Released just over a year ago, the Classics Moneta Moonphase is an exercise in style. Its flange draws inspiration from the milled edge of a coin, hence its name. Offered with a steel 37-millimetre case to suit both men and women, the brand revives the fluted bezel – a great Genevan classic – in favour of a more original, atypical timepiece.
Today, the Classics Moneta Moonphase plays with cosmic contrasts. The sun-yellow radiance of its gilded case dialogues with the sidereal black of its varnished dial, while the moon wanders the cosmos at six o’clock. A singular livery based on the juxtaposition of dark and light.
The playful Classics Moneta Moonphase enjoys taking well-established codes and making them its own in a subtle operation. We may think we’ve found our bearings, but all is not as it seems. Take the example of its fluted motif. The bezel of a watch has always been decorated, whether to facilitate handling or mark out certain intervals. Wrapping around its dial, the fluting on the Classics Moneta appears to be no different. But on closer inspection, it sits beneath the sapphire crystal – a bezel turned flange. This skilful substitution epitomises everything the vintage-inspired collection is about. Frederique Constant keeps the codes of beautiful Genevan horology intact, but combines them with its own youth and independence.
The dial is pure black – intense, deep, flawless. The moonphase at six o’clock, against its usual blue background with a gilded moon and stars, emerges all the more astral. The same goes for the two central hands. Adopting a vintage dauphine design, they are finely polished. Without a seconds hand, the Classics Moneta Moonphase moves softly and imperceptibly to the same gradual rhythm as its moonphase. Time falls away to the tempo of a quartz movement with 60 months, or five whole years, of battery life.
The new Classics Moneta Moonphase is both mysterious and resplendent on the wrist. Its design now features a gilded case. Brilliant and bright, it strikes a maximal contrast with the model’s black dial and strap. The latter, in just as deep a shade, reveals a final Classics Moneta twist: stamped with an alligator-scale print, it is actually made of calfskin. Its supple, lightweight pin buckle is ideal for a timepiece with a 37-millimetre diameter.
