Francois Paul Journe. A talented watchmaker. I had the pleasure of meeting with FP way back when he was yet a nobody…and had just made his first tourbillon remontoir d’egalité. The original looked like it was made in his garage, and indeed it was. But recently, I had the pleasure of spending a week with one of the latest incarnations of this monumental piece, and I was very pleasantly surprised that the finish has come a long way.
This piece features a magnificent mother of pearl dial, which is luminiscent in more ways than one…depending on the light falling on the dial, it shows a different character to the owner…allowing one to peek into its personality. Very beautiful.
The huge tourbillon, adorns the dial, occupying a space as large as the time telling sub-dial itself, attributing the importance of the tourbillon to this masterpiece.
And now featuring a seconde morte…a leaping seconds hand, which moves once every second, much like a quartz timepiece, but in this case achieved with the incredible complexity (to adjust, the complexity is not in the design or fabrication which is fairly simple, but in the adjustment of the remontoir spring)
Click here for a 1920 pixel wide image of the above. By clicking, you agree to the terms that you will only use the image for personal use, and agree not to crop or modify it in any way.
The finish is now beyond reproach. The gold rings which hold the sub-dials are magnificently finished. The hands, a FP Journe original design is short, stubby, but beautifully proportioned. The layout of the dial, with a power reserve indicator at 12, tourbillon at 9, jumping seconds at 6 and hour/min at 3 is perfect. Note the glint of colour of the mother of pearl dial.
Not forgetting the movement…which is magnificent
The first generation watches had a brass movement, but the second generation featured movements made in 18k pink gold. The movement is a full plate, with a cutout to show the remontoir spring and the swinging cog as it operates the seconde morte.
A true masterpiece to behold. Hold your breath, and take it in…I leave you with another view of the dial, from a slightly different angle. Note the colours caught in this photograph is different from the one above…the beautiful glint and spectrum just beside the power reserve indicator is so mesmerizing to look at.
