Introducing: The Frederique Constant Highlife Perpetual Calendar Manufacture - HODINKEE

The new Highlife Perpetual Calendar Manufacture draws on the familiar FC-775, which we first saw in 2016 with the Slimline Perpetual. The movement is an automatic perpetual calendar caliber designed and manufactured at the Frederique Constant Geneva manufacture. When Stephen went hands-on with the Slimline Perpetual Calendar back in 2016, he declared it the best budget perpetual calendar available at the time, and I'm inclined to agree with his assessment. Debuting at a price of $8,795, it helped to reshape expectations regarding how a perpetual calendar could be priced, and it received a ton of attention, not just here on HODINKEE, but all around the watch-loving web. As a thoroughly classic dress watch design, the Slimline Perpetual was in line with a design ethos I had come to identify with Frederique Constant. And even if I didn't think the watch was perfect – its 42mm diameter felt a bit big to me, especially considering the relative compactness of the displays, leading to a large amount of negative space – its value prop was very, very tough to argue with.

Let's block ads! (Why?)