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BASEL
PREVIEW
SMART AND
MECHANICAL
Frederique Constant’s new Hybrid Manufacture
3.0 melds electronic and mechanical features.
AS ONE OF THE VERY FIRST SWISS WATCHMAKERS TO TAKE THE
ELECTRONIC SMART WATCH SERIOUSLY, FREDERIQUE CONSTANT
HAS BEEN UPDATING ITS HOROLOGICAL SMARTWATCH SINCE
2015. THAT COLLECTION, WHICH THE COMPANY ALSO EXPANDED
TO ITS ALPINA BRAND, ADEPTLY COMBINES APP-BASED FITNESS
AND ACTIVITY TRACKING WITH A CLASSIC SWISS WATCHCASE
AND DIAL DESIGN. BUT WITHIN ITS TRADITIONAL, SCREEN-FREE,
ROUND CASE IT REMAINS A PURELY QUARTZ/ELECTRONIC AFFAIR.
This year the Geneva-based watch manufacturer is enlivening the interior of
its silicon-chip smartwatch with an in-house mechanical watch caliber and
then connecting the pair with newly developed technology it calls Caliber
Analytics.
The resulting watch, dubbed the Frederique Constant Hybrid Manufac-
ture 3.0, combines an automatic FC-750 caliber, which mechanically powers
three-hand time and date functions, with an in-house electronic element.
Frederique Constant has now attached the mechanical movement to the
electronic element, programming the latter to monitor the watch’s mechan-
ical and electronic functions as well as provide app-based activity tracking
for the wearer.
72 | INTERNATIONAL WATCH | SPRING 2018
BY MICHAEL THOMPSON