Frederique Constant is a relatively young watch manufacture, formed in 1988 by Aletta Bax & Peter Stas. The company is based in Switzerland and produces luxury Swiss automatic and has been very forward thinking with manufacturing silicon escapement wheels and creating a tourbillon movement. This Persuasion Automatic isn’t one of these iconic award-winning masterpieces from Frederique Constant, but it is a fine, entry level luxury Swiss Timepiece in its own right.
The beautiful white, textured dial is reminiscent of Cartier’s due to the oval Roman Numeral layout, but still retains some sense of identity without looking like a copy of some sort. The double-beveled Persuasion case is classic, yet has a touch of modern to its overall look.. not much, but just a touch – enough to let you know it was made in the last decade.
The stainless steel, 40mm diameter watch come mounted on a faux Crocodile leather strap, which is appropriate for this price range. With a retail price around $1800, Crocodile usually isn’t supplied. Otherwise, its a great quality strap, with a good buckle on it. Handles are blued steel, and there is no lume to be found on the dial. Date is located at 6 o’clock, and the crown at 3. The Swiss Made marking is also located at 6 o’clock under the date.
The watch features a curved AR-coated sapphire crystal front, and an exhibition back. Water resistance is 60m, and the crown is not screwdown.
The movement is an ETA 2824-2 base, with 25 jewels. It isn’t really decorated and has a gilded rotor, engraved with the Frederique Constant signature.
Here’s the watch in the oversized leather-look box, which is quite nice for a watch of this price. These can be found online for around $1100, and seems like a decent price given the quality. The casework is excellent and the deep engraving on the caseback is a nice touch. Overall an excellent watch for those looking for a dress watch from a slightly more obscure brand that you won’t see on too many other people’s wrists.
When I saw these watches, I got pretty excited. Romain Jerome has licensed the Space Invaders name from Taito Corporation in order to produce two 78-piece limited edition watches – 78 is a tribute to the year the game was introduced.
Absolutely stunning and awesome at the same time. This definately calls out to the kid in me.
My favourite Dress Watch company has just released yet another Grail watch that I wish I could afford! One of these days I will get my hands on a 43mm+ Jaquet Droz, and if I’m lucky, a Ceramic one! While these Ceramic Models are on Rubber straps and are less dressy than their Stainless and Gold brethren, they still fit the bill.
Specs:
Case Material: Black Ceramic
Case Diameter: 44mm
Movement: Jaquet Droz Caliber 2663, 28,000 v.p.h, 30 Jewels
Strap: Rubber
From Jaquet Droz: “Contemporary in spirit, this timepiece displays an elegance that is intended to last: the 44 mm watchcase is made of resistant ceramic, whose color and radiance will never fade. The Manufacture has now complemented this exceptionally strong material, the hands in black gold with a touch of red on the tip of the seconds hand and the six markers it indicates. This new chromatic signature, which suggests an authentic, highly refined luxury that is entirely contemporary, brings a new dynamism to the two interlinked circles and it strengthens the compelling power of the number 8, the Manufacture’s symbol of good fortune. The same quest for perfection yielded the opaline black dial, and by the contrast between the matt face and the gleaming ring, carefully integrated.”
Bell & Ross released an Abstract, Philosophical timepiece(s) recently, called the 12 o’Clock. This is a limited edition of 12 pieces, and is truly unique in its presentation. The display is essential a clock made up of 12 watches, all mounted into 12 watchwinders. Each watch is unique in that it has a number from 1-12 printed on the disks that Bell & Ross has used in recent watches. The watches cannot really tell time except that at the number on the watch will line up at the corresponding hour of the day. So at exactly 3 o’clock, the No.3 Watch will show a number 3, and so on and so forth.
“A timepiece and an objet d’Art In modern- day society, where every second is accounted for, the Twelve O’Clock timepiece is a demonstration of our inability to control the sands of time. The animated display that gives the time in a split second is the perfect illustration of the elusive nature of time.”
Specs:
Movement: ETA 2892 with Disk display system,
Case: 46mm diameter, Steel with black PVD finish, Screw-in crown
Dial: The numeral of the hour is printed on three concentric disks, which, when lined up in the vertical position, indicating the exact hour
Crystal: Anti-reflective sapphire
Water Resistance: 100m
Omega has released a new Speedy Moonwatch model to commemorate the 40th Anniversary of the Apollo 15 mission to the Moon. Omega had commemorated the Apollo 11 40th Anniversary in 2009, and now follows up with its latest Limited Edition. This will be a Limited Edition of 1,971 Pieces, and will feature the original moonwatch Hesalite Crystal and solid engraved caseback, staying true to its heritage. The movement will be the manual-winding Omega caliber 1861.
From Wikipedia: Apollo 15 was the ninth manned mission in the American Apollo space program, the fourth to land on the Moon and the eighth successful manned mission. It was the first of what were termed “J missions”, long duration stays on the Moon with a greater focus on science than had been possible on previous missions. It was also the first mission where the Lunar Roving Vehicle was used.
