In 2005, the Chronomètre Souverain won the “Favourite Men’s Watch” award the Grand Prix d’Horlogerie de Genève, the most prestigious award ceremony in the watch industry. Housed in a classical 38 mm dress watch case, this piece also bears Journe’s signature “flat crown” with a rope-like pattern.
An exceptional piece of independent watchmaking, this Chronomètre Souverain has a very classic execution, with a platinum case and silver dial. A cleanly designed dial layout makes the watch seem deceptively simple, while its technical brilliance is not to be underestimated. The signature F. P. Journe style hands are rendered in blued-steel, forming an excellent contrast against the silver tones of the dial.
An interesting aspect of this timepiece lies in the power reserve, as when winding, instead of the indicator heading from 0 to 56, it goes the other way, from 56 to 0. This was deliberate by F. P. Journe, who borrowed this from marine chronometer clocks. The reasoning behind this lies in the idea that the power reserve indicator on this Chronomètre Souverain is not meant to tell you how many hours there are left, but instead how many hours since you have wound the watch.
Journe is perhaps better known for his movements, and as part of this collection, the in-house created, manual-winding Calibre 1304 is made entirely of 18k rose gold, which can be seen through the sapphire caseback. The movement has two mainspring barrels in parallel, which work together to power the watch. What is perhaps most impressive is the chronometric balance fitted into the movement, which helps to provide the accuracy that F. P. Journe has based his watchmaking around. The watch is hand-finished with a mixture of circular graining with sunburst and wave patterns. All screw heads are polished and all edges neatly chamfered with a Côte de Genève motif on the bridges.
If sold within the United Kingdom, this F. P. Journe Chronomètre Souverain will be subject to 20% VAT