F.P. Journe

I bought the Zodiaque by F.P. Journe, a wonderfully odd watch that is considered an important – or at least notable – timepiece by collectors of the brand. 

If you know my collection you realize that I like quirky but horologically excellent watches, but I only buy them in the secondary market if they are no longer being offered by the manufacturer. That’s what it took to find the Monats-Werk 31 or the Zeitwerk Striking Time by Lange, or the 1941 Remontoire from the Grönefeld Brothers and their collaboration with Kari Voutilainen. Otherwise I prefer to buy my watches directly from the watchmakers and entrepreneurs making them, which is how I got to meet such cool people as Remi Maillat, Bernhard Lederer, Romain Gauthier, Serge & Claude from Armin Strom, and of course Max Büsser.

To me this watch is part of my Calendar collection, engaging with more than just the quotidian day-and-date functionality. Obviously it’s a simple complication, but nonetheless it is an intelligent way to display information horologically. Like many of F.P. Journe’s Octa watches, the Zodiaque has both an oversized date display and a power reserve indicator. But its key complication is the ring on the periphery of the dial that indicates both the sign of the zodiac along with the approximate date and month, both of which are read as they scroll past the 12 o’clock indicator at the top of the dial. All the months are written in Latin to match the zodiac naming convention, which somehow makes everything feel more magical.

The Zodiaque series was made between 2004 and 2006, with only 150 pieces that were ever made. It’s an early piece from the brand seeing as Francois-Paul Journe didn’t kick his company into gear until 1999. It’s the first F.P. Journe wristwatch with central hands, representing the company’s move away from the quintessential off-centred display that began with the Tourbillon Remontoir d’Egalite and Resonance. This layout was a matter of necessity, since the dial had to accommodate the zodiac and calendar rings.

The watch debuted during the transitional period when F.P. Journe was just starting with 40 mm cases while discontinuing brass movements, thus making the Octa Zodiaque one of the few models to feature both, an uncommon combination for the brand’s watches.

When you research constant force mechanisms like Remontoires or the regulating concept around Resonance you will find that Francois-Paul Journe developed important calibers that define these complications. His watches have been on my radar for quite some time, but I haven’t built a relationship with the brand yet. I think this is the beginning of a great adventure. If you’re serious about high horology you bump into FP Journe very quickly. There is a real community around the brand, and the members share their love for the watches proudly on Instagram. Not gonna lie, some of them come across as somewhat insufferable occasionally. But I know (or at least follow) many Journe collectors, and I have found them all to be serious about horology, not something you can say about owners of other flex brands.