The innovating watch brand has gone completely in-house to create its new Hybrid Manufacture line, with a kickoff event in NYC featuring Mark Ruffalo.
Frederique Constant has always been a brand of innovation and forward motion, often tapping it’s vast in-house engineer and design teams to create entirely new icons. Having launched the first-ever horological smartwatch in 2016 with great fanfare and excellent real-world performance, Frederique Constant has done it again with the new Hybrid Manufacture line.
Many timepiece enthusiasts find themselves torn between having to select a contemporary watch design with the high technology they seek or must maintain a traditional, less technologically sensitive piece for its timeless look. The middle ground is spare and the current offerings are not great. With the unveiling of the Hybrid Manufacture, Frederique Constant has ushered in the era of 3.0 watch technology: an effortless merging of classic timepiece looks with high-performance technology and data feeds, completely designed in-house at Frederique Constant Group.
Hosted at the penthouse in Carpenters Workshop Gallery on 5th Avenue in NYC, retailers, industry insiders, VIP Frederique Constant customers, and members of the horological press joined Oscar-nominated and Emmy Award-winning actor Mark Ruffalo and Frederique Constant Group President Peter Stas for a launch event last Wednesday night.
Unveiled was not just a major breakthrough in horological technology, but a lineup of four timepieces designed with the Hybrid Manufacture platform. The designs of these individual pieces is a classic Frederique Constant face featuring a date by hand, and a connected counter, as well as full connectivity to a device. Frederique Constant’s mobile application is a full-featured data center which collects everything from step counting to sleep monitoring. The technology is subtle- the timepiece is no thicker than a typical complication- a chief complaint from those who have opted for Apple Watch or even more unconventional designs such as Fitbit.
The Frederique Constant really do strike a keen balance between tradition and those who are still interested in being on the cutting edge of what they can expect from today’s timepiece.
Cased in sapphire crystal, water-resistant to 5 ATM and featuring a see-through case back, these are well-made timepieces that will last well into the future. Not only for their hardware quality but thanks to a third element of the innovative Hybrid Manufacture: the fully automated Caliber Analytics. This algorithm-driven feature is available on every Hybrid Manufacture device and measures key complication performance metrics such as beat error, amplitude, and rate. Truly analyzing the health of the movement will allow owners to make use of their timepieces for much longer. Important in this age of fast-moving technology.
The Hybrid Manufacture line will be available soon, retail price starts at $3,495, with a range-topping Rose Gold plated offering at $3,795.
