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F.P. Journe is a brand that has grown in stature like a magic beanstalk. Few watchmakers can lay claim to a coherent collector’s movement after barely 15 years of production, but F.P. Journe is an auction house star before its second decade. Instant classics like this 40mm platinum Chronometre Souverain made it happen.
Steeped in the culture of vintage pocket watches and complications design for major-brand clients, F.P. Journe began develop his own concepts in earnest during the late 1980s. By 1999, he had launched his eponymous manufacture, and in 2005, the Chronometre Soverain helped to inaugurate the era of solid gold movements at F.P. Journe.
And that 18-karat rose gold movement is the best place to begin an examination of F.P. Journe’s bedrock model. Few manufacturers will attempt a gold movement; as of 2005, Journe has worked almost exclusively with calibers whose plates and bridges are crafted from rose gold.
Elaborate hand-crafted decoration distinguish every surface of the F.P. Journe caliber 1304; perlage on the base plate around the balance; meule rayon explode from beneath the mounts of the mainspring barrels; delicate mirrored anglage blunts the sheer transitions from bridge tops to flanks, and classical Cotes de Geneve adorn the crown of each bridge.
Technical specifications are no less impressive. Journe designed his Chronometre Souverain to exceed the Swiss Chronometer standards of the C.O.S.C. agency. Dual mainspring barrels in parallel provide excellent torque consistency throughout the 56-hour power reserve. A free-sprung balance with variable inertia balance masses resists shock-induced timing variation. Finally, the watch is adjusted in all six positions of the classical COSC chronometer and more stringent observatory trials.
This F.P. Journe Chronometre Souverain features the more desirable 40mm platinum case. Until 2014, Journe offered the watch in the client’s choice of 38mm or 40mm cases, and collectors prefer the larger option by a significant margin. Despite the substantial heft of the platinum case, a sublime 8.6mm total thickness permits this quintessential dress watch to slip under any sleeve or cuff with ease.
The dial of the Chronometre Souverain embodies elements of classical aesthetics and Journe’s signature cues. A “railroad” minute track frames the composition, and a traditional Clous de Paris crosshatch guilloche animates the center portion of the dial. However, Journe’s trademark tapered hands (in fire-oxidized cobalt blue) and asymmetrical Arabic numerals leave no doubt as to the master behind the metal.
Scattered subdials for the small seconds and power reserve recall the pocket watches on which Journe began his career in watchmaking during the 1970s and early 1980s.
See this 40mm platinum F.P. Journe Chronometre Souverain in high-resolution images on www.the1916company.com/watche...
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Video and content by Tim Mosso.