Frederique Constant is rounding off its thirty-fifth anniversary year in style, with an address on New York’s celebrated and prestigious Fifth Avenue, where Citizen Group’s US subsidiary Citizen Watch America has opened a multi-brand store. To mark the occasion, the Maison has unveiled a new version of its Highlife Tourbillon Perpetual Calendar Manufacture in a limited edition of just 88 pieces. Featuring a blue dial and a 41-millimetre steel case, the timepiece is a clever blend of Highlife modernity (including its integrated, interchangeable strap) and all the class of a historic complication, the tourbillon.
On 6 December 2023, leading provider of affordable luxury watches Citizen Watch America (CWA) is officially opening the group’s very first multi-brand store in the USA, the Citizen Flagship Store New York, on the most famous and prestigious thoroughfare in New York at 605 Fifth Avenue, Manhattan, just a stone’s throw from the Rockefeller Center. The new concept store introduces customers to the Group’s various brands including Citizen, Bulova, Accutron, Frederique Constant and Alpina.
The three-floor store has been designed by acclaimed architect Ken Park and his multiple-award-winning New York-based firm Kenneth Park Architects. The first two floors are devoted to collections by Citizen, Bulova, Accutron, Frederique Constant and Alpina along with pieces exclusive to the store. The third floor will house a display of archives and a space for events and marketing initiatives from 2024 onwards.
A NEW LIMITED EDITION
To celebrate the event, Frederique Constant unveils a new, highly exclusive limited-edition version of its Highlife Tourbillon Perpetual Calendar Manufacture, housed in a 41 mm steel case.
Only 88 of these refined steel versions with a blue dial will be produced; as is traditional for the Highlife collection, each will come with a number of interchangeable straps. Three will be provided for this piece: one in nubuck calfskin, one in steel, and one in rubber, allowing wearers to change their watch from a traditional to a sportier look.
A PARAGON OF READABILITY
The month, date and day indications are at 12, 3 and 9 o’clock respectively, each with its own hand. Positioned at 6 o’clock, the tourbillon completes the arrangement, housed beneath a steel cut-out characteristic of the Maison’s style, with an upper indentation so that it fits snugly into the layout of the perpetual calendar.
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 10 ATM.
