Frederique Constant is a young brand, having been established in 1988, yet it is one of a select group in Switzerland that can count itself as being a “manufacture.” This is shown off best in watches like the Frederique Constant Classic Worldtimer Manufacture watch, which the brand has been producing for several years now and is newly introduced with a deep brown dial.

Previously, Frederique Constant added a variant with a blue dial to its collection of worldtimer watches which at that point only came with white dials. The new Classic Worldtimer Manufacture watch comes with a brown dial, which is a less obvious choice than something like black, but it matches well with the rose gold plating on the case. Ironically, the drawback lies here, as there might be more than a few people who would just prefer the plain steel to a gold-plated case.

The new Frederique Constant Classic Worldtimer Manufacture watch comes in a 42mm-wide polished stainless steel case that has been rose gold-plated. An interesting point about the Frederique Constant Classic Worldtimer Manufacture is that unlike most other worldtimer watches, there’s no pusher – everything is controlled by the crown. Water resistance is a pretty decent 50m and the watch also has a see-through sapphire crystal display case back.

Now, I would have expected the next version to have a black dial, but a brown dial is an interesting choice of color. In fact, brown dials are relatively rare and hard to find. The world map on the dial features a lighter shade of brown to provide contrast, and in keeping with the brown theme, the hour ring and city ring are both rendered in various differing shades of brown. I’m really looking forward to seeing what this watch will look like in the flesh.

Like the blue dial version before it, this Frederique Constant Classic Worldtimer Manufacture watch has hour and minute hands applied with lume to improve legibility in the dark. The hands are hand-polished and plated with rose gold. The hour markers also have lume plots. At 6 o’clock, you have the subdial showing the date.

Inside beats Frederique Constant’s FC-718 in-house movement. It beats at a very modern 4Hz and features 42 hours of power reserve. It is also handsomely decorated, featuring perlage and circular Côtes de Genève decoration on the main bridge. But more importantly, having an in-house movement allowed Frederique Constant to make the Classic Worldtimer Manufacture watch easy to use. Unlike other worldtimer watches that may require pushers to advance the timezone, the Frederique Constant Classic Worldtimer Manufacture’s various functions can be operated by the crown, including setting the time, calibrating the worldtimer, and even adjusting the date.

Overall, the new Frederique Constant Classic Worldtimer Manufacture watch is an unconventional take on one of the brand’s most popular pieces. The brown dial, while unorthodox, looks attractive enough in photos, and I can’t wait to see what the actual watch will look like. Like its predecessors, the new Frederique Constant Classic Worldtimer Manufacture watch is priced at $4,195. frederiqueconstant.com