Description

Invenit et Fecit – Invented and Made

François-Paul Journe is one of the most respected watchmakers of our time. He is considered to be a link between the 18th century watchmakers and the modern era – a reference he has earned through his work which is a combination of old school horology inventiveness and modern technology, presented as timepieces that are beautifully hand-finished.

In 1983, he completed his first tourbillon pocket watch and in 1991, launched the prototype of his first wristwatch “Tourbillon Souverain”, incorporating a remontoire within a wristwatch for the very first time. The plate, the bridges, as well as the gear-trains were crafted entirely in 18K Gold, which has since become a trademark character of most FP Journe watches.

The watch officially debuted in 1999, along with 2 more timepieces, namely Chronomètre à Résonance and Octa Reserve de Marche. The launches came as an announcement that FP Journe (the brand) has arrived. ‘Montres Journe SA’ was now a registered brand.

Since then, FP Journe has surprised the watch community with several inventions and unconventional timepieces, making him the only three-time winner of the grand title of Aiguille d’Or at GPHG.
He has also won several other awards at this prestigious annual event, including the prize for the Best Men’s Watch for his Chronomètre Souverain launched in 2005.

*The present watch is a special limited edition named ‘Byblos‘ after the ancestral Lebanese city.  It was release to commemorate the opening of the 10th F.P. Journe boutique in Beirut.

A very first for a FP Journe watch, the watch has a semi-skeleton dial, partly circular grained base plate with barleycorn guilloché. The blue chapter ring depicts the Mediterranean sky and its fiery sun. We can notice the letter J for Journe, in the Phoenician alphabet means it evokes the hand and thus artisanship. J is also the 10th letter of the alphabet and thus ideally representative of the brand’s 10th boutique.

Only 20 pieces were made with these ‘Eastern Arabic’ numerals and another 79 Chronomètre Bleu ‘Byblos’ with normal “Western Arabic” numerals for a total of 99 watches altogether.

– This timepiece is brand new and very coveted, remarkably rare to find, similar pieces were seen only twice at auction, viewing is possible preferably by appointment

F.P. Journe – Bio

François-Paul Journe was born in Marseille in 1959. An unruly child, he was sent to a local technical college at the age of 14. He went on to graduate from the Paris watchmaking school in 1976.
In 1982, after five years of work, he finished his tourbillon – and it work !
He founded the F.P. Journe company in 1999, have ever since stunned the world year after year with the visually distinctive and technically innovative watches.
The motto of the brand, Invenit et Fecit (Latin for “[He] invented it and made it”) denotes that the company builds the entirety of the watches. Journe often designs brand new movements, even inventing completely new systems, like the famous resonance chronometer.