Following the launch of the first Highlife models unveiled last September, Frederique Constant is adding a new collection especially for women, simply named “Highlife Ladies Automatic”. The latter features three designs – the Highlife Ladies Automatic Sparkling, Highlife Ladies Automatic Heart Beat and Highlife Ladies Automatic – combining over 30 years of watchmaking expertise and the desire to come up with an authentic creation for 21st century women. The timepieces in this collection also feature the Highlife’s hallmark strap, which is built into the case and can be changed at will – the secret to making watches truly timeless and ensuring they always strike the right note.
Over 20 years ago now, back in 1999, Frederique Constant introduced the very first Highlife watches. In 2020, the Maison revived the iconic design, reintroducing the collection with resolutely modern curves rooted in the 21st century. Owing to its popularity, the latter inspired the eponymous collection for women, unveiled this year for watchmaking enthusiasts, the sophisticated and fashion-forward modern women of today and tomorrow.
The Highlife Ladies Automatic collection adds a new dimension to the definition of accessible luxury according to Frederique Constant. Graceful yet assertive, the delicate 34 mm diameter watch combines the subtlety of an exquisitely feminine timepiece with the presence of one that asserts its identity and unique character. The new design translates into both taut and flexible lines, the modernity of a creation that denies nothing of its craftsmanship, balance or style. Of course, the new collection features the integrated and interchangeable strap that has become the hallmark of Highlife stamped timepieces. The design merges case and strap in the same continuity, just like the women fitting two or even three days into one, with fluidity and energy. A closely guarded secret, the first link holds the key to the invisible integrated system that makes it possible to change the strap at will and without the need for tools. For those whose elegance embraces everything they do, Frederique Constant allows wearers to change the strap as often as an outfit, occasion or mood dictates, helping them overcome the challenges of daily life and be fulfilled.
Highlife Ladies Automatic Sparkling
Part of eternity on your wrist
The first piece from this collection – the new Highlife Ladies Automatic Sparkling – is intended for modern women looking for uncompromising elegance and an accessory that can keep up with their everyday life without sacrificing charm, finesse or authenticity. Reproducing the various nuances of the Milky Way on the wrist, this true ode to femininity invites the wearer on a journey. The cosmic blue dial of the Highlife Ladies Automatic Sparkling features various specks, representing stars. The contemporary product of an original design by the Manufacture that met with worldwide success, it has been replicated and upgraded for the first time within the new Highlife Ladies. At the centre of its dial, you can almost catch a glimpse of celestial gleam, with its delicate nuances reflected in the bezel, which is fully set with diamonds. Like stars scattering the vastness of space, eight diamond index hour markers complete this cosmic and dreamlike composition, which comes with a steel strap, as well as a second interchangeable white rubber strap. The combination of steel, diamond and wonderfully pure rubber range in colour from pale grey to the shiniest diamond, via infinite nuances depending on the reflections adorning the piece. In sunlight or moonlight, from midday to midnight, the Highlife Ladies Automatic Sparkling moves around the sun and the moon dial with grace and modernity, beating to the rhythm of those who live for the moment.
Highlife Ladies Automatic
The Essence of Frederique Constant
The Highlife Ladies Automatic is the perfect balance of classic, sporty and modern. Depending on your individual preference, it can also be customised by swapping the original bracelet for the rubber strap supplied with the watch. The first all-steel variation with its black dial and additional khaki strap can be made to take on a modern and adventurous look, for those who want a timepiece suited to everyday life and able to keep up with them in all situations. The second, more glamorous version, is entirely rose gold plated and comes with an additional pink rubber strap. Girly and trendy, complete with diamond-set bezel, the piece fully embraces the spirit of excellence and refinement intrinsic to the Geneva-based watchmaker. Finally, the third version puts the emphasis on grey, as can be seen on its subdued yet luminous dial. The steel/grey dial model also comes with another interchangeable strap, this time in sky blue rubber. Each of these variations features the engraved globe on the surface of the dial that plays with multiple shades of light, another feature of the Highlife models. Hands and applique hour markers are tinged with luminescent material, the last of them, positioned at 12 o’clock, is always doubled – another Highlife signature detail, the only choice for those for whom the right time is first and foremost… theirs!
Highlife Ladies Automatic Heart Beat
The next generation
The latest Highlife Ladies Automatic Heart Beat models capture the legacy of the Manufacture and carry it toward new creative horizons. At 12 o’clock, the pieces proudly display the window on their mechanical heart, made famous by Frederique Constant. Known as the “Heart Beat”, it lets you see the beating heart of the watch, its mechanical movement. It also reveals some essential components of Swiss Made precision. Alongside this emblematic feature of the Maison, you’ll find the famous engraved globe. Symbolising the Earth, unity and balance, it is also the icon of a new generation that shares the same ideal for sustainable and sensible living – an ethic in perfect harmony with that of Frederique Constant, which champions quality, reliable watches that are both transferable and accessible to as many people as possible. Two Highlife Ladies Automatic Heart Beat models have been specially created for modern women who want to embrace grace and elegance at all times. They come in an all-steel option, or in rose gold plated steel, complete with rose gold-plated bezel and crown. For the detail-oriented, each version comes with an additional interchangeable rubber strap – sky blue in the case of the steel version and pink for the two-tone version. The Highlife Ladies Automatic Heart Beat can be made to look classic or stylish, cheeky or elegant to suit the time, mood or season!
Heading for a new horizon
In addition, the Highlife Ladies Automatic collection opens-up new prospects for the Geneva-based Maison, whose primary mission is to create sophisticated watches with high-quality finishes at an affordable price. Contemporary curves in keeping with the times, which nevertheless do not compromise on elegance, one of the fundamentals of Frederique Constant. Indeed, the latest Highlife creations are designed to accentuate and reveal the personality of the women who make them their best friend. Their feminine qualities designed to accentuate the character of their lucky owners, these Highlife creations also aim to rally them around the symbol of intercontinental unity represented by the globe, which is proudly displayed in the centre of the dial. To help illustrate this idea, the Maison organised a photo shoot featuring women from all over the world, from Rio to Moscow, via Los Angeles, London, Paris, Milan and Dubai. Discover a watch for every look and aligned with the respective cultures of these international women, united under the aegis of the Highlife collection.
About Frederique Constant
Frederique Constant is a Swiss watchmaking manufacture located in Geneva, Switzerland. The Maison was founded in 1988 by a couple of independent entrepreneurs, Aletta and Peter Stas, to offer quality Swiss watches at an affordable price, with the aim of democratising luxury Swiss Made watches. Frederique Constant creates, develops, assembles and controls a wide variety of mechanical, quartz and connected timepieces at the same time within its 6,200 m2 Manufacture in Plan-les-Ouates (GE). To this day, Frederique Constant has designed 30 Manufacture calibres, including high complications, such as the Tourbillon, the Perpetual Calendar, the Flyback Chronograph, as well as a new and unprecedented type of escapement in watchmaking – the Monolithic. Made from a single piece of silicone, replacing the 26 components of a standard assortment, it oscillates at a frequency of 40 Hz, which is 10 times that of most mechanical movements. In 2015, Frederique Constant launched the Horological Smartwatch, the first Swiss Made connected timepiece featuring a traditional appearance. In 2018, the Classic Hybrid Manufacture succeeded it, combining a mechanical Manufacture movement with connected features. It was followed by the Smartwatch Vitality line in 2020, equipped with a new generation built-in heart rate sensor. The same year, Frederique Constant reinvigorated the Highlife collection (1999) with a redesigned case and an interchangeable integrated strap. This was followed in 2021 by the Slimline Monolithic Manufacture with its very high-frequency one-piece escapement, then by the Highlife collection for women.
Frederique Constant is currently present in nearly 3,000 points of sale in 120 countries across the world. In 2016, the Frederique Constant group (Frederique Constant, Alpina Watches, Ateliers deMonaco) joined the Japanese group Citizen, so as to pursue its international development and nurture new synergies.