Altered state

The quick fix of novelty offers momentary happiness and access to current trends, but the democratising aspect of fast fashion and disposable accessories also disconnects us from any meaningful emotional connection with our seasonal purchases, which end up cluttering wardrobes or, worse, contributing to landfill.

This calls for a shift towards an ethics of care while valuing fashion for its cultural significance and storytelling quality. Disruptive designs with gravitas not only become iconic, reflecting the attitudes or lifestyles of their era, but also tend to regain relevance over time, underscoring the enduring value of timeless aesthetics.

If the pre-Watches and Wonders Geneva releases are anything to go by, green dials are a growing movement. Settling at the intersection of harmony and balance, green is the marriage of calming blue with energetic yellow. Yet, unlike fashion trends, its appeal will hopefully resonate on a deeper emotional level, to be admired beyond seasons and generations.

Dials offer the first impression but are only one aspect of luxury watchmakers’ fine craft and purpose, led by inquisitiveness, creativity, ingenuity, and an eye on perfection. In the world of luxury, Frederique Constant is a youthful 36, founded by entrepreneurs Aletta and Peter Stas in 1988 with the purpose of making accessibly priced, quality timepieces with classic values.

Notable milestones include their Flyback Chronograph with star-shaped wheel, Slimline Monolithic Manufacture with hi-tech silicon oscillator, sporty Highlife Perpetual Calendar Manufacture— one of the most affordable iterations of this high complication on the market — and the first Swiss-made smartwatch.

Frederique Constant recently engaged the “cheeky style” of Frenchman Romaric André of seconde/seconde/ to highlight the extent of the manufacture’s manual assembly and soul of watchmaking. I met André on the fringe of the old Baselworld watch fair in 2019, where the young collector/satirist/disruptor first presented his lineup of “rejuvenated vintage watches” featuring his distinguished “badassery”, all ticking with new elements of cool.

“I vandalise other people’s products,” he states on his website, which also indicates that he has branched out into brand collaborations, among them H. Moser & Cie, Timex, Louis Erard, and Bamford. Imbued with his sense of humour, the new 42mm Slimline Moonphase Date Manufacture “altered” limited editions in steel (100) and steel and gold (10) feature a scattering of applied hour markers on a matte silver dial, and hand-drawn logo script, date numerals, and moon-phase disc moon and stars, emphasising the human hand in the watchmaking process.

The open-display case back reveals the beautifully finished FC-705 in-house automatic calibre. “In life [as in watchmaking], the quest for perfection sometimes is conflicting with our human nature and beauty. I love to talk about our contradictions as social bodies, and I think this watch embodies a bit of this sweet bipolarity we all have,” says André of the Slimline’s provocative dial, indicating that serious watchmaking can be playful too.

POA, frederiqueconstant.com, seconde-seconde.com or Picot & Moss 011 669 0500