Svizzera · Fondazione 1988
Frederique Constant
The brand name joins the first names of its Dutch founders' great-grandparents.
Testo editoriale in inglese.
Frederique Constant is a Geneva watchmaker founded in 1988 by Dutch couple Peter and Aletta Stas and owned by Citizen since 2016. It is known for putting in-house movements, perpetual calendars and tourbillons at lower prices than most Swiss rivals. Quartz and Sellita-based models start under 1,000 euros, and manufacture pieces run from about 2,500 euros.
Storia
Peter Stas and Aletta Stas-Bax, a Dutch couple, began designing watches in 1988 and named the brand after two great-grandparents: Frédérique Schreiner and Constant Stas, who had founded a watch-dial business in 1904. The first collection, the 18th Century Collection of 1992, used Swiss movements assembled by a Geneva watchmaker. In 1994 the Heart Beat model opened the dial to show the balance wheel at 12 o'clock, a detail that became the brand's visual signature. The company moved to Carouge in 1997, showed at Baselworld for the first time that year and moved to Chêne-Bourg in 2000.
In 2001 Frederique Constant started developing its own movement with Geneva watchmaking and engineering schools, and watchmaker Pim Koeslag joined the company. The brand bought Alpina, founded in 1883, in 2002. Its first in-house calibre, the hand-wound FC-910 Heart Beat Manufacture, appeared in 2004, and a manufacture building opened in Plan-les-Ouates in 2006. A tourbillon with silicon escape wheel followed in 2008, the FC-700 automatic series in 2009 and the Classic Worldtimer Manufacture, set entirely by the crown, in 2012.
In 2016 Peter and Aletta Stas sold the Frederique Constant group, including Alpina and Ateliers deMonaco, to Citizen Watch of Tokyo. The Plan-les-Ouates manufacture was extended to 6,200 square metres in 2019. The Slimline Monolithic Manufacture of 2021 used calibre FC-810, with a one-piece silicon oscillator in place of the traditional balance wheel, hairspring and pallet lever. By its 35th anniversary in 2023 the company counted more than 30 in-house calibres and exhibited at Watches and Wonders for the first time.
Fondatori
- Peter Stas
- Co-founder
- Dutch entrepreneur who co-founded Frederique Constant with his wife Aletta in 1988 and led it until the sale to Citizen in 2016.
- Aletta Stas-Bax
- Co-founder
- Co-founded the brand with Peter Stas in 1988. Her part of the name comes from Frédérique Schreiner, one of the couple's great-grandparents.
Tappe
1988
Brand founded
Peter and Aletta Stas begin designing the first Frederique Constant watches.
1994
Heart Beat design
The Heart Beat model shows the balance wheel through an opening in the dial at 12 o'clock.
2002
Alpina acquired
Frederique Constant buys Alpina, a Swiss sports watch brand founded in 1883.
2004
First in-house calibre
The hand-wound FC-910 Heart Beat Manufacture becomes the brand's first in-house movement.
2006
Plan-les-Ouates manufacture
The company opens its own manufacture building in Plan-les-Ouates, Geneva.
2012
Classic Worldtimer Manufacture
Calibre FC-718 brings a world-time display adjusted entirely through the crown.
2016
Acquired by Citizen
Citizen Watch buys the Frederique Constant group, including Alpina and Ateliers deMonaco.
2021
Slimline Monolithic Manufacture
Calibre FC-810 uses a one-piece silicon oscillator and an 80-hour power reserve.
Tre cose che i collezionisti sanno
A family dial maker
Constant Stas (1880–1967), one of the two great-grandparents behind the brand name, founded a company producing watch dials in 1904, 84 years before the brand began.
A mechanical smartwatch
In 2018 the Classic Hybrid Manufacture combined a mechanical automatic movement with smartwatch functions, such as activity tracking, that connect to a phone app.
A worldtimer set by the crown
The 2012 Classic Worldtimer Manufacture needs no pushers: the wearer sets the local city at 12 o'clock with the crown, and internal discs synchronise all 24 zones.
Modelli simbolo
- Classics Heart Beat1994
Dial aperture at 12 o'clock showing the balance wheel; the brand's signature detail.
- Classic Worldtimer Manufacture2012
In-house calibre FC-718 with world time adjusted only through the crown.
- Slimline Monolithic Manufacture2021
Calibre FC-810 with a monolithic silicon oscillator and 80-hour power reserve.
- Highlife1999
Integrated-bracelet line revived in 2020 with globe-pattern dials and a 41 mm case.
Domande
- Who owns Frederique Constant?
- Citizen Watch Co. of Japan. It bought the Frederique Constant group, including Alpina and Ateliers deMonaco, from founders Peter and Aletta Stas in 2016.
- Is Frederique Constant a Swiss brand?
- Yes. Although founded by a Dutch couple and owned by a Japanese group, the company is based in Plan-les-Ouates, Geneva, where it has run its own manufacture since 2006, and its watches are Swiss Made.
- Does Frederique Constant make in-house movements?
- Yes, in its Manufacture models. The first in-house calibre, FC-910, came in 2004, and the brand now has more than 30. Many Classics and Highlife models use Sellita or quartz movements instead.
- What is the Heart Beat on a Frederique Constant?
- An opening in the dial, usually at 12 o'clock, that shows the balance wheel beating. It first appeared in 1994 and later gave its name to the in-house FC-910 Heart Beat Manufacture calibre.