# Frederique Constant - Classics Index Automatic



## //Napoleon// (Mar 22, 2012)

To me, Frederique Constant was one of those brands that I heard about, but never paid much particular attention to it. It wasn't until I received an email from Jomashop for Black Friday sale, that I became more interested in the brand. For some time, I've been looking for a classic swiss-made white dial automatic watch that I can wear in formal/semi-casual occasions. Specifically, I wanted a watch 39-41mm in size with indexes (no Arabic or roman numerals) and no day display.

In the past I've owned a couple of dress-watches - mainly the Seiko sarb033 and the Tissot Visodate. I've enjoyed them both but the sarb was a tad bit too small for my taste (38mm) and bezel wasn't thin enough, and the Visodate was a bit too thick. Although the tall domed crystal on the Visodate gave that authentic 1950s vintage feel, it was sometimes difficult to tell the time and unwittingly became somewhat "blingy" due to glare from the sun. A beautiful watch, but it wasn't for me. I ended up selling both watches to fellow forum members. Here is a picture of the visodate before selling it: 


While looking at the Frederique Constant section of Jomashop, I found a beautiful and simple looking piece - the Frederique constant index automatic. It had attractive deign and was surprisingly affordable on grey market. In fact, the index automatic is Frederique Constants' most affordable automatic piece. 








The MSRP of the watch is over 1000 USD, but on greymarket, it was priced similar to Hamilton dress watches. 
I decided to do more research on the brand. 
Frederique constant is a relatively new watch company based in Geneve, Switzerland. It was founded by two couples who were passionate about swiss watch-making.









Frederique Constant have developed their own in-house movement for some of their lineups and even has an impressive $50,000 fully in-house tourbillion watch. It's always nice to see when a company puts in that extra effort. However the watch I am reviewing has a stock swiss sw200 movement (elabore grade), which is quite understandable considering the price point. Here is a picture of FC's own inhouse manufacture movement.









I was also quite intrigued by their website, where you can do a virtual tour of the factory (Frédérique Constant | Virtual Tour). 

I ordered the watch from an online-dealer, and the watch arrived the very next day.

And the following are some of the pictures I took. Please excuse the pic quality as I took the photos with a 4 year old Samsung phone:


The 40mm white dial is quite mesmerizing. Very clean look. 
The sapphire crystal is slightly domed (but not that tall) - it will fit perfectly inside your shirt cuff link.


The hand-made black croccalf strap nicely complements this classic watch.
It is water resistant to 50m


This watch is powered by FC-303 movement, which is essentially a Sellita sw-200. 
The watch has a screw-down case back (rather than a display case back). I actually prefer this because it's not a decorated movement and keeps the watch slim.


The Classics Index has dotted super luminova lumes next to the indexes and on the hour and minute hands. Also the crown is signed with the Frederique Constant logo.



The watch is very thin and delightfully light. I sometimes forget that I am wearing one.


The case is polished on all sides. However it's not as shiny or mirror-like as the visodate. This helps the watch keep rather low-profile despite its 40mm size, and doesn't leave any smudges/fingerprints.



Overall I am pleased with the watch. 
It goes nicely with a dress shirt or casual polo shirt and jeans. 
I still haven't had the time to measure the accuracy but so far it seems very good!


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## FCGVA (May 18, 2012)

//Napoleon// said:


> To me, Frederique Constant was one of those brands that I heard about, but never paid much particular attention to it. It wasn't until I received an email ....


Dear Napoleon,
Thank you so much for you review and your words.
Regards


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## sduford (Nov 24, 2013)

Thanks for the review, this one is on my short list.



Sduford, passionate watch newbie...


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## Nokie (Jul 4, 2011)

Great watch and great pictures. Nice review.


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## Sc00ter (Dec 2, 2011)

So I saw a thread...and I was wondering how come they are "cheap " because they do look like nice. And build an "affordable" Tourbillon is not for everybody either. I even find they look very similar if not exact replicas's of some Patek's. 
So the In-house movement explains everything. 
Tks for sharing.


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## SSDD1 (Jan 22, 2014)

Hi after few months of owning the watch, are you still feeling good about the watch? It is a beautiful watch and I am looking at one for a Sale at another forum.


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## VoltesV (Dec 27, 2011)

Great review, cool watch. Thanks for sharing. Cheers.


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## rpdressler (Mar 17, 2014)

Hows this watch holding up? Still enjoying it? 

I'm debating between the FC Classics Index Automatic and your old Tissot. 

Which would you recommend?


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## //Napoleon// (Mar 22, 2012)

I am a chronic flipper so I've flipped it couple of months ago haa. Both watches are great but I personally prefer the design of the frederique constant. It was slimmer and no date window made the dial look cleaner. 

Sent from my SGH-T959P using Tapatalk 2


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## andydaniel (Mar 8, 2014)

Great watches.


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## tohara (Mar 1, 2014)

i received mine a week ago from Jomashop and i love it. The crown seemed to be quite tight when it arrived so it was difficult to manually wind, however it has loosened ever so slightly and now has a nice tension. I'm not sure if this is normal with new watches? The strap is also not the best quality.
Other than those small criticisms though it is amazing, the dial is gorgeous, its the perfect size and the movement (from my timing) seems very accurate around -3s p/d.


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## Kid_A (Mar 2, 2014)

great classic watch. looks even more classic than visodate imho


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## richnyc (Feb 21, 2013)

Very nice review. Thanks for sharing it here


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## TomTo (Apr 14, 2014)

Thanks for review, congrats on stepping up for FC, just didn t you find Visodate too shiny time to time? It s on my list but a bit worried that in light it will reflect too much and look like chromed plastic or something!


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## Nokie (Jul 4, 2011)

Nice review. FC is a great watch for the price.


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## MLJinAK (Feb 14, 2015)

FC seems to focus on dress watches. Most all of them fit under shirt cuffs. My slimline is awesome for work.


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## Will3020 (Aug 28, 2012)

A genuine true classic piece


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## FrozenTime (Dec 21, 2014)

Very nice review with great pictures, elegant and timeless watch too!


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## Dave83 (Feb 25, 2015)

This one is next on my wishlist.. its the 43mm rose gold version! :-!

(FC-303V6B4 - not my pic)


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