Romaric André, the man behind customisation specialist seconde/seconde, humbly states on his website that he vandalizes other people’s products because he failed at building his own.
Rarely has that assertion been more true than in a new pair of watches from Frederique Constant, which appear to have been left in a state of disarray courtesy of the French artist.
Two limited editions of the Slimline Moonphase Date Manufacture Limited Editions, one in steel (100 pieces), the other in steel with a rose gold treatment (10 pieces), have been revealed with their hour markers seemingly scattered across their dials.
The disarray does nothing to diminish the desirability of the watches. Quite the opposite. seconde/seconde collaborations are hot property right now and the price of £2,995 is a steal.
Frederique Constant is using the artistic partnership to highlight the fact that all of its watches are manufactured by hand, a message that is etched onto the exhibition case back of each watch.
The watches are a journey of discovery, with little jokes along the way.
At first glance, they appear totally normal.
Finely polished three-part 42mm stainless steel case? Check.
Matt silver dial with moonphase and date complication at 6 o’clock? Check.
Perlage finished FC-705 in-house automatic movement with golden-hued Frederique Constant rotor? Check.
The underside of the watch has the least subtle reminder that something is different as the exhibition case back has a message from the manufacturer: “How do we tell the world that manual-assembly is at the cover of our manufacture?” FC poses.
“We asked artist seconde/seconde. He took it too far,” it answers.
On the dial side, Frederique Constant usual precision hand-assembly is subverted with baton hour markers nudged out of alignment.
Look closer and the Frederique Constant Geneve logo’s usual computer aided design crispness has been replaced with a hand-written version.
The same informal approach is taken with the date indication surrounding a hand-painted moonphase at 6 o’clock.
It reminds me of Iranian carpet weavers, who intentionally include small mistakes because only God can deliver perfection.
Both limited editions are available now priced at £2,995. Remarkably, that is less than the same model without the seconde/seconde treatment, but I suppose it has been vandalised.
This looks fantastic. And that price does make it a steal.