It may not be at the forefront of the enthusiast hype train at the moment, but it certainly feels like we’re living through a quiet renaissance for the world timer complication in late 2024. The GMT’s more ornate, detailed cousin has always been a niche style, but the current market contains more interesting options at both the entry-level and above than at any other point in recent memory. Classically styled Frederique Constant has long had a handhold in the world timer market, but its latest iteration of the style might well be its most refined, well-made, and subtly handsome version to date. The limited edition Frederique Constant Classic Worldtimer Manufacture in Forest Green is one of the stars of this nascent world timer renaissance, combining a finely detailed design with a solid movement and a rich, masculine colorway.
Worldtimers, by their very nature, are hard designs to fit into today’s compact, small-diameter watch landscape. Simply put, there’s a lot of information (and outer rings) that need to fit onto a worldtimer’s dial legibly, and that generally necessitates a larger case diameter. The Frederique Constant Classic Worldtimer Manufacture in Forest Green is no exception, measuring in at a substantial 42mm wide. Just because it’s on the larger side doesn’t mean it isn’t elegant, though, and our review sample’s 18K rose gold case is classical and softly rounded. An all-over mirror polish draws out the warmth and luster of the gold case material while emphasizing the smooth curvature of both the case sides and the stepped bezel. It’s the crown that really captures attention on the wrist, though, with a beautifully faceted onion design. Around back, the sapphire display caseback showcases the brand’s in-house movement finishing. The Classic Worldtimer Manufacture is far from anyone’s idea of a sports watch, so its minimal 50-meter water resistance rating shouldn’t come as much of a surprise.
Of course, the largest addition to the Frederique Constant Classic Worldtimer Manufacture in Forest Green is its namesake dial. We’ve seen an explosion in green dials across the watch industry over the past several years, but this is a warmer, mossier, more olive-hued green than we traditionally find. The end result works remarkably well with the rose gold case and dial hardware, maintaining the warmth and richness of the rest of the design while still lending a verdant touch. The main dial itself offers a well-considered balance between cleanliness and visual detail, leaving the landmasses of the traditional world timer “world map” in simple pale gray, while the oceans feature a satiny sunburst texture and a crenelated coin edge. The 6 o’clock pointer date display echoes the sunburst finish and coin edge (albeit with a tighter pattern), but adds a central fluted section that creates a wealth of visually arresting highlights on the wrist. Thanks to this raised subdial’s overhang, it also gives the Classic Worldtimer Manufacture one of its most intelligently crafted features. When the crisp white outer city ring is adjusted to the correct position for local time, the city in question disappears beneath the lip of the 6 o’clock subdial. This way, it’s always clear what the currently set time zone is (particularly useful for frequent travelers), without sacrificing the visibility of the other 23 tracked time zones. In short, it’s a small visual choice, but one that makes the often-inscrutable world timer complication far easier to actually live with. Frederique Constant wisely keeps the Classic Worldtimer Manufacture’s dial hardware simple to avoid visually competing with the lush dial layout, but these straightforward elements are still reasonably attractive. The applied circular indices keep things legible and add more golden warmth to the dial, and the subtly flared pointer date hand’s contours catch the light dramatically at certain angles. The flat, uniform polished main alpha handset, however, doesn’t quite capture the sumptuousness and depth of the rest of the dial design.
Frederique Constant powers the Classic Worldtimer Manufacture in Forest Green with its in-house FC-718 automatic world time movement. Although any in-house world timer is impressive on its own, the FC-718 does leave a slightly mixed impression with its performance. On the one hand, the easy quick-adjust city and world time rings (both operating from the same crown position turned in different directions) are a fantastic quality-of-life feature, but the movement’s 38-hour power reserve and 28,800 bph beat rate are relics by modern movement standards. With that said, the FC-718’s finishing is truly captivating, combining blued screws, circular striping on the upper bridges, oversized perlage for the lower bridges, and polished anglage throughout. The cutout gold rotor is a fitting capstone to this display, with strong linear brushing, matte blasting, bas-relief lettering, and polished anglage that creates an impressive spectacle when the watch is turned around. To complete the design, Frederique Constant fits the watch with a finely detailed forest green alligator leather strap. This heavily saturated green isn’t an exact match for the mossier hue of the dial but works well in concert as a sharper contrast to the redder tones of the rose gold case. It’s a charmingly old-school strap through and through, with significant padding and a classic pin buckle to keep things simple on the wrist.
Although they might not be front-and-center in the enthusiast consciousness as of yet, 2024 has been a great year for worldtimers. This classically styled niche complication is quietly growing in the background of the larger watchmaking landscape, and the limited edition Frederique Constant Classic Worldtimer Manufacture in Forest Green stands as one of the finest examples of this subtle renaissance. Only 36 examples of the Frederique Constant Classic Worldtimer Manufacture in Forest Green will be made in 18K rose gold, while an additional 718 examples will be produced in stainless steel. Both variants are available now through authorized dealers. MSRP for the rose gold Frederique Constant Classic Worldtimer Manufacture in Forest Green stands at $18,995 USD, with the stainless steel version priced at $4,695 USD as of press time. For more information, please visit the brand’s website.
