F.P. Journe

Well, I was just thinking today how I 'accidentally' stumbled upon FP Journe and perhaps this would be a good thread among fellow Journe enthusiasts if you folks could share with us on how and when you first discovered Journe. It doesnt matter whether you own a Journe or not, I just want to hear your experience.=)

For myself, I was a bit late on catching up to FP Journe. I remembered just a few years back, I stumbled upon Journe watches while flipping through various watch magazines. At that time, I was too ignorant then to take a second look or even discover more on the pieces. I remember shrugging them off as 'ugly' watches and strangely enough, I felt the same way not too long ago until something happened that made me changed my mind. The turning point that changed my whole perspective was this very site.

I remembered one night, just a mere one and half years ago, I was getting really frustrated and stressed over my work and decided to browse through this forum - just simply. At that time I was looking into Independent watchmakers mainly Vianney Halter, Dufour, Kari... and was wondering why Journe stood out among the rest and at the same time, I was curious about his manufacture.

So here I was surfing, reading some of the posts made on the watches, the calendrier, the chronographs, the resonance, DS tourbillon, etc. I remembered finding myself so intrigued by FP Journe's passion & drive for horology and I was reading more in depth on his contributions that I never knew about. The resonance theory being incorporated in a wristwatch got me mesmerised. The more I read about them, the more I was yearning to find out more. I was astounded, swept off my feet and really addicted. I couldn't sleep for nights thinking about the resonance. All I could do the next few mornings, was to wake up and read more about the watches and what collectors have to say. I remembered looking at some of the pictures and it almost seemed that all of a sudden, these 'ugly'-looking watches had made a complete turnaround into some of the most  beautiful timepieces I have ever seen.... what an ignorant mind could do to you! I remembered looking at Brad's collection and thinking, what a crazy nutter he was! I was very very impressed and owning just one piece from his collection would make me a very happy man.
So I was determined to see one in person.

I called my good old friend at my AD and she immediately arranged a Reserve de March and a Calendrier for me.
At  that instant, that was it for me. Pictures does NOT do any justice at all. I was sooo wrong before.
In person, the watches were unreal!
Siiting in the AD, I had them on my wrists and would not wish to part them.
I could literally feel my heart pounding away; my sympathetic nervous system went firing away.
What a feeling!
 
Unfortunately, I did not walk away with the Reserve de March nor the Calendrier that day. I wish I could but luck was not on my side that day.
I continued to have sleepless nights thinking about the pieces I have seen - at the same time, I couldn't believe we have a living legend making such remarkable watches at this time. I was thinking to myself, 'I GOT to be part of this history!'

It did not take long before a Ruthenium Chronograph fell unto my lap. I couldn't resist the Resonance, so I took a plunge. My most recent piece was a 38mm CS. I almost got the DS Tourbillon, almost.... so close but I chose to withhold it for now.
I find myself going too fast, too quickly. I decide to slow it down and fully enjoy the current pieces I have.
I believe I am making the right choice right now.

I want to savour the feelings I felt when I first laid my hands on FP Journe. As I reflect the moments acquiring the pieces, I could feel the warmth inside of me knowing that these pieces are work of art. Horological art pieces. The feelings are still here, right now, as I look over to my right, with a beautiful CS on my wrist ticking away with ultimate precision.
It has been a remarkable experience. No other pieces has actually made me feel this way. Absolutely none.

Now, my wish is to travel up to Geneva sometime and hope to catch Monsieur FP Journe himself.
That would be one more dream fulfilled.
That is my story so far.

I somehow felt compelled to share this with you all, and I hope to read your unique experience with Journe, regardless of whether you own none of them or have 10 pieces in yr collection. Do share your experience with us!
Cheers.

waiting at the baggage carrousel and looking at a poster advertising F.P Journe several years ago.

I should point out, at this point, that I do not yet own a Journe and with this stupid credit crunch saga, it looks like it will be a while until i can buy the Chronometre Souverain i so desperately need, without feeling too guilty.

My interest in the brand accelerated significantly in the last year after having handled one at William and Son in London and I remember being absolutely stunned at the quality of the watch. Subsequent surfing of the various forums confirmed to me that Journe was a seriously interesting brand that developed new and innovative designs AND COULD DELIVERY on them -  a definite rival to the supposed top 3 brands. Since then, after originally seeing that one in London, I have been to the boutique in Geneva, shops in Paris and have been repeatedly astounded at how much I like the watches and all the recent reading on Mr Journe, how much I respect his drive and passion.

I should alos point out that the website and catalogue are also very helpful in seducing new clients, with both providing a significant colour into the philosophy and technical details of each watch, something that is VERY important in a new brand.

But probably most significant factor in accelerating my interest in Journe, was a comment I saw on one of the forums stating that Journe could be the next Patek in a few years time - This sort of stuck, having being completely sold on Patek being the best watch company in the world and forever to come - i.e swallowing the whole Patek marketing spiel completely. I thought to myself why is Journe not better than Patek now?

Perhaps i should not really say this, but I personally really to understand why Patek and Vacheron (apart form the fact that the auction market is very robust) are supposedly such good brands currently - Audemars Piguet, one of the top 3 apparently, I do however understand. The current product inventory of Journe vs Patek and VC is incomparable IMVHO. AP on the other hand do currently produce some very interesting pieces - the Millenary deadbeat seconds with new escapement, the Jumping hour sonnerie, the decimal repeater, the RO concepts, even the new 3120 caliber, but as far as VC and PP are concerned nothing equivalently innovative in recent years. - I know that is a sweeping generalisation, but I really struggle to see anything on the current PP landscape apart for the new Patek in house chrono, and perhaps their new instantaneous perpetual calendar tourbillion that indicates any recent development and hence why Journe cannot be regarded alongside these brands.

In trying to reconcile these observations, and IMVHO, I concluded that Journe and AP were the best watch companies in the world currently, with the added bonus that they both complement each other nicely.  I already have an AP, and so in looking for more dressy watch, I simply could not find anything that comes close to the Chronomtre Souverain in terms on simple elegance and more importantly to me, something that is horologically significant - I seem to have developed the opinion that the CS, along with the Lange Richard Lange, is the most accurate chronometer out there in that price range and the design unique yet classic.

The only potential drawback of Journe pieces vs Patek and VC is the quality of the finish and by that I mean dust particles on the dial and in the movement. On a recent trip to Paris I looked at two Chronometre Souverains under a X15 loupe and saw that one had a blemish on the dial and the other a dust particle on the underside of the sapphire glass - both I should add were invisible to the naked eye. I did follow that up by looking at two pateks at the boutique, where I saw a rather larger smudge on the dial of one and a several spots of something on one of the plates in the movement of another - both visible to the naked eye.  I am particularly anal about this in high end watches, and have yet to see a company free of these drawbacks (I have never seen anything other than perfection on a VC I should add, but have only looked at a very small sample), but considering at how much the QC on Journes has improved in recent years, I have every confidence given the passion of Mr Journe, that this will only get better.

In short Journe has made such a huge impact on the world of horology in recent years, both in terms of his designs and movements, combined with what many have referred to as excellent customer service - I cannot fail to adore this brand and I am truly grateful for my luggage taking so long at Geneva airport that I was able to notice the brand.

Mark

 

 

Mark, thanks for sharing. It was a great pleasure reading your encounter with Journe pieces. CS is indeed a wonderful piece and true chronometre. I certainly look forward the day you acquire this work of art. It would be well worth it! But you already know this.

AP is a great company and am proud owner of their watches, mainly the Royal Oak. But lately, I am quite confused about what they have been doing, mostly, the limited editions Offshores - which I passionately disagree on, particularly in terms of the direction they are taking. But that is whole new discussion that has been beaten to death. I'm sure Riley would strongly disagree with me. That being said, I do absolutely adore the Jule Audemars Jumping Hour Repeater though. An absolutely brilliant piece.... jumping hour always seems to turn me on. I also cant wait for future installments of the remarkable Starwheel complication.

Riley, the tourbillon is amazing. Are you considering one?

I'm sure there are plenty of Journe lovers here, I'm sure some of us are keen to read your encounters, that is if you are keen to share it with us...

with his dead seconds tourb and i had to step back before i said WOW

Previously, i only knew of the brand from seeing it a few times whenever i visited my AD back in SIngapore. But at 1st, i wasnt attracted to the brand much, namely because i wasnt that deep into the haute horlogerie world yet.

Then i moved to Tokyo, Japan, where i'm sure everyone here knows Monsieur Journe opened his very 1st boutique in the world! But even then, despite passing by the boutique countless times in the 1st few years, i still did not enter those gates, primarily still cause the brand and its masterpieces did not yet sing out to me.

Then came one fine spring day last year (2007), when i said to myself "oh well, since i have so much time , why  not just stroll in for a casual look and maybe learn more about the brand itself." From the 1st day i stepped in, the extreme hospitality of the staff took me over. I was highly welcomed, and they took their time to explain to me about the brand, answered each and every question i have (& for those who know me, you know i'm hell anal with details, so probably dealers in other nations would have given up on me, but this is Japan you see... ) and gave me all the catalogues available, in each of the 3 languages that is available (French, English & Japanese, I understand all 3 you see)

Despite all their efforts, still i was not impressed with the brand, being a very "hard" customer as they would say.

Faith seemed to have it though, because (to cut a real long story short), i fell in love with marine chronometers of the past, and then came the quest for a Chronometre Souveraine, till today the BEST time-keeping instrument I have in my humble collection. The rest they say is history....

My CS

My collection consists of ONLY HAND-WOUND PIECES, and i am very anal about precision, i always ask the impossible,namely being that i DEMAND the ACCURACY of a ATOMIC CLOCK in a MECHANICAL HAND WOUND PIECE! Impossible?! Yes i KNOW! But then this is the TRUE ME! So the standard i set for my my pieces are particularly high, but you know what? In all my watches performing in reality (not judged by a witschi), NOTHING BEATS MY CS.

It is so DAMN (Pardon my language, but to emphasize to the fullest) accurate, that as someone else have posted on another forum, it appears to be as if it is running on quartz! But it is not! Full, no-shit, hand-wound, mechanical wonder! I could wear it the whole day, with all the temperature changes, activities(some of which you might even consider "rough") and YET, the time-keeping aspect of this masterpiece from Monsieur Journe ASBOLUTELY RESOLUTELY REFUSES TO BUDGE!

Since i am still fairly tender in age, I really look forward to a long relationship( & life) with the brand, and hope to promote it wherever and whenever I can. Because if there is an Independant maker that gets the thumbs-up from Stephen, its F.P. Journe! THE ONLY INDEPENDENT MARQUE FULLY& INDEPENDENTLY (accuse the pun)APPROVED BY ME! (Why is approval by me so important? Well come to Japan and you'll find out, even better, call the Tokyo boutique and get the whole story. Better yet, come to Japan, and we'll have a small GTG as they call it, it'll be my honour and pleasure to meet as many collectors/fans of the brand as possible!)

My next Journe? I am targeting this beauty which , pardon the not-so-perfect photo(not taken by me), is a platinum masterpiece that needs no introduction.

 

Thanks for reading my mini story!

Merci et a bientot!
Stephen (Stephane since this is heavily francais based)

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Well my collection is still very humble and small, so besides my F.P.Journe what i have is some Lange, some Panerai, JLC & IWC.

Awesome story. I could sense your immense passion through your post! It is always such a great pleasure to be able to read fellow PuristS' own narration.

I hope to be able to bring my camera back during the weekend and hope to post some shots...

Your story was a super one in itself! I noticed that you are in Singapore, maybe one day we could meet up there when I return home sometimes!

That should prove interesting, plus your resonance is a beauty that i would love to see!

Cheers

Stephen

If you are back in Singapore, holla at me. I'll bring my Resonance along.=)

while searching high and low for something that tells the time precisely and accurately yet simply and elegantly without superfluous complications. I'd already owned a Patek 5296G and was looking forward to visiting the FPJ Geneva boutique after zeroing in an Octa.

At the boutique I was mesmerised by the CS. My wife was mesmerised too.

They offered me a choice of case numbers as two watches were coming off the production that very day. I picked CS814 as it was the 14th February 2008, Valentine's Day and we were in Europe on our honeymoon.

They then offered to take me to the manufacture to meet M.Journe and to pick up the watch from him.

Did I go? Well, does a bear do a proverbial in the woods?

The CS was also the first manual wind watch in my collection and how appropriate.

When I think back I still pinpoint the exact time from seeing the a Journe in an advertisement.  The dial design was so unique and gave me an immediate connection.   I remember reading the catalogue over and over, reading endlessly on the internet and visiting my AD in NY what seemed like daily.  No doubt this was the beginning of my addiction.   

I will never forget that first time going to see them in the metal.  At first I considered a RDM but when I was shown the Octa Lune I really got excited.  Even today I still love the contrast of the gold moon and stars against the blue sky background.  The YG dial was something I had never seen in watch up to that point.  It was truly a unique combination and dial.  

A past thread on the same topic... 

fpjourne.watchprosite.com =