Having been presented for the first time in Tokyo, just a few days ago, the FP Journe Souveraine Chronomètre Optimum is Francois Paul Journe’s latest creation – a representation of his ideas about the perfect chronometer.
The exquisite timepiece is reportedly available with a pink gold or platinum case and sports a special mechanism based on his previous Souveraine and Resonance ones. This particular one is extremely complex, featuring a twin barrel power supply stoked through a remontoir to a patented, highly efficient, lubrication free bi-axial escapement.
The principles of this piece’s functionality are pretty hard to understand if you’re not at least initiated into watchmaking. There’s actually a short video that displays the way the Chronomètre Optimum works; we can see the back of the watch features a dead beat seconds, linked to the remontoir.
This mechanism runs counter-clockwise. In addition, traditional to Journe, the movement bridges and base plate are crafted from rose gold. The power reserve attached to this caliber lasts for 70 hours, while the bi-axial escapement and the constant-force remontoire have been both presented with patents in 2005 and respectively in 2012.
A particularly interesting aspect is the bi-axial escapement, with the twin escape wheels and anchor being crafted from titanium; it doesn’t require lubrication and provides constant amplitude for the first 50 hours provided by the power reserve. As for the case, it is available in two versions, measuring either 38 mm or 40 mm in diameter, crafted from platinum or rose gold.
We hope none of you thought these timepieces would come cheap, because you’d be so much disappointed. The 40 mm rose gold version retails for CHF 85,800, while the platinum version is available at CHF 91,800 – if you do the maths at the current rates, you’ll come up with prices between $90,000 and $100,000.
[Perpetuelle]
