Description

The history of F.P. Journe goes hand in hand with the story of the Tourbillon collection because his first pocketwatch he made took him 5 years, it had a tourbillon and spring detent escapement, that was back in 1983.
After a few years, in 1991 the first F.P. Journe wristwatch was born, it was a tourbillon with a remontoir d’égalité (constant force device), initially he proposed it to a few big brands but nothing really materialised.
From 1996 he started to develop high end calibers for famous watch brands but was fed up to give, quote : “pearls to swines”, he decided in 1999 to raise money to make his first 20 Tourbillon watches, called : Tourbillon Souverain Souscription.   20 collectors paid 50% to get an individually numbered piece.

The current generation of “Tourbillon Souverain” that we know, was made in two major references, the “T” from 1999 to 2004, made in a 38mm case either platinum or rose gold with brass movement, a few limited pieces in ruthenium were made also.
And then from 2004 to 2018 we have the current “TN” reference with Remontoir and “Natural Dead Seconds” complication made in 38 and 40mm, also in platinum and rose gold cases but the movement is in rose gold.   The watch won the 2004 Grand Prix de l’Horlogerie de Genève’s award of “Aiguille d’Or”.

In 2013, to mark its 30th anniversary of his first tourbillon pocketwatch, Mr Journe made a limited run of 99 pieces for its most loyal customers, called the Tourbillon Historique (reference T30) with a case made in silver & gold and movement in brass.
The same year a limited edition of 10 pieces called the “T10” to commermorate a decade of Journe’s first Tokyo boutique and the opening of his 10th Beirut boutique.  Almost identical to the “T30” but with a platinum case and black and white, and the caliber rose gold.
In 2015 we saw the release of a special 38mm – 5 pieces set in steel which had a tourbillon

To mark the Tourbillon’s 20th Anniversary in 2019, F.P. Journe introduced a new model called the “Tourbillon Souverain Vertical” available in platinum and rose gold • The present creation has a 42mm case in platinum and reveals an extremely elegant 18K rose gold dial with hand engraved bridges, painted and completed with a « Clou de Paris » guilloché • The Grand Feu enamel hour dial is at 3 o’clock with the small seconds counter • Blued steel hands indicates the hours & minutes, seconds and the power-reserve on this dial • The tourbillon cage located at 3 o’clock is unlike the traditional horizontal one, placed vertically for a constant tourbillon function whether the watch lies flat or is placed on its side • The tourbillon with remontoir d’égalité makes a revolution in 30 seconds, twice faster than its predecessor and therefore visually the effect is astonishing.

The mechanical manual-winding movement in rose gold is visible through the sapphire case-back • Circular « Geneva Waves » decoration on the base plate gives another dimension to it while the vertical tourbillon takes all the attention with its architecture and the harmonious cone-shaped mirror-polished ring that concentrates light • Thanks to the 80-hours power-reserve some lucky fews can admire the spectacular visual effects !

A light brown calfskin strap with cream stitches is the perfect combination to wear this extremely fascinating piece-of-art.

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.