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 movement, as well as the gear-trains were crafted entirely in 18K Gold, which has since then 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 it the only three-time winner of the grand title of Aiguille d’Or at GPHG.

Speaking of surprising the world, the Linesport Collection introduced in 2011 was another unconventional launch from the brand. The Centigraphe Sport and the Octa Sport were initially produced in aluminium and then replaced by grade 5 titanium in 2014. The movement and dial were made of aluminum alloy, in a 42mm case making the watches ultra-light.

The present watch is the Octa Sport, it features a 42mm grey dial adding to its sporty appeal. The 60-minute outer bezel is made in titanium. The dial displays the hours and minutes, along with a big date which has a quick-set mechanism, a power reserve indicator, the day/night indicator (which is in red and white) and a seconds sub-dial made in translucent sapphire.

Seen through the sapphire caseback is the automatic winding FP Journe Calibre 1300.3 made in solid aluminum, featuring a 120-hr power reserve. The finishing is impeccable with beveled edges and black polished screws. The attention to detail in this watch is what one would expect from an FP Journe timepiece.

This timepiece comes with a black rubber strap accompanied by a titanium double-deployant clasp, Offering a 30m water resistance, the watch is a mere 75 grams in total and just 11.6mm in thickness.

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.