he Classic Carrée Automatic is an iconic Frederique Constant model, embodying the brand’s timeless elegance. Several versions of the timepiece are already available, the most popular automatic models being those with a date complication or a Heart Beat aperture. Now, for the first time there’s a Classics Carrée Automatic featuring only a Moonphase. The sophisticated complication sits at six o’clock, showcased on a choice of two chevron guilloche dials with an elegant sunray finish – one silvered, the other navy blue. Both are housed in a 42.30 x 30mm steel case mounted on a calfskin strap with tone-on-tone topstitching. The graceful new Moonphase offers a further demonstration of how tastefully the range pays homage to the watchmaking of the Twenties and Thirties.

The Moonphase is a contemporary reminder of the fact that horology is a direct product of astronomy, allowing collectors to check the Moon’s progress through a cycle lasting 27 days, 7 hours, 43 minutes and 12 seconds. The display constantly offers a fresh vista depending on whether the Moon is new, in its first or last quarter, gibbous, or full, changing imperceptibly in step with the heavenly body against a backdrop depicting the night sky and stars. The charm of the changing phases of the Moon and the discreet dance of the stars above grow on the wearer day by day, nurturing a unique dialogue between the constant movement of the three central hands and the gradual transition of the Moonphase, too subtle to be discerned by the naked eye – two rates of change coexisting in a single universe and a single space of time.

The new Classics Carrée Moonphase Automatic complication is located at six o’clock, where it offers a pleasing balance to the manufacture’s “Frederique Constant Genève” signature at twelve o’clock, both set amid a graceful chevron guilloche pattern, laid out in relief across the dial like a precious fabric. The silvered dial features a monochrome pattern, while the blue dial sports a combination of midnight blue and lunar grey. The Moonphase is done out in matching colours, with a grey Moon and stars on a deep blue background. The aperture housing the display is itself crescent-shaped, revealing and concealing the various segments of Earth’s beloved satellite as the cycle progresses.

While the Moonphase is an age-old complication in watchmaking that emerged at the same time as the first perpetual calendars, the rectangular shape of the Classics Carrée Moonphase Automatic is a nod to the formal style codes of the last century, being a classic Art Deco design. Widely adopted in the 1920s and 30s, square cases were originally quite a horological challenge since they almost always had to house an existing movement that was round.

Frederique Constant has perpetuated this style tradition whilst adding its own contemporary take with a more rectangular shape, 42.3mm high and 30mm wide. This generous format highlights the three central hands and Moon Phase whilst also making the dial easy to read and providing a satisfying visual sense of equilibrium. The dial features twelve faceted applique hour markers accompanied by dauphine hour and minute hands and a second hand, all three of which are hand-polished. The central pattern is surrounded by a ‘railway’ or ‘sector dial’ minute track, another typical feature of watches of the Twenties and Thirties.

In keeping with its natural vocation as a prestige timepiece, the rectangular case is made of polished steel throughout. Its two-tiered profile is an exercise in studied harmony, with a subtle balance of straight and gently curved lines. On the rear side, in common with almost all Frederique Constant’s mechanical timepieces the two new Classics Carrée Moonphase Automatic watches feature a sapphire caseback revealing the FC-333 automatic calibre, acclaimed for its reliability and long used by the brand; it boasts a 38-hour power reserve.

TECHNICAL SPECIFICATIONS

Classics Carrée Moonphase Automatic RRP 1’695 CHF

• Reference FC-333S4C6

• Functions Hours, minutes, seconds, moonphase

• Movement FC-333 caliber, automatic 38-hour power reserve, 28’800 alt/h, 26 jewels

• Case Polished stainless steel 2-part case Dimensions of 42,30 x 30 mm Height of 10,51 mm Anti-reflective convex sapphire crystal Water-resistant up to 3 ATM/30m/100ft Engraved and see-through screwed case back

• Dial Silver color dial with sunray finishing and guilloché in the center Applied pearl black indexes Hand-polished pearl black hour, minute and second hands Moonphase at 6 o’clock

• Strap Black calf leather strap with crocodile pattern embossing and tone-on-tone stitching Pin buckle