rique constant sa type soci t anonyme industry watch manufacturing founded 1988 by aletta and peter stas headquarters geneva switzerland key people peter stas managing director products wrist watches website www.frederique constant.com fr d rique constant sa is a manufacture of luxury wrist watches based in plan les ouates geneva . the company was established in 1988 by dutch entrepreneur peter stas and his wife aletta bax . 1 since 2002 the company has also owned alpina watches a manufacturer of swiss sports watches founded in 1883 . frederique constant art deco series contents 1 history 2 manufacture facilities 3 products and product features 3.1 heart beat movement 3.2 silicon escapement wheel 3.3 tourbillon 3.4 manufacture 3.5 worldtimer 3.6 runabout product line 3.7 vintage rally line and sponsorships 3.8 horological smartwatch 4 brand ambassadors 5 charitable activities 6 see also 7 references 8 external links history edit the company was founded in 1988 by aletta francoise fr d rique stas bax and peter constant stas . 2 its name is derived from the names of great grandparents of each founder specifically fr d rique schreiner 1881 1969 and constant stas 1880 1967 the latter of which founded a company producing watch dials in 1904 . 3 4 5 in 2002 to diversify the fr d rique constant group stas and his wife acquired alpina watches a manufacturer of swiss sports watches founded in 1883 . frederique constant has grown into one of the larger swiss watch manufacturers . in 2011 production reached over 120 000 watches sold in over 2 700 points of sale in more than 100 countries . frederique constant positions itself in the accessible luxury segment with most of its watches selling in the price range of chf 1 000 5 000 retail . in 2011 the company said that it expected to continue growing at an annual rate of 25 % doubling in size every three years . 6 in may 2016 citizen announced its intention to acquire frederique constant holding sa which includes frederique constant alpina watches and ateliers demonaco . 7 manufacture facilities edit frederique constant operates a manufacture in plan les ouates measuring 3200 square metres divided over four floors with sectors for movement component production movement assembly watch assembly and quality control . numerically controlled machinery is located in a large workshop in the basement where all component manufacturing is concentrated . movement and watch assembly as well as quality control is primarily organized on the first floor . 8 products and product features edit heart beat movement edit in 2001 frederique constant began the development of its first watch movement in co operation with the cole d horlogerie de gen ve cole d ingenieurs de gen ve and the horloge vakschool zadkine . the heart beat manufacture has a characteristic bridge for the balance wheel on the front side of the movement . having the bridge for the balance wheel on the front side made it possible to have the spiral and fine regulation on the front side as well creating the company s heart beat design . the company patented this construction as an innovation in watch design technology . 6 the company s heart beat manufacture won the watch of the year award of horloges magazine in the category up to 3000 in 2005 . 9 as of 2014 the company has brought 15 distinct movements to the market starting with the introduction of its original heart beat in 2004 . 10 silicon escapement wheel edit frederique constant escapement wheel made of silicon in february 2007 frederique constant began production of the silicon escapement wheel first introduced to the industry by patek philippe in 2005 . 11 the company introduced the heart beat calibre fc 935 silicium in october 2007 . it implements new high tech materials to create better more precise and more reliable mechanical watches . 12 deep reactive ion etching is used to shape silicon wafers into escapement wheels pallets and plateaus . silicon is lighter harder and stronger than metal . etched into tiny skeletal structures that would be impossible to form with metal it becomes the featherweight heart of a mechanism that can run at a far higher accuracy . the silicon parts are virtually frictionless so need no lubrication and are immune to most external forces . and when bonded with a carbon coating silicon s only real drawback brittleness can also be overcome . 13 14 tourbillon edit frederique constant escapement made of silicon ; anker wheel and plateau in april 2008 frederique constant created a tourbillon with a silicon escape wheel and for the first time an amplitude of over 300 degrees between its vertical and horizontal positions . coupled with rapid oscillation this gives the watch an unusually high level of precision . 15 manufacture edit frederique constant offers 15 manufacture in house movements in addition to their mainstream line of eta powered watches . the high end fc 9xx caliber introduced in 2001 was joined by tourbillon in 2008 and a mainstream fc 7xx caliber range in 2009 . the addition of the second generation manufacture movements makes the company unusual in offering a complete in house watch for under 2 000 msrp . watches with in house movements are identified with the word manufacture in their model name or can be identified by looking for the tourbillon fc 9xx or fc 7xx movement in their specifications . 16 worldtimer edit frederique constant introduced a worldtimer watch in 2012 with a unique mechanism adjusted solely via the crown . the worldtimer function is used by selecting the desired city and placing it at the 12 o clock position on the dial . internal discs automatically synchronise and after that it is possible to see what time it is in any of the 24 cities on the dial . in addition thin discs also indicate at a glance whether it is day white disc or night black disc . 17 frederique constant runabout runabout product line edit the runabout range is a main collection of frederique constant and is designed to pay tribute to the runabout gentlemen s sports boats of the roaring twenties . the company has sponsored the h lice classique gen ve and lake tahoe concours d elegance boating events which have showcased vintage wood boats . 18 19 20 vintage rally line and sponsorships edit since 2004 frederique constant has sponsored several classic car rallies worldwide and it develops limited edition watches for each of these sponsorships . the sponsorships have included healey challenges 21 22 peking to paris 23 and the carrera panamericana . 24 horological smartwatch edit in 2015 the frederique constant and alpina brands introduced the horological smartwatch a smartwatch product with motion and sleep tracking functions that uses a secondary analog dial rather than a screen for its display giving the timepiece a more classic look than other such devices . 25 26 the lack of a display screen also provides a significant power savings enabling a battery life of two years or more in contrast with other smartwatches that must be charged daily . 27 this product line uses motionx core technology licensed from the california based company fullpower technologies and was developed in a joint venture known as manufacture modules technologies mmt . brand ambassadors edit the company s brand ambassadors have included the following indian model actress nicole faria miss earth 2010 28 29 hong kong actor sean lau 30 american actress eva longoria 31 spanish model actress in s sastre 32 dutch model miranda slabber miss holland 2005 33 taiwanese actress shu qi 34 indian international polo player samir suhag in 2016 actress gwyneth paltrow became frederique contant s global charity brand ambassador and assisted in the design of a watch named after the actress . charitable activities edit the company s charitable activities have included donating us 50 from each watch sold in its double heart beat collection to various charities including those related to the heart and children . 35 a us 50 000 cheque donated to the american heart association during its 2010 passion awards for charity in new york . 36 two cheques amounting to us 50 000 in 2008 and us 75 000 in 2011 to the international children s heart foundation an organisation that helps to diagnose and care for children with congenital heart disease in developing countries . 35 partnering with the world heart federation on the hearts of children campaign and in a multi national survey conducted in brazil india uk and the usa by the federation regarding perceptions and awareness of heart disease . 37 creating exceptional and one off pieces to raise funds for scientific and medical research on neuromuscular diseases in general and duchenne muscular dystrophy in particular . 38 sponsoring the european entrepreneurs of the year awards . 39 see also edit list of watch manufacturers references edit swiss watch news 2006 . archived from the original on september 26 2007 . retrieved march 19 2007 . factsheet pdf . archived from the original pdf on september 24 2013 . retrieved september 9 2013 . fr d rique constant confirmed growth . federation of the swiss watch industry fh . november 23 2001 . retrieved july 19 2014 . barquero j.d. enciclopedia del reloj de bolsillo 8497351894 2004 page 179 ... el a o 1904 con la uni n de fr d rique schreniner y constant stas imprimiendo esferas para relojes y en el a o 1988 lanz su primera colecci n de seis modelos . orologi 2011 le collezioni 8866147265 page 284 1904 fr d rique schreiner 1881 1969 e constant stas 1880 1967 si incontrano dando inizio a una collaborazione lunga e fruttuosa che prende il via con la fabbricazione di quadranti . a b frederique constant s response to swatch s plan to reduce movements supply . business wire . december 19 2011 . retrieved july 29 2013 . news pdf industrial news . archived from the original on january 28 2007 . retrieved march 19 2007 . horloges awards 2005 in dutch . archived from the original on december 16 2006 . retrieved march 19 2007 . modig anders . a celebration of accessible luxury . our minutes tourneau . retrieved june 15 2014 . reinventing the wheel . retrieved february 22 2007 . dead link swiss watch news 2007 . archived from the original on july 21 2011 . retrieved september 16 2008 . watchmaking the high tech world of old world watches . the economist . june 7 2014 . retrieved june 15 2014 . the silicon revolution . europa star . august september 2008 . retrieved june 15 2014 . frederique constant tourbillon manufacture silicium . swisstime . retrieved september 16 2008 . jasper kelly march 2014 . the value proposition the frederique constant classics manufacture . hodinkee . retrieved june 15 2014 . stults kyle october 18 2012 . frederique constant worldtimer collection . perp tuelle . retrieved july 29 2013 . disher mike september 19 2011 . fr d rique constant stars at lake tahoe concours d elegance . retrieved july 29 2013 . stults kyle may 22 2012 . frederique constant venice runabout . perp tuelle . retrieved july 29 2013 . frederique constant and runabout . montre24 watch portal . retrieved july 29 2013 . adams ariel february 21 2011 . fr d rique constant healey chrono watch review . a blog to watch . retrieved july 29 2013 . disher mike june 10 2010 . fr d rique constant healey chrono automatic and stoptimer set . watchtime . retrieved july 29 2013 . disher mike july 21 2010 . fr d rique constant official timekeeper for peking to paris motor challenge . watchtime . retrieved july 29 2013 . frederique constant vintage rally collection the carrera panamericana . prweb . february 3 2012 . retrieved july 29 2013 . fr d rique constant the