Previous

 FREDERIQUE CONSTANT & ALPINA

Frederique Constant launched its successful Worldtimer two years ago. This year, using its FC-718 manufacture movement, in addition to the hour, minute and seconds displays, a large date counter at six o’clock and a 24-hour disc with day/night indicators circling the hour and minute indices and a 24-city display around the dial, all the functions are activated via the crown. A second model with the same technical features has a detailed silver world map decorating the dial giving what the brand calls its ‘wow’ factor.

Worldtimer by Frédérique Constant

It’s a fine looking watch, elegant, sporty, easy to use and it has that all-important attribute of excellent readability. The Worldtimer comes with a beautiful stainless steel bracelet with a width of five links and a butterfly clasp.

On the philanthropic side, Frederique Constant is involved with the World Heart Foundation (WHF) and in particular the WHF’s ‘Hearts of Children’ campaign, for which they have created a collection.

World Heart Federation by Frédérique Constant

There are four new models in the World Heart Federation collection. The watch I have chosen to illustrate it is in stainless steel with a diamond-set bezel (48 diamonds weighing 0.74 carats), a vanilla dial with diamond indices and guilloché WHF logos at its centre surrounded by a mother-of-pearl outer ring. There is a Double Heart Beat aperture at 12 o’clock, an automatic movement with a power reserve of 38 hours, a sapphire crystal caseback and the watch is water-resistant to 60 metres. The two-tone bracelet – polished steel and rose gold plating – comes with a folding butterfly clasp.

As most readers will be aware, Alpina watches were, in the early part of the last century, manufacturers of military aviation watches. Needless to say, precision was essential as were oversized luminous numerals and luminous hands for easy reading.

Startimer Black Star Chronograph by Alpina

Maintaining this philosophy with the brand’s modern manufacturing technology, Alpina watches continue to appeal to pilots and sports enthusiasts and the new 44 mm Startimer Black Star Automatic Chronograph will be a welcome addition. This model has a ‘stealth’ black PVD coating on a stainless steel case and is equipped with the Alpina AL-860 Automatic Chronograph movement with a 46-hour power reserve and a Bi-Compax 60 seconds and 30 minutes small counter layout. It has a grey sunray dial with a domed sapphire crystal, luminescent numerals, hour and minute hands, a transparent caseback and the watch is water-resistant to 100 metres.
With its elegant ‘stealth’ look and the high quality of the finish, this chronograph will meet the demands of most aficionados. I say most because I would have liked to see a date function at 6 o’clock, but then, I’m not a pilot.