Watch Collecting: A Perspective From One Who Tried, And Failed

Watch collecting is an interesting pursuit, and can mean very different things to different people.  There is no “right answer”–only what works for that individual.  Some people enjoy a rotation of 3-10 watches, happily going to the safety deposit bank or the safe to pull stuff off the winder.  Others keep a few timepieces on hand they wear regularly, and leave the others–sometimes many others–wrapped up in plastic for posterity or investment purposes (I’m thinking of the Patek crowd here, particularly)  Then there are the fanatics for vintage Rolex or Panerai limited editions, who enjoy the hyper-minutiae and sharing a latest rare acquisition with their equally obsessed buddies at get-togethers where festivity levels are just slightly less than that of a Roman bacchanalia.   Continue Reading… »

The F.P. Journe Chronometre Souverain – Exquisite, classic, and sophisticated

If you take a moment to peruse the F.P. Journe website or catalog, or spend any time reading about the amazing horological achievements of Francois-Paul Journe, its very hard not to be overwhelmed be a desire to own an F.P. Journe watch (or multiple F.P. Journe watches, with bank account willing!) While his extraordinary complicated watches have garnered tremendous acclaim in the luxury press, and rightly so, perhaps the most attractive F.P Journe watch to my eyes is one of the (comparatively) simplest–the Chronometre Souverain.

There are so many wonderful details on the Chronometre Souverain watch which please me, that its hard to know where to start. The case design is wonderful–classic, yet infused with just enough of a distinctive flavor to clearly differentiate it from the established offerings from the larger watchmaking houses. The dial has the same wonderful effect– it is elegant and beautiful in its numerous fine details, but bears the unmistakable design signature of one of the world’s most creative and inventive watchmakers. Then of course you have the fascinating F.P Journe manufacture movement ticking inside this watch, enriched with distinctive constructive details (plates and wheels crafted from 18K pink gold), and horologically innovative features (a power reserve indicator, twin mainspring barrels, and a free-sprung balance).

This is a wonderful union of watchmaking brilliance and classical beauty. Whether you are looking to collect your first ultra-exclusive dress watch, or you want to expand your collection beyond the established watch models from more broadly famous brands such as Audemars Piguet, Patek Philippe, or Vacheron Constantin, the F.P. Journe Chronometre Souverain timepiece should be one of your first considerations.

F.P. Journe’s incredible Sonnerie Souveraine watch – Extreme Complexity Made User-Friendly

Complicated watches are pretty amazing. Hundreds of parts united in the space of mere millimeters, driving all kinds of stunning functions that never cease to fascinate. There is a downside to such breathtaking pyrotechnics, and it’s directly related to Murphy’s infamous law which states, “what can go wrong, will go wrong”. Simply put, highly complicated watches are much more fragile than ordinary timepieces, and many demand great caution when handling and operating them.

This brings me to the F.P. Journe Sonnerie Souverain watch, which is just amazing to me, based upon the nature of what Francois-Paul set out to do. He took what is widely considered to be the most intricate and fragile mechanism in all of haute horlogerie (the “grande et petite sonnerie”) and went back to the drawing board to create an incredible wristwatch which is user friendly, engineered to prevent catastrophic damage due to improper operation, and yet performs as well or better than existing sonnerie watches. Five years of intensive development, and 10 patents later, his watch was complete, and it is impressive, both as an accomplishment of fine watchmaking, and as a testament to the engineering brilliance and tenacity of Francois-Paul Journe’s mind–a spark of which is in fact present in each F.P. Journe watch.

F.P Journe

On every Francois Paul Journe timepiece is the French phrase Invenit et Fecit or “invented and made.” In the case of Journe, it really is the literal truth. As a collector, I had always known and recognized Journe as one of the finest small boutique watch manufactures in the world. My first Journe was the Chronometre a Resonance, an incredibly cool watch with two time zones with the mechanical watchmaking magic of natural resonance…….as I understand it (and I’ll do my best to explain it), a complication where the naturally occurring time disparity of one time zone counter balances and corrects the other. This was also the first watch I’d ever owned where the winding crown was between the lugs. The difficulty in winding the watch was totally offset by the “cool factor” of owning a watch with this complication and the winder at 12 o clock. While this is only one of the many rare and different complications that F.P. Journe creates, it might be my favorite. But to be fair, the others masterpieces deserve mention (and serious respect) would include the Octo Calendier, Tourbillon Souverain, Sonnerie Souveraine and Journe has the Grand Prix d’Horologerie (think of the Oscars for Watchmaking) to prove it.