For the fifth consecutive year, Frédérique Constant — well-regarded by many collectors for its affordable Swiss watches with mechanical movements — served as a title sponsor for the Lake Tahoe Concours d’Elegance, a renowned event showcasing vintage wooden boats. As it has done in previous years, the brand has concurrently produced a new, limited-edition timepiece in its wooden-boat-inspired Runabout collection. Available in both steel and rose-gold plated versions, and both priced under $4,000, the Frédérique Constant Runabout Moonphase Automatic is this week’s Watch to Watch.
Both versions of the Frédérique Constant Runabout Moonphase Automatic feature a 40-mm round case (11.21 mm thick), with a diamond-hard convex sapphire crystal protecting the dial as well as a sapphire window in the caseback to display the movement. (The flag of the Riva Historical Society, a Milan-based organization dedicated to the preservation of classic wooden boats, is etched into the caseback window.) The silvered dials have a guilloché decoration in the center and applied indices and hour numerals (either rose-gold plated or pearl black). The watch’s functions are displayed in a trio of subdials — month at 12 o’clock, date at 3 0’clock, day at 9 o’clock — and in the moon-phase aperture at 6 o’clock. The two O-rings in the winding crown help make the case water-resistant to 50 meters.
Wish I could click on the pictures to enlarge them.
Instead of small 38.2 KB and 41.6 KB, wish the pictures were at least 1 MB or more.