In 1988, Dutch entrepreneur Peter Stas and his wife Aletta Stas-Bax created the Frédérique Constant watch brand. By 2011, the company was shifting 120k watches in more than 100 countries. In 2016, after developing a “hybrid smartwatch, Stas and Bax cashed in their chips, selling FC to Citizen Holdings. The horological hoi polloi are not impressed by their remaining dumb watches. Let’s go to the tape . . .
Like many watch collectors, our man Tim at Caseback Watches is not overly impressed by the $950 FC Classic. The self-confessed “nerdy as hell” reviewer is especially disenchanted with the movement. “It feels a little toy-ish,” he pronounces.
Tim dings the second example — a gold-plated variant — for the same flimsy movement feel and its cheap ass strap. “The strap is sh*t,” he declares.
Tim’s even less impressed with the FC Classic’s resale value: the watch loses more than 50% of its retail price out the door. Yes, well, so does any watch other than Rolex and Patek, really.
Anyway, moot point. As Frédérique Constant’s website attests, the purveyor of just another Swiss watch — available at Macy’s — is all-in on hybrid smart watches. That’s Citizen’s play.
As someone who found FC sub-brand Alpina’s smart watch app kludgy AF, I’m not sure how that will play out. But it’s a smart move. So to speak. Watch this space. So to speak.