Frederique Constant

History

The brand takes its name from its founders' great-grandparents: Frédérique Schreiner (1881-1969) and Constant Stas (1880-1967), the latter a maker of watch dials from 1904. It launched its first collection in the early nineties with third-party Swiss movements. In 1994 it introduced the Heart Beat concept, an aperture in the dial revealing the balance wheel in motion, which became the house signature. In 2004 it presented its first in-house calibre, the Heart Beat FC-910, establishing itself as a vertically integrated maker — an achievement recognised with the "Watch of the Year" award in 2005. In 2012 it brought the world-time complication within reach with its first affordable Worldtimer Manufacture. In 2015 it launched the Horological Smartwatch, the first Swiss connected watch with a traditional analogue face. In 2016 it was bought by Citizen Holdings of Tokyo. In 2021 it surprised the trade with the Slimline Monolithic Manufacture, a monolithic regulating oscillator beating some ten times faster than a conventional mechanical movement. The house has by now developed several dozen in-house calibres.

Iconic models

• Heart Beat

  Its visual signature since 1994: an aperture in the dial revealing the balance beating, and later the basis of its first in-house calibre in 2004.

• Slimline

  The classical ultra-thin collection of pared-back looks that defines the brand's dress image.

• Classics Worldtimer Manufacture

  Brought world time within reach in 2012 with a 24-city ring and an in-house calibre at an entry price.

• Highlife

  A sports-elegant collection with an integrated bracelet and globe-motif dial, relaunched in 2020 as a contemporary pillar of the house.

• Slimline Monolithic Manufacture

  The 2021 technical break: a monolithic oscillator replacing the balance-and-hairspring system and beating some ten times faster.

• Horological Smartwatch

  The first Swiss connected watch with a traditional analogue face, presented in 2015.