In 2025, Frederique Constant will introduce a new edition of its classic Classic Tourbillon Manufacture, which is still very much based on its predecessors from 2023. A limited edition creation of 150 pieces, featuring a 39 mm wide steel case and an all-green dial and strap. Inside beats the FC-980 self-winding manufacture movement, designed and assembled entirely in-house. This new model cleverly combines traditional luxury watchmaking with modernity, expressed in a dynamic and green radiant dial at the height of our times.
In 2023, the Classic Tourbillon Manufacture presented itself in a new light with a completely new case and design. Now it comes – like all other Frederique Constant manufacture watches – with a case made of solid 18-carat red gold in an edition of 150 pieces. It is only produced in a few units and on rare occasions, particularly with a meteorite dial in a platinum or aventurine dial in a white gold case. But the precious metal isn’t everything, because just like the other major Geneva watch manufacturers, the limited editions with steel cases are also very popular.
Although stainless steel is sometimes as expensive as gold, this is not the case with this new edition, which is offered in exactly the same price range as its predecessors with a silver-blue dial (2023). With this decision, Frederique Constant reiterates its constant goal of making Swiss-made luxury watches with first-class workmanship affordable.
But this limited edition with a green dial wants to be bolder. While the traditional tourbillon is often dressed in a very classic way (white, gray or black dial), this watch uses a strong and bold palm green for the radial dial, which is decorated with faceted indices and two central, hand-cut hands. The display of the seconds is taken directly from the tourbillon. On the upper bridge, Frederique Constant has placed a thin, central hand as inconspicuously as possible so as not to obscure the tourbillon and to allow a view of its interior.
The 39 mm case still comes from the Classic Manufacture series. This includes a quilted watch strap in a crocodile look, the color of which is perfectly coordinated with the dial and folding clasp. The classic and sober case with its inseparable onion crown harkens back to the time of pocket watches with its open back through which the caliber FC-980 can be seen.
In keeping with Geneva tradition, it is decorated with chamfering and circular graining. The sides are stretched and the surfaces are highly polished. But tradition does not exclude a modern touch: the manufactory tourbillon is equipped with an escapement and an anchor made of silicon. This high-quality material, which has been used by Frederique Constant since 2008, is highly resistant to both magnetic fields in everyday life (computers, loudspeakers, smartphones, etc.) and to temperature fluctuations. According to old custom, at the Classic Tourbillon Manufacture each individual piece is numbered on the tourbillon itself and also on the case surrounding it.
