Highlife Perpetual Calendar Manufacture: A new exclusive blue-grey variation
More than twenty years ago, Frederique Constant launched its Highlife collection. In 2020, the Maison brought it back to the forefront of the watchmaking scene. Today, its flagship model, the Highlife Perpetual Calendar Manufacture, is offered for the first time with a mysterious blue-grey dial.
Born in 1999, the Highlife collection has marked the history of Frederique Constant. It embodies the values that have contributed to the company’s success: a high watchmaking design that is faithful to the art of fine Swiss watchmaking, a high degree of finishing, and particular care for a fair price that gives the greatest number of people access to Swiss Made luxury.
The highlight of this collection, the Highlife Perpetual Calendar Manufacture is adorned for the first time with a deep blue-grey dial, the most fashionable color in contemporary watchmaking, and a symbol of chromatic harmony inspired by the seas, the skies, and space.
A new finish for a perpetual calendar with two straps
Borrowing from both blue, grey, and black, this new dial characterizes that fleeting moment between dusk and dawn, when the day eclipses to make way for the celestial vault. The perpetual calendar is the expression of this, indicating both the days and the phases of the moon. It is complemented by the date, month, and leap year indications, all on a single dial that favors simple and intuitive reading.
This new deep blue-grey dial guarantees perfect legibility thanks to the contrast of the white typography and the mirror-polished and luminescent hour-markers and hands. The day can be read at 9 o’clock, the months and leap years at 12 o’clock and the date at 3 o’clock. At 6 o’clock, a moon phase completes the set. Discreet correctors placed on the case allow, with the crown, to adjust the whole. At the center of this dial: the guilloché motif of the Earth, the aesthetic signature of the Highlife collection.
Its 41 mm case is designed with an integrated three-link bracelet, alternating polished and satin-finished surfaces. With no lugs, it falls smoothly and naturally on the wrist. A special feature of the Highlife collection is that it is interchangeable, and can be alternated with a navy blue textured and stitched rubber extra strap – delivered with the watch – without the need for any tools.
To the delight of watch lovers, its Manufacture FC-775 self-winding mechanical movement, embellished with delicate circular graining and Côtes de Genève decoration, can be admired on the back of the Highlife Perpetual Calendar Manufacture.
TECHNICAL SPECIFICATIONS
Highlife Perpetual Calendar Manufacture – RRP 8’595€
| Reference | FC-775BL4NH6B |
| Functions | Hours, minutes, moon phase, date, day, month, leap year |
| Movement | FC-775 in-house caliber, automatic, perpetual calendar |
| Perlage & circular Côtes de Genève decorations | |
| 38-hour power reserve, 26 jewels, 28’800 alt/h | |
| Case | Brushed and polished stainless steel 3-part case |
| Diameter of 41mm | |
| Height of 12,65 mm | |
| Scratch-resistant convex sapphire crystal with anti-glare coating on both sides | |
| See-through case back | |
| Water-resistant up to 5 ATM/50m/164ft | |
| Dial | Blue-grey dial, globe decoration |
| Silver color applied indexes filled with white luminous treatment | |
| A hand-polished silver color hour and minute hands filled with white luminous treatment | |
| Date counter at 3 o’clock with silver color hand | |
| Moonphase at 6 o’clock | |
| Day counter at 9 o’clock with silver color hand | |
| Month and (leap) year counter at 12 o’clock with silver color hands | |
| Bracelet | 3-link brushed and polished stainless steel bracelet |
| Including an additional navy blue rubber strap | |
Source: Frederique Constant
Frederique Constant is Swiss watchmaking manufacture located in Geneva, Switzerland. The Maison was founded in 1988 by a couple of independent entrepreneurs, Aletta and Peter Stas, to offer quality Swiss watches at an affordable price, with the aim of democratizing luxury Swiss Made watches.
Frederique Constant creates, develops, assembles, and controls a wide variety of mechanical, quartz, and connected timepieces at the same time within its 6,200 m2 Manufacture in Plan-les-Ouates (GE). To this day, Frederique Constant has designed 30 Manufacture calibers, including high complications, such as the Tourbillon, the Perpetual Calendar, the Flyback Chronograph, as well as a new and unprecedented type of escapement in watchmaking – the Monolithic. Made from a single piece of silicone, replacing the 26 components of a standard assortment, it oscillates at a frequency of 40 Hz, which is 10 times that of most mechanical movements.
In 2015, Frederique Constant launched the Horological Smartwatch, the first Swiss Made connected timepiece featuring a traditional appearance. In 2018, the Classic Hybrid Manufacture succeeded it, combining a mechanical Manufacture movement with connected features. It was followed by the Smartwatch Vitality line in 2020, equipped with a new generation built-in heart rate sensor.
The same year, Frederique Constant reinvigorated the Highlife collection (1999) with a redesigned case and an interchangeable integrated strap. This was followed in 2021 by the Slimline Monolithic Manufacture with its very high-frequency one-piece escapement, then by the Highlife collection for women.
Frederique Constant is currently present in nearly 3,000 points of sale in 120 countries across the world. In 2016, the Frederique Constant group (Frederique Constant, Alpina Watches, Ateliers deMonaco) joined the Japanese group Citizen, so as to pursue its international development and nurture new synergies.
