I have been traveling extensively as of late as the company I work for is undergoing an IPO, what might be the worlds largest to date. Needless to say, the amount of business meetings I have attended across the globe have been overwhelming. On the plus side, this has also resulted in me meeting some very impressive personalities, and their watches. One brand I came to know and love as of late is F.P. Journe, adored and collected by the worlds most influential personalities!
The brand was established in 1999 by Mr. Journe, a man who is regarded by many as being the greatest watch maker of our time. I had seen the watches before online, and disregarded them as weird trinkets as I do with MB&F and many other independents. But now that I have seen them in action, I have to say I am not only changing my mind, I have turned into an instant fanboy. Moreso after doing some research on Journe himself, what an impressive person! And what amazing watches!
The characteristic trait of Journe pieces is that they are simple on the outside, extremely complex, unique, and perfectly executed on the inside. With distinct yet very pleasing in person designs. The watches are smallish, mostely 40 to a few 42mm models, some 38 and 39. What sets them apart and has really caught my interest where two qualities of these watches: Unbelievable finishing quality and accomplished technical watchmaking with a purpose!
What I mean by the latter is that many brands, especially independants, seem to come out with overly complex mechanisms that are complicated for complications sake. I find that off puting as its useless, costely, and renders the piece unusable in any practical way. Journe on the other hand obsesses over one thing: perfect timekeeping! And he spares no effort or cost at achieving that. Look into the Chronometer a Resonance or the Chronometr Optimum for a bit more on that.
I am also very intrigued by how passionate he is about his work, he only produces 800-1000 watches a year, and that is not a limitation by design as he says, but rather as he wants his team to ocus on quality and perfection and wants to inspect every watch himself before release.
This video and article would do a better job explaining the qualities of this new brand than I ever could:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E1fmjnKGZkY&t=305sodinkee.com/articles/in-depth-the-fp-journe-chronometre-optimum
The quality of these watches in truly unbelievable, I had my Lange 1815 AC during the trip, and it felt second rate as I stopped by two boutiques and handled the watches!
As a side note, in addition to recentely discovering this brand and wanting to share with you guys. I have to say I am very please for Journe, here is a man who stuck to his passion with no compromise and is now reaping the recognition he deserves. We are fortunate to have such an exceptional watchmaker in our time. I personally have my eye on two pieces from their collection, but promised myself no more purchases until I sell some of the watches I am not wearing. Must downsize and upgrade!
Login
Register
FAQ
