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In-Depth: The F.P.Journe Astronomic Blue Prototype
It’s been three months since the unveiling of the 2019 Only Watch catalogue and with it, F.P.Journe’s highly anticipated grand complication timepiece, the Astronomic Blue. The Astronomic had been the topic of much tease among close F.P.Journe enthusiasts for well over the past five years, but had only gained heavy speculation among the larger…
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In-Depth: Rediscovering the Chronomètre Souverain
Launched in 2005, the Chronomètre Souverain (CS) is quite often overlooked when it comes to the other models in the collection. Next to the likes of the Centigraphe, the Optimum, and the Repeater; the CS is to the untrained eye the simplest of a family of highly complex movements, bearing only a power reserve indicator.…
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Reasoning: Why the Vagabondage Dials are not Branded
The Vagabondage series was first launched in 2004 with the release of three pieces donated by François-Paul Journe to the Antiquorum auction house in celebration of their 30th anniversary. The three pieces each represented one decade of the house, with each piece engraved with “10 years”, “20 years”, and 30″ years” respectively, as I…
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A Closer Look at the N°000 Tourbillon Souverain with a Blued Screw
As with all the N°000 cases, the Tourbillon Souverain remains part of the Montres Journe private collection yet shows interesting characteristics that determine its uniqueness and time of casing. As a start, the dial appears to be one of the few hand-finished dials that were done by François-Paul Journe personally. The characteristics unique to…
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In-Depth: The Tourbillon Souverain Vertical
It’s been 20 years since the launch of Montres Journe SA, and 20 years since the launch of Journe’s first production model, the Tourbillon Souverain. Twenty years might not seem like much on contrast to other better known brands, but the fact that some Journe’s from 1999 are considered to be “vintage” should be enough…
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Discovery: A New Finding Regarding the Delivery of the Souscriptions
It is well known by now that in order to fund his brand, François-Paul Journe used a souscription system with his first 20 watches. The pieces were sold to close friends and collectors who were required to pay a 50% deposit to place an order, and later complete the payment upon delivery, once the…
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A Movement That Created a Collection: The Octa
In 2001, François-Paul Journe released the 3rd model under his brand name F.P. Journe. Whereas the first two were manual-winding movements, being the Tourbillon & Resonance, the choice to debut his 3rd as an automatic was one obviously taken in order to reach a wider audience. He named it “Octa” and referenced it as caliber…
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Traveling Through Time with F.P. Journe’s Resonance: Part 2
Recapping Part 1; we took a look at the occurrence of Resonance in watchmaking history right up to François-Paul Journe’s first encounter with one of Breguet’s double pendulum clocks; ending with Mr. Journe’s determination to make the first ever wristwatch to make use of the phenomenon. Following, we continue specifically with F.P. Journe’s Resonance wristwatch…
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F.P. Journe Prototypes and the N°000 Resonance
The Chronomètre Résonance was first released in 2000 as the second model in the Montres Journe SA collection, only one year into the brand’s existence. Whereas I’ve recently wrote an article on the history of Journe & Resonance, let’s take a closer look at N°000, for it is far more interesting than one would…
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In Pursuit of Precision: Breaking Down the Chronométre Optimum
Wind the clock back nearly 200 years to the 18th century and you enter what is often referred to as the “Golden Age” of watchmaking. It was during this period where the works of some of the most prominent watchmakers to ever roam could be sourced back to, and you will come across names…