This fan-favorite affordable brand’s new GMT takes a page from Omega

The Riva Aquarama is, without question, the most beautiful and coolest boat ever made. In production from 1962 until 1996, Riva’s flagship was essentially an Italian luxury sports car on water, with its gorgeous mahogany hull and teak deck still recognized globally as the ultimate symbol of la dolce vita.

Though out of production for 30 years now, the Aquarama and other classic runabout yachts from Riva still have plenty of dedicated followers, and the Riva Historical Society helps preserve their legacy.

One fan of the beautiful boats is Swiss watchmaker Frederique Constant, which, since 2009, has partnered with the Riva Historical Society to launch a special “Classics Runabout” limited-edition watch every two years.

This year’s edition is the best yet, as it takes direct inspiration from the boats themselves to great effect.

The Classics Runabout Automatic GMT features an intricate dial that’s among the most attractive ever produced by Frederique Constant.

It features a 60-second scale on the rehaut consisting only of numbers every five seconds for a clean look. Inside of this is a minute track encircling polished applied indices, with polished stick markers and Roman numerals at 3, 9 and 12. The Roman markers are polished and filled with vintage-style lume, and their vintage font is inspired by the Riva Historical Society.

There’s a framed date window at 6:00 that seems to house a round frame within it, giving the date an interesting, vintage look. The date cuts into a 24-hour track that’s tracked by a stubby arrow-tipped GMT hand. Its tip, along with the alpha hands tallying the hours and minutes, is filled with the same fauxtina lume found elsewhere on the dial.

Finally, at the center of the dial, we get the watch’s chief visual signature: a satin-finished circle displaying a pattern of vertical lines. This pattern is inspired by the teak decks of classic Riva runabouts.

It reminds me a lot of the Omega Seamaster Aqua Terra, whose dial for decades has famously been styled after the teak decks of yachts. Frederique Constant didn’t create an Aqua Terra dupe by any stretch, but the teak-inspired dial is certainly reminiscent of the iconic Omega.

Turn over the watch’s curvy, polished 42mm stainless steel case, and you’ll find a smoked sapphire display caseback giving a glimpse of the Calibre FC-350 movement; a Sellita SW200 automatic topped with FC’s own GMT module. The movement has a power reserve of 38 hours and is a “Caller” GMT, meaning the GMT hand can be adjusted independently, rather than the local hour hand.

In the middle of the display back is the Riva Historical Society’s logo in white, which FC says in the press release “seems to float like a pennant in the transalpine wind.” That’s maybe overselling it a bit, but the logo does look nice, and there is a visual floating effect.

Availability and pricing

Frederique Constant is a very impressive watchmaker. The movements it’s able to create at its size and price point are basically unmatched, yet the brand’s designs generally don’t do it for me. Most of their watches just look, well, boring.

But not this one. This is a pretty watch with an interesting design, and I think it looks very good. Including my favorite complication, a GMT, makes it even more compelling. Throwing in a replica Riva runabout, which is included in the watch’s display box, makes it almost too good to pass up.

The Classics Runabout Automatic GMT comes in two colors: brown, inspired by the boats themselves, and blue, inspired by the waters they inhabit. Each is limited to 888 pieces and is priced at $2,695.