PARALLÈLE / WATCHES & JEWELLERY
IN FOCUS · FREDERIQUE CONSTANT

From Hand-Winding to the Moon

With the first mechanical movement in the Moneta collection and a new Manufacture moonphase for the Highlife, Frederique Constant’s latest releases explore two very different sides of contemporary mechanical watchmaking.

Frederique Constant’s latest novelties arrive from opposite directions. The new Classics Moneta Handwinding takes a young collection back to one of watchmaking’s most traditional gestures: winding a mechanical movement by hand. The Highlife Moonphase Date Manufacture, meanwhile, introduces a new Manufacture complication to one of the Maison’s most contemporary collections.

One is deliberately simple and neo-retro. The other combines moonphase, date and a 72-hour power reserve in a versatile 39 mm case. Together, they offer two different expressions of an idea that has long shaped Frederique Constant: combining Swiss mechanical watchmaking, technical expertise and accessibility.

The Moneta becomes mechanical

Introduced in 2024, the Classics Moneta built its identity around an unusual detail. Its distinctive rehaut is finished with fine grooves inspired by the ridged edge of a coin, the detail from which Moneta takes its name. It is subtle enough not to dominate the watch, but distinctive enough to give an otherwise classical design its own character.

Now, for the first time, the collection becomes mechanical. The new Classics Moneta Handwinding houses the FC-435, a manually wound caliber from Swiss movement manufacturer La Joux-Perret, personalized exclusively for Frederique Constant. As both La Joux-Perret and Frederique Constant belong to the Citizen Group, the Maison describes it as an “in-group” movement.

Visible through the sapphire caseback, the caliber offers 63 hours of power reserve and operates at 4 Hz. Its Côtes de Genève decoration is complemented by the Frederique Constant crest at the center, while the absence of an oscillating weight leaves the movement fully visible. The choice of hand-winding feels particularly suited to the Moneta.

Rather than simply introducing a mechanical movement, Frederique Constant has used it to reinforce the watch’s neo-retro identity. Winding it becomes part of the experience; turning it over reveals another.

A new size, and a new dial

The mechanical transition comes with changes on the outside too. The stainless-steel case introduces a new 38.5 mm diameter, while the dial combines a smoked salmon center with a gradient that darkens towards black at the edges. Applied mirror-polished indexes sit alongside central dauphine hands, while small seconds at 6 o’clock reinforce the classical proportions and 1950s influence.

There are plenty of vintage references here, but the result stops short of becoming nostalgic. The salmon dial, hand-wound movement, small seconds and black alligator leather strap establish the mood without overwhelming the simplicity that made the Moneta recognizable in the first place.

Limited to 999 pieces, the Classics Moneta Handwinding represents a significant evolution for a collection that is only two years old: its distinctive design remains, now paired for the first time with a mechanical movement.

The Highlife looks to the Moon

If the Moneta is about going back to basics, the new Highlife Moonphase Date Manufacture takes the opposite approach. Since its relaunch in 2020, the Highlife collection has explored several complications, including the Worldtimer, chronograph and perpetual calendar. The Moonphase Date now joins them.

At its heart is the new FC-716 automatic Manufacture caliber, designed and assembled by Frederique Constant in Geneva. It provides a 72-hour, or three-day, power reserve, thanks to a redesigned barrel and a mainspring produced from a new alloy. The movement combines two synchronized indications: moonphase and date. Both can be adjusted directly through the crown, avoiding additional correctors and keeping the complication straightforward to use.

Through the sapphire caseback, the FC-716 reveals its perlage and Côtes de Genève decoration. But from the front, the Moon is clearly the protagonist.

Making the complication the center

Frederique Constant has given the moonphase display a highly detailed treatment, reproducing variations in grey, relief and shadow across the lunar surface. Positioned at 6 o’clock and surrounded by the date indication, it also determines the visual structure of the dial. Rather than radiating from its conventional central point, the sunray finish begins at the moonphase itself. The complication becomes the visual center of the watch, with the rest of the dial appearing to extend from it.

The 39 mm stainless-steel case is offered with two dial interpretations. The first combines a rose-champagne sunray finish with a deep blue moonphase display, creating a contrast between warm gold and copper tones and the darker representation of the night sky. The second takes a more tonal approach, pairing a midnight-blue dial with a slightly darker blue moonphase. A red “31” provides the one deliberate interruption, marking the end of the monthly cycle.

Both versions are delivered with two interchangeable options: a blue Saffiano leather strap and a five-link stainless-steel bracelet with alternating polished and brushed finishes. It gives the Highlife two quite different personalities without changing the watch itself.

Different watches, same direction

The two releases occupy very different places within the Frederique Constant universe. The Moneta introduces the first mechanical movement in the collection. The Highlife continues a line of complications that already includes the Worldtimer, chronograph and perpetual calendar.

One offers the tactile simplicity of hand-winding and small seconds. The other brings together an automatic Manufacture caliber, moonphase and date. Yet both reflect a familiar Frederique Constant approach: putting traditional watchmaking ideas into watches intended to be worn rather than simply admiredfrom a distance.

That philosophy is particularly visible in the way each watch approaches mechanical watchmaking. The Moneta combines a decorated Swiss mechanical movement, a 63-hour power reserve and limited production with a deliberately restrained design, while the Highlife Moonphase Date Manufacture brings together an in-house calibre, a 72-hour power reserve and two synchronized complications in an everyday 39 mm format.

The complication is there. So is the watchmaking. But neither is presented as something that needs to feel inaccessible.

A double GPHG pre-selection

The timing also brings another piece of news for Frederique Constant. The Classics Moneta Handwinding has been pre-selected by the Academy of the Grand Prix d’Horlogerie de Genève 2026 in the Challenge category. It is joined by the Classic Worldtimer Manufacture, pre-selected in the Petite Aiguille category.

The Worldtimer is not one of the September novelties explored here, but the double pre-selection brings together two different expressions of Frederique Constant’s mechanical watchmaking: the first mechanical Moneta and one of the Manufacture’s established complications.

The winners will be announced during the GPHG ceremony in Geneva on 7 November 2026.

For now, the two latest releases tell their own story. From winding a watch by hand to following the phases of the Moon, Frederique Constant is approaching mechanical watchmaking from two very different directions, while keeping the distance between the watch and the person wearing it deliberately short.

Sparkling PR is the exclusive public relations agency for Frederique Constant in the Portuguese market only.

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