While this year, most watchmakers tried to create, with varying degrees of success, the most unusual or the most surprising tourbillon, “and the most useless,” adds François-Paul Journe with a bit of mischief in his voice, this watchmaker went against the grain and created his “simplest watch” up to now. It is a chronometer that displays hours, minutes, seconds and has a power reserve indicator. With timeless styling, purity of lines, high degree of readability, and a lack of ostentation, it is destined to become “a classic” in the art of watchmaking, according to Journe. Remember the elegant simplicity of its name: Chronomètre Souverain.
François-Paul Journe, who scoffed at the watch profession when he dared put screws on the dial, before being copied later, is now presenting a watch devoid of all the decoration (among other things) that had become his signature. Maybe he will be criticized today by the same detractors for not putting screws on the dialı
With his Chronomètre Souverain, Journe is re-starting, in his own way, the debate over chronometry, largely ignored over the last few years because of the frenzy for technical innovation. He is thus returning to the basics of watchmaking art, which are based on mechanical precision. In this case, the precision is even more amazing since it has been accomplished with such obvious simplicity. When Journe decided last year to make “something simple,” in his own words, he thought of making a chronometer based on the principles of the period from 1800-1820. And, he also immediately thought of a pocket watch that he made at the beginning of the 1990s at the request of a friend who wanted “a simple watch, displaying hours, minutes, seconds and a power reserve indicator.”





The challenge: stability
The technical design of the piece was aimed at achieving the highest degree of stability of the various forces. To succeed, it meant using weaker springs than usual and placing them in series in order to gain greater stability over a longer period.
Thus, two barrels in parallel grip directly onto the first wheel of the gear train, in a delicate manner but with great stability. The high stability range reaches a power reserve of 40 hours, then decreases to arrive at a maximum autonomy of 50 hours.
A manual winding mechanical calibre, the FP Journe 1304 Calibre is the first Journe movement to be totally produced in the ateliers that François-Paul Journe has just constructed at his Geneva facility.
It is a little like a childhood dream come true, rather than a forced march towards independence. “How did I become a manufactureı” he asks, then answers, “I was pushed little by little.”
A loss of partners up to then loyal and reliable, increasing concerns about the regular delivery of supplies in the future, and a growing desire “for autarchy” are all leading Journe to master the fabrication of his own balance springs by the fall of 2006, he hopes. Gradually, he has put into place a policy for his own manufacture. With his development still self-funded, Journe acquired a set of the latest CNC machines, and has constructed a production tool “matching the level of my ambitions,” he states.
It is not hard to guess that his ambitions are not small, leading him to explore new roads. “Apart from the hands, the sapphire crystal and the jewels,” he indicates, “we are mastering all the rest, either directly, or indirectly, such as for the dials through the firm, Cadraniers de Genève, of which we are co-owners, and for the cases, provided by a French company with whom we have worked for many years. This extraordinary tool will give me greater flexibility, reactivity, and control. But, above all, it will allow me to make special pieces and custom watches, in addition to permitting research and other activities that come with being independent.”
He goes on to explain, “I am continuing, however, at my own speed. I don’t intend to increase production [today, 700 pieces per year] but if I do, it will be by a small amount. I am now devoting my time to making a Grande Sonnerie that we will introduce this fall.”
While waiting to hear the melody of its chimes, we can be sure that the refinement, elegance and radiant simplicity of the Chronomètre Souverain will make a definite impression on the minds of watch aficionados in search of authenticity in the midst of the 1001 extravagant creations proposed today.





The F.P. Journe 1304 Calibre

 30 mm in diameter and 3.70 mm in thickness

 In-line anchor escapement

 4-arm balance with inertial adjustment

 21600 vib/hour escapement frequency

 143 component parts excluding case

 21 jewels/plates and bridges in 18 carat rose gold

 55 hour power reserve


Source: April-May 2005 Issue

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