, secured at their base to the flange displaying the minutes. The different dial sectors benefit from their own specific finishing (satin or sunburst) to ensure optimum readability. Similarly, the hours and minutes hands, which match the colour of the case, are coated with luminous material to ensure they can be read however dim the light.

Lovers of fine Swiss Made watchmaking will also appreciate the sapphire caseback, revealing all the innermost workings of the FC-975 Manufacture calibre. Decorated with circular grained and Côtes de Genève finishes, it boasts a 38-hour power reserve and is guaranteed water resistant to 3 ATM.

The power of youth and its future prospects

As it turns 35, Frederique Constant is still a young manufactory with almost boundless possibilities before it. In addition to its main collections, whose aim remains that of providing painstakingly produced yet affordable watches, the Maison has gradually added more elite timepieces destined for experienced collectors to its ranges. The Tourbillon and the Perpetual Calendar are undeniably among their most prized complications. Frederique Constant thus continues to look to the future as it seeks to produce ever more advanced watches, featuring increasingly sophisticated styling and finishes that are constantly being refined and enriched.

Technical specifications

Frederique Constant Highlife Tourbillon Perpetual Calendar Manufacture

Reference: FC-975BL4NH9

Limited edition of 35 pieces

Case

• Material: Brushed and polished 18K rose gold
• Diameter: 41mm
• Thickness: 12.65 mm
• Scratch-resistant and anti-reflective convex sapphire crystal
• See-through case back
• Water-resistant up to 3 ATM/30m/100ft

Dial and hands

• Blue dial with matt finishing and globe pattern embossed in the center
• Rose gold plated applied indexes filled with white luminous treatment
• Rose gold plated hour and minute hands filled with white luminous treatment
• Date counter at 3 o’clock with rose gold plated hand
• Heart Beat opening at 6 o’clock with 60 seconds tourbillon, rose gold plated second hand
• Day counter at 9 o’clock with rose gold plated hand
• Month and (leap) year counter at 12 o’clock with rose gold plated hands

Movement 

• FC-975 in-house caliber, automatic, perpetual calendar
• Perlage & circular Côtes de Genève decorations
• Frequency: 28'800 vph (4 Hz)
• Number of jewels: 33
• Power reserve of 38 hours

Functions/Indications

• Hours, Minutes, Date, Day, Month, Leap year, 60 Seconds tourbillon

Strap and buckle

• Navy blue alligator leather strap with nubuck finishing
• Including an additional navy blue rubber strap

MSRP: EUR 44'995

For more information, please visit frederiqueconstant.com