The new Ateliers DeMonaco
Tourbillon Oculus 1297 Titanium
At Frederique Constant the focus is on larger quantities and a specific
price structure. There are two general types of work here. One involves the
modifications where, for example, I would place the moonphase or date
module on a Sellita movement for larger quantities. The other aspect is
creating the manufacture movements, and this past year we introduced a
Frederique Constant flyback automatic chronograph.
That is a huge development. It took us six years. We also have a moon-
phase movement with the date, which is nicely done. The manufacturer
part is growing very quickly, which is very interesting.
When I started in 2001 with the first Frederique Constant manufacture
movement, we had only a hand-wound movement with a ‘heartbeat’ at 6
o’clock. At that time I was the only watchmaker developing this. Now we
have more than sixty watchmakers. It’s a different kind of situation. In fact
we are growing so well that we are building a second building next to our
current facility in Geneva. This will double the size of our current manufac-
turing facility.
We are growing very quickly. Not only are we making complications like
the automatic chronograph, but also we are making greater quantities then
we had in the past. Today we are building around 20,000 manufacturer
movements per year.
How does that compare to your work
at Ateliers DeMonaco?
At DeMonaco, we started in 2008, and we started with a very complicated
minute repeater tourbillon. From there we built the company up. Today
we have six different movements and six different collections. All of these
are quite complicated. We have a minute repeater tourbillon, a minute
repeater, a perpetual calendar, the Geneva Seal (a newer watch that is very
important to us), a chronograph and an automatic movement.
DeMonaco has become a high-end watch brand. I was initially focused on
the design and technique only but now I’m also focusing on the marketing
and the commercial side.
This is the second year I have been in charge of the entire company as its
CEO. This means much more travel, private dinners and press conferences.
But this also means designing and creating the catalog, which I also love. I
love to create things to make something else beautiful.
82 | INTERNATIONAL WATCH | WINTER 2018
The Frederique Constant Flyback
Chronograph Manufacture, at $4,295,
is an incredible value.