With collectors in mind, F.P. Journe has brought forth a timepiece set that combines steel, a metal rarely used by the firm, and several movements it no longer makes. Proclaiming the end of its 38mm cases, F.P. Journe has created thirty-eight collector’s sets containing five of F.P. Journe’s best-known historic watches replica set into 38mm steel cases.
Journe’s very first wristwatch, a tourbillon model with a constant force device, was 38mm when it debuted in 1991, and at the time was considered a bit large. But a decade later, the F.P. Journe Ruthenium Collection was offered in 38mm or 40mm, a choice the firm began to offer for nearly all its timepieces.
But after Journe debuted his 42mm (steel) Grande Sonnerie in 2006, collectors began requesting 42mm watches replica. His incredible Chronomètre Optimum, with its double escapement wheel and its Remontoir d’egalite (a constant force device), required a larger case as well, so Journe made it available with either a 40mm case or a 42mm case. Afterwards, Journe adapted the Quantième Perpétuel with instant jump and the Octa Lune to 40mm and 42mm to make their indications more legible.
The larger cases are in demand today, and for many models the larger size best suits F.P. Journe’s complex calibers. After this set is sold out, F.P. Journe will no longer offer a 38mm size case on any model in its collection.
Journe has used steel as a case metal in the past, but strictly for his striking watches replica like the Grand Sonnerie and Repetition Souveraine. Steel is crystalline in structure, unlike platinum, and as such he considers steel a better conductor of sound.
Journe himself knows steel well: he is an ardent collector of gunmetal (burnished steel) timepieces and has amassed what is likely the largest collection of vintage gunmetal watches replica anywhere. In fact, Journe displayed 200 timepieces from his gunmetal watch collection in 2012 in Japan, Switzerland and in the United States, where it was seen at The Forbes Galleries in New York and at the NAWCC (National Watch and Clock Museum) in Columbia, Pennsylvania.
Long the case metal of choice for sporty watches replica, steel was relatively rare among luxury dress watches replica until 1972, when Audemars Piguet’s Royal Oak proclaimed that the metal could also support haute horology design and movements. With Vacheron Constantin and Patek Philippe also debuting their own steel dress watches replica not long afterward, the metal became an option at the very high end as well. Steel-cased luxury watches replica, notably those made by Patek Philippe prior to the 1970s, today fetch incredibly high prices when they appear at major auctions. Even new steel pieces, with the right provenance, fetch high prices, as was recently illustrated when a steel Patek Philippe unique piece Ref. 5016 sold at the 2015 Only Watch charity auction for a whopping $7.3 million—a world record price for any wristwatch.
With F.P. Journe’s release of this set he is adding rarity to the already strong set of reasons collectors seek out his company’s timepieces. These models will not only be the last of their kind housed in 38mm sized cases, their issuance in steel, a metal rarely found on any F.P. Journe timepiece, makes them doubly unique. The set is available at all ten F.P.Journe boutiques worldwide (in the United States F.P.Journe boutiques are located in New York, Los Angeles, Boca Raton and Miami) and at in-store Espaces at nine authorized retailers, including at Zadok Jewelers in Houston and at Betteridge in Vail. Price for the set: $308,200.