F.P. Journe

Jay (Eire)
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Three men walk into a bar...there’s only one watch.

Not exactly true, there were three watches but we only talked about one.  The masterful RQ, in a beautiful combination of rose on rose.  

The summary of the afternoon might be; if one could actually order and receive one of these watches in a reasonable timeframe then one order for sure (not me) and maybe two orders (including me) might be placed. 

Alas, this is a watch that if you want today you might see in 2023, unless you are one of the very special ones for which accommodations at be made.  And we are not the “special ones”.  

The wait is due to it being a watch which seems to be very very much in demand, a “hit” if you will for Journe in an environment where as most of us know the entire Journe ship is very much rising high. 

My understanding is that today there is still 2 watchmakers dedicated to the RQ and that given the great interest this number may be increased.  That may help with the backlog of orders but for those of you that follow Journe closer you’ll know that adding someone to the RQ production will mean something else is not being made in the same numbers (most of the time this would mean they would be taking a watchmaker off another watch, reallocation of work as opposed to new hires). [Christian and others, you guys may have better information and perhaps there is already a 3rd watchmaker on the RQ today, feel free to correct me].

It was my first time with this watch in the metal and in the hand I was definitely impressed.  As some of you know I own an earlier Resonance and the obvious and major differences which this new RQ brings are the completely new movement and the changes on the dial side.  It’s a different watch, and so one would be entirely justified in owning the RQ plus any of the previous Resonance.  

Between my watch and the RQ there’s also a noticeable difference in what I’ll call “hand feel”, it just seems like a much more higher end watch, higher production quality.  I’m not taking about the movement, just dial side up and the case.  This is an obvious point to make of course, my watch is almost 20 years old. 

The RQ is a little thicker than the previous Resonances, at 11mm versus 9mm I think.  And this watch is the smaller case, 40mm.   I do think, but need someone to verify, that the bezel on this case is thinner than 40mm cases of the past, and so I think the 40mm appears better on the wrist.  I can’t say it felt thick or unbalanced in any way, although one would notice the little additional thickness. 

The metal and dial combination, which perhaps may not impress as much in these pictures was stunning in person.  While I might personally prefer a black dial on this one (with the same rose gold case) I think this combination is a much richer aesthetic and a little more dressy.  To the best of my knowledge we have not seen any special order dials on the RQ yet, presumably a matter of time and I’ll be interested to see what comes. 

I’ve always believed the Resonance is THE Journe, and this new iteration I believe further enforces this belief.  Perhaps now, given the updated movement, it might even take over the crown held by the Optimum in the last several years as the most desirable Journe among collectors of the brand (that comment is purely based on observations here and elsewhere that the Optimum has been the first choice for a majority).

Enough waffling I think, some pictures for everyone.  The light wasn’t great and I was using the iPhone so I hope I captured some of the real beauty of this piece.