Frederique Constant’s Best Watch Yet? Worse Marketing Than Grand Seiko?

Heads up: this is part story, part fanboy post.

The Story

After visiting Geneva last week, touring the Frederique Constant Manufacture, and doing their watchmaking workshop with a master watchmaker, I was very impressed with the brand and have gained a new respect for their products. I asked myself… are they underrated? I started to feel the same way about FC as most feel about Grand Seiko (or Citizen with their Chronomaster line). Great value, great quality, innovative in-house movements, cheaper than the competition, but fails to market their products to improve brand appeal and name recognition/respect.

I was lucky enough to meet a young watchmaker while at the manufacture who told me about life in the industry. One cool thing I learned about FC is that since they’re a young brand (only 35 years old) that they also like to hire young watchmakers to inspire new ideas in the company. He’s only 26 but gets to entirely assemble tourbillons! He tells me at most companies that’s usually reserved for the most senior watchmakers who are in the twilight of their careers, no doubt with a long line of succession which keeps younger watchmakers very distanced from that role. He has a former classmate from his watchmaking school cohort who works at Rolex just applying hundreds of dials on movements per day, like a mindless machine. Meanwhile my new friend gets to assemble tourbillons all day. So cool!!

Anyway, I got to learn the history of the company and see the 30+ in-house movements they’ve made in their short existence. How many brands have made THAT many in-house movements in the past 35 years? During the workshop I also got to disassemble and reassemble their base caliber in-house movement and appreciate its clever design.

The watchmaker told me cool facts about the FC movement that helped keep costs low and servicing simple, such as only having 2 screw sizes in the whole movement. He told me stories of various movements he’d worked on during school and for fun that used over a dozen screw sizes! That makes it more costly as a manufacturer since you need more equipment to make each type of screw. Also, it makes it easier for watchmakers in repair shops to service your watch since you don’t need to be as meticulous about remembering which screw goes where. Neat stuff! But I digress…

The Watch

I present to you the Frederique Constant Manufacture Classic Tourbillon. Just look at it. It’s gorgeous. This is the first FC watch that made my jaw drop. That dial pattern is just perfect, the hour markers and hands complement each other so well, and the tourbillon is stunning. I’m also a big fan of the onion crown!

Now, will I buy this? Absolutely not. I don’t have $28k to spend on a watch, and even if I did, this one is 39mm which is bigger than what I like to wear for a dress watch. I’m a vintage guy who prefers my dress watches to be 35mm or less, which just ain’t happening with a tourbillon. However, looking at the competition, a SOLID 18K GOLD watch (read: not plated like many other FC watches) with a legit tourbillon, 39mm case, and gorgeous design commands a MUCH higher price tag than $28k. That seems super competitive to me.

I think this is a good sign for things to come from FC. Their designs are getting more attractive, and their watches with in-house movements are pretty competitively priced, especially the more upmarket you go (tourbillon, solid gold, world timer, flyback chronograph, monolithic). The build quality and finishing looks to be improved over previous FC watches (I know these are renders, but look at their Instagram stories from Watches & Wonders and you’ll see reposts of journalists’ pictures and videos of the real watch.

Anyhow, I think this brand is super underrated, and should be on everyone’s radar. People need to talk about this brand more. They need to improve their marketing in the US the brand gets almost no buzz online. I’m sure in the future they’ll release a design that’s right up my alley, and I’ll gladly buy it.