# Shocked by the quality Frédérique Constant 303S6B6



## mattya56 (Apr 22, 2014)

Alright so here's the story - my last flip left me without a dress watch and I was in desperate need for something suit-appropriate for my company's holiday party. I looked around for something I could "get away with" that I could acquire fast, but also didn't want to break the bank as I'm rarely in suits. And wow, I think I struck gold.

I mostly wear sports watches that are ... uh ... a bit more expensive. Currently have a 6 digit Rolex Exp2, a Tudor Black Bay Noir and a Heuer-02 Autavia Cup. In the past I've owned an Omega Planet Ocean, an IWC Portuguese Chronograph and a Panerai Radiomir 512. Had the IWC for many years but never wore it bc it was too dressy (rose gold hands) then got the 512 as I thought it struck a balance between sporty and dressy (never bonded with it), but decided to move on from those two in favor of a collection that was far more sporty (Land, Sea, Air, Racing).

But that left me in a hole this holiday season so I'm a panic I ran to Amazon to find something. Stumbled upon the Classic Index and found a good deal but was bummed it was 43mm. I figured I'd pull the trigger and "get whatever" and if I hated it, flip it or try to return it.

Got the notification the watch had arrived today, ran home to pick it up. Winced as i opened the box, and to my absolute shock was blown away by the quality. Weight is great, size wears much smaller than 43mm (I have huge wrists though) the dial is incredibly elegant, the hands and indices are very handsome. The one knock is a kinda poor quality band, but I'll tell you the band looks very nice on the wrist and the curved ends really create a nice look. I don't mind the printed logo Frédérique Constant, Geneve, Automatic and Swiss Made since the watch was only $300 after using some gift cards I had laying around (list price was $475 on Amazon and $1050 on the FC website). The lugs hug the wrist very nicely and I think the 10mm height really shrinks the watch.

Bottom line, I'm blown away. Not sure of the longevity of the Sellita movement, but I can't see why I wouldn't hang on to this one for a while if not forever. From a snobby Rolex, Tudor, Heuer, IWC, Panerai, Omega guy I'm really impressed. This one punches way out of its weight class. Looks wise it is very much on par with the IWC (although obviously not a Chrono). If you're thinking about it, just go buy one or one of their other offerings in this range at 37mm and 40mm.

Here it is on my 8 inch wrist:


















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## malach ra (Sep 29, 2012)

Alpina and FC rock way outta their weight class. 

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## twintop (Nov 16, 2012)

That is a very nice piece, looks great on your wrist. I'd personally get another strap for it though ;-)


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## mattya56 (Apr 22, 2014)

twintop said:


> That is a very nice piece, looks great on your wrist. I'd personally get another strap for it though ;-)


Yeah, I'm thinking brown.

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## IAvictorinox (Sep 18, 2018)

That looks great! I almost picked one up on Cyber Monday. FC's modified Sellita movements run very well.


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## IAvictorinox (Sep 18, 2018)

malach ra said:


> Alpina and FC rock way outta their weight class.
> 
> Sent from my LG-H872 using Tapatalk


I second this. I've been very impressed with my Alpiner. It runs equal to my Breitling (+3/4 sec/day)


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## Maiden (Sep 19, 2014)

Yep I was in a similar situation and I grabbed a rose gold plate version. Blown away at quality for money. The white dial is gorgeous. Still enjoy wearing it once and while with a suit at work.


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## IAvictorinox (Sep 18, 2018)

Maiden said:


> Yep I was in a similar situation and I grabbed a rose gold plate version. Blown away at quality for money. The white dial is gorgeous. Still enjoy wearing it once and while with a suit at work.


Woah! That looks great! Now I may be on the hunt for one...


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## drdas007 (Oct 2, 2012)

I've been looking at FC for a while now. Thanks for the quick review...


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## TLUX (Oct 6, 2018)

Nice piece! enjoy.


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## yankeexpress (Apr 7, 2013)

FC and Alpina are corporately related and to my mind the quality rivals Omega at less than 1/10 the street price. And the GMT are travelers GMT with a quickset hour hand so one can chance time zones without stopping the watch. Very useful.


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## mattya56 (Apr 22, 2014)

Just as an update I threw it on this Hadley Roma honey brown croc strap. I like the look a lot. This strap is 22mm and fits perfectly which is odd, since the other strap was 23mm. And even more curious the other strap used 4 spring bars, and there are 4 lugs holes (you can see the extra holes in the third photo. Strange but oh well.









For some reason Tapatalk is not letting me post the 3rd pic. Sorry.

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## RotorRonin (Oct 3, 2014)

Love mine.










@mattya56, how white is the dial? I didn't pursue that model based on the description of the dial as silver, but it appears nicely white on yours. Is it really pure white in hand, or does it have a silver color?


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## mattya56 (Apr 22, 2014)

RotorRonin said:


> Love mine.
> 
> 
> 
> ...


It's totally white.

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## Robotaz (Jan 18, 2012)

Looks great! Constant and Alpina watches are packed with quality. 

Another that will surprise you is Raymond Weil.


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## djdust12 (Sep 23, 2016)

These all look fantastic. I wish my wrists were bigger, all these 43/44mm watches are a tad big


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## RotorRonin (Oct 3, 2014)

djdust12 said:


> These all look fantastic. I wish my wrists were bigger, all these 43/44mm watches are a tad big


The one I posted above is 40mm.


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## Itubij (Feb 2, 2016)

Though I would prefer a Seiko SARB035, the value of this FC is too much to ignore (compared to the SARB).

I kept mine on the original strap to take advantage of the E-strap/smart watch tech.

Four minutes in and TGV speaks on this watch:


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