Q&AIt’s Time For Frederique Constant To Go Back to the Classics, Says Managing Director

With the new Classics Manufacture and Art Déco, are you back to the Classics series after the Highlife?

In the past three years, we pushed the Highlife. We could already see last year that the Highlife was accounting for about 40 percent of the business. So, it will continue to be developed. In the coming three years, you’ll see a completely new line-up of revamped and redesigned Classics, like the new Classics Manufacture 39mm.

How do you decide the right time to redevelop an existing collection?

I believe that a strong product launch should be done after three years of the previous edition at least. We also see what the performance is like, and we evaluate the gaps in the collection and look to fill them with new editions.

With the Highlife, was it always the plan to do COSC, Open Heart, Perpetual, Worldtimer and then the Chronograph?

My idea with the Highlife was to have a sport-chic watch. I also wanted to attract a customer who didn’t want a classical timepiece. I wanted to do a chronograph, but that would take the line straight into sporty. So, we started with Open Heart and the COSC, and the Chronograph followed later.

How did the Monolith do? Have you considered using that technology in other collections?

It was a little too successful. We launched it in March 2021, and they were sold within two months. For now, we want to develop the technology itself to perfection before we use it in other collections. And we’ll look to have it certified by TimeLab, which has higher standards than the COSC.

Which feature defines Frederique Constant the most?

The Open Heart, if you ask me, is our most recognisable product.

“The Open Heart, if you ask me, is our most recognisable product.” This is the new Classics Heart Beat Manufacture, which has the signature Open Heart display that Eggerding speaks of

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The new Classics Heart Beat Manufacture comes in either gold or steel, each in a limited edition of 93 and 930 pieces, respectively

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The case size is also smaller, at 39mm, which is in line with the trend of smaller sizes. This goes particularly well with the classical nature of these timepieces

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The chapter rings framing the cirlce of Roman numeral hour markers make the display neat and also very timeless

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The classical onion-shaped crown connects with an in-house manufacture movement that offers a power reserve of 38 hours

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Do you think the Apple Watch has helped the Swiss watch industry?

I wouldn’t say that it has had a positive impact on the industry. The quartz export has reduced substantially. In a flight, today four out of 10 people are wearing Apple Watches. But they are not replacing their analogue luxury watches with the smartwatches; they just wear their smartwatches more. However, people are now appreciating wristwatches more.

The Hybrid Smartwatch from Frederique Constant did very well for the brand. They've been among the few luxury Swiss watchmakers who have seen success with smart technology

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Niels Eggerding says that it was an expensive segment to manage, with constant software updates and such

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This Hybrid Smartwatch had a mechanical movement, but also had a chip for smart features, controlled via a smartphone app

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You saw a lot of success with the Hybrid and the Horological Smartwatch. Do you see your brand doing more in that space?

That segment is temporarily not being focused on. After the start of the pandemic, we had to refocus our attention on what was most important. The workload from making smartwatches—including software maintenance, etc—was more than it is for analogues and mechanicals. So now, the idea is not to go that heavily into smartwatches anymore even if we do it again.