Frederique Constant today introduced its latest connected watch, the Smartwatch Vitality, featuring a digital dial revealed on demand. In addition to the features of its predecessors, the Smartwatch Vitality brings a new feature – an integrated heart rate sensor developed by Philips. Now the watch can measure heart rate directly from your wrist.
Back in 2015, Frederique Constant unveiled its Horological Smartwatch. It created a new segment within the watchmaking industry. For the first time, a Swiss manufacture had designed, developed and assembled a watch with a classic Swiss Made aesthetic (analogue dial and hands) endowed with onboard intelligence; it was powered by a quartz movement supported by a connected module with two years of autonomy.
The Horological Smartwatch was followed by two other developments: the Horological Smartwatch Notify (2016) with additional notifications for calls and messages; and the Classic Hybrid Manufacture (2018), the first model to combine a Manufacture movement with intelligent functionalities.
One dial, two displays
The Smartwatch Vitality has a dial with two faces – a first at Frederique Constant. The first is characterised by Roman numerals and hand-polished hour and minute hands. With a press on the crown, the dial reveals a digital display on its lower part. The feature provides access to numerous information such as the heart rate, the activity tracker, a second time zone and even the last five messages from your favourite apps. This feature displays connected functionalities, while being connected to the watch’s microprocessor.
Furthermore, the watch is connected to the Frederique Constant Smartwatch App (available for iOS and Android). All of the functionalities of the watch may be configured directly via the app. For an even more personalised usage, the order in which the information can be passed can also be determined. To move from one function to another, all you need to do is push the crown. As soon as complete, the digital screen returns to standby mode and becomes invisible to the eye. The Smartwatch Vitality then regains its classic appearance.
Calibre and battery life
The Smartwatch Vitality is powered by the FC-287 calibre (men’s models) and FC-286 calibre (ladies’ models). Frederique Constant has leveraged quartz technology for the user’s benefit. The battery of the Smartwatch Vitality is rechargeable. It lasts up to 7 days for the ladies’ and 11 days for the men’s models, depending on the usage. It’s worth noting that 36 mm diameter ladies’ model offers the same functionality as the one with 42 mm.
Features
The new Smartwatch Vitality has a wide variety of features, most of which you’d expect from a smartwatch in 2020:
- Activity tracking: number of steps, calories burned, distance covered.
- Dynamic coach: personalised guidance to help you stay in shape, based on the activity tracker, sleep tracker and defined goals.
- Get-active alerts: physical activity reminder.
- Sleep monitoring: sleep cycle analysis: deep sleep, light sleep and time spent awake.
- Smart sleep alarms: alarm based on sleep cycle analysis, to wake the user at the optimal time.
- Worldtimer / Second time zone
- Always on-time: the time and date automatically synchronises with the connected smartphone information.
- Call notification
- Message notification
- Workout: measures the user’s pulse when taking exercise. Once the function activated, the heart rate is measured every 10 seconds.
- Chronograph: can now be activated and stopped simply by pressing on the watch glass. While training, the digital dial display will automatically switch to the minutes and seconds countdown timer.
Heart rate monitoring: the Smartwatch Vitality is equipped with a new-generation sensor, developed by Philips. This new built-in sensor provides information on physical activity and training performance. It can be active day and night. - Heart rate notifications: if the heart rate drops too low or climbs too high, a vibration and a visual alert will be emitted by the watch.
- Breathing exercise: offers a series of breathing exercises to reduce stress and regulate the user’s breathing.
- Messages review: users are able to view the last 5 messages received (chronologically) on their watch dial. Apps may include: Mail, Messages, Facebook, Twitter, WhatsApp, Instagram, Snapchat, LinkedIn, WeChat, Viber, Uber, KakaoTalk, Pinterest and Spotify.
- Weather: maximum and minimum local temperatures displayed instantly on the dial.
A complete collection
The Smartwatch Vitality collection includes four men’s models and four ladies’ models. The men’s model combines a 42 mm stainless-steel case with a black rubber strap or a steel bracelet, complemented with a rose gold-plated version. The Smartwatch Vitality for men comes with a blue, grey or black dial. While the four ladies’ models are shaped in a 36 mm polished stainless-steel, rose gold-plated or two-tone gold/steel case. They feature a floral pattern spread over the dial, around which eight-hour markers are set with diamonds.
Finally, when it comes to straps, each of the ladies’ models comes with a leather strap or a steel bracelet. It can also be accessorised with a range of five other stylish and sporty rubber straps. They come in colours such as purple, white, pink, red, grey, and are sold separately.
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