In a continuation of their close relationship, British watchmaker Peter Speake and Geneva-based manufacture Frederique Constant proudly unveil an exceptional timepiece for 2024. Housed in a 42-millimetre steel case, this Perpetual Calendar joins the Manufacture collection, where it offers a subtle balance between style and technical prowess. Thanks to judicious use of openwork, the design yields centre stage to the inner workings of the Manufacture Perpetual Calendar – precise and precious. This contemporary creation is limited to just 135 pieces.
Renowned for its highly refined styling, slim dimensions, and unashamed classicism, Frederique Constant’s iconic Manufacture collection now welcomes a bold new addition. Indeed, the Geneva-based brand has joined forces with British watchmaker Peter Speake to produce a highly distinctive timepiece limited to 135 pieces and featuring a decidedly strong stylistic approach that’s anything but commonplace. The piece’s imposing personality will appeal to collectors seeking a perpetual calendar complication with a difference.
Laying bare the perpetual calendar
If there’s one word that sums up the Slimline Perpetual Calendar Manufacture Designed by Peter Speake, it’s ‘openwork’. The British watchmaker has brought an ethereal, contemporary touch to Frederique Constant. Solid surfaces have been cut away to reveal the innermost workings of the Manufacture movement. All of the displays have been skeletonised, as have the hands (to which a luminous coating has been applied), revealing the mechanical ballet of the FC-775 calibre in all its glory; the seconds hand has been done away with altogether to preserve the assertively functional ethos.
The piece adopts the same minimalist approach when it comes to colours: just two have been used, white and matt anthracite grey – a combination offering perfect contrast – plus a dash of red at the end of three of the five hands to add a final touch of clarity to the related reading. A restrained, contemporary approach chosen by Peter Speake, an independent watchmaker of discreet, personal designs that have proved their worth over the past 25 years of his career.
The movement, meanwhile, bears all the hallmarks of the Frederique Constant Manufacture. Each component boasts its own lined finish; the gears of the perpetual calendar feature a circular satin finish and blued screws in the best traditions of fine Geneva watchmaking. The transparent caseback reveals the openwork oscillating weight characteristic of the Maison’s Manufacture movements – charging up to a 38-hour power reserve. In a rare move for Frederique Constant, the rotor has also been coloured blue, echoing the blued screws. The words ‘Limited Edition 135 pieces’ are engraved on each timepiece; each comes on a grey nylon strap with matching overstitching.
A paragon of readability
Like the tourbillon, the perpetual calendar is one of the crowning complications of Fine Watchmaking, allowing wearers to read off all calendar information in a single glance and catering for the historic vagaries of the Gregorian system. Indeed, no manual correction is required for February when, once every four years, it has 29 and not 28 days as usual due to it being a leap year.
The design of a perpetual calendar dial is critical given how many indications need to be displayed. It must be both readable and functional, and Frederique Constant’s Manufacture Perpetual Calendar achieves just that. The day and date – the two most important items of information required on a daily basis – are displayed along the horizontal axis of the dial in that order, so as to be read off in a simple and intuitive manner, from left to right. Additional information is displayed along the vertical axis: the month at 12 o’clock and the moonphase at 6 o’clock.
That only leaves an event that affects the wearer just once in every four years on February 29th: the presence of a leap year. Since this detail is not needed for everyday use, it has been moved over to the month display at 12 o’clock. Here, it can be housed intuitively together with February, the month affected by leap years. A discreet red dot appears for the month in question when the year has 366 days; at all other times, the window remains white.
Frederique Constant Slimline Perpetual Calendar Manufacture Peter Speake Technical Specifications
Reference FC-775PS4S6 – RRP 11’995€, Limited Edition “Limited edition 135 pieces” mention engraved on the movement
Functions
- Hours, minutes, moonphase, date, day, month, leap year
Movement
- FC-775 in-house caliber, automatic, perpetual calendar
- Perlage decoration on movement
- Anthracite bridge
- Blue rotor
- Satin finishing on all springs
- Circular finishing on perpetual calendar wheels
- 26 jewels,
- 38-hour power reserve,
- 28’800 alt/h
Case
- Polished stainless steel 3-part case
- Diameter of 42mm
- Height of 12,05 mm
- Anti-reflective convex sapphire crystal
- See-through case back
- Water-resistant up to 3 ATM/30m/100ft
Dial
- Grey color dial with matt finishing, skeleton, luminescent printed indexes
- White and polished hands with luminous treatment
- Moonphase with luminous treatment
Strap
- Grey nylon strap with off-white stiching
- Floding buckle
ABOUT FREDERIQUE CONSTANT – LIVE YOUR PASSION!
Founded in 1988, Frederique Constant is a Swiss watchmaking manufacture based in Geneva. Having celebrated its 35th anniversary in 2023, the Brand continues to showcase its constantly advancing watchmaking expertise as it pursues its aim: providing Swiss Made luxury watches at fair prices. Through the decades, Frederique Constant has been characterised by creativity and inventiveness – and even more so by mechanical ingenuity and pragmatism.
Born out of the shared passion of an independent entrepreneurial couple, Aletta and Peter Stas, Frederique Constant has written its own rules, blazing a trail into territory where none had dared venture before. Today the brand can proudly offer a range of quartz and mechanical models – and most importantly, a collection of 31 calibres designed, developed, and assembled in its own Manufacture at Plan-les-Ouates, Geneva. These movements include Tourbillon, Perpetual Calendar and Flyback Chronograph complications, along with the Monolithic, a type of escapement never before seen in watchmaking made out of a single piece of silicon, beating at a rate of 40Hz.
Frederique Constant presently has close to 3,000 points of sale in 120 countries. To pursue its international expansion and develop new synergies, since 2016 the Frederique Constant Group (Frederique Constant, Alpina Watches, Ateliers deMonaco) has been part of the Japanese group Citizen.