Two complications and a question about the third thing
By Marco Bellini, Zurich ยท
I am suspicious of a tourbillon and a perpetual calendar together at 23,000 USD. Not because it can't be done, Frederique Constant has done it, but because at that price something has to give, and it is usually the finishing.
The FC-975 is automatic, 50 hours, in a 41 mm by 13.2 mm steel Highlife case with a metal bracelet. 100 m. From the back the cage is visible and the bridges are tidy. Good industrial work. Not hand anglage, and up close the edges tell you so.
50 hours on a perpetual calendar is the same problem as on the cheaper model, only slightly less so.
Is it fair? There's very little else at this price with both complications, and that's the argument. If you want the complications on paper, here they are. If you want the handwork, buy a simpler watch from a house that bevels by hand.