Company type | Private ( SA) |
---|---|
Industry | Designer watchmaking |
Founded |
Geneva, Switzerland 1999 |
Founders | François-Paul Journe |
Headquarters | , Switzerland |
Area served | Worldwide |
Products | luxury watches |
Production output | 900-1000 pieces (2023) |
Number of employees | 150-200 |
Website |
www |
F. P. Journe (legally Montres Journe SA) is a Swiss luxury watch manufacture d'horlogerie founded in 1999 by François-Paul Journe. [1] The only three-time winner of the Aiguille d'Or grand prize from the Fondation du Grand Prix d'Horlogerie de Genève, [2] Journe focuses on complex precision chronometers [3] with a production of around 800 watches per year. [4]
The company's motto, Invenit et Fecit ( Latin: "[He] invented it and made it"), denotes that the company designs and builds the entirety of the watch movements. [4] [5] [6]
F.P.Journe is the only watchmaker still based in central Geneva, [7] with company headquarters, manufacturing facilities, and an exhibition space with library housed in a converted gaslamp factory in the Coulouvrenière Rois neighborhood. [8] [9] [10] F.P. Journe also owns its own casemaker, Les Boîtiers de Genève, and its own dialmaker, Les Cadraniers de Genève, housed in the same facility in Meyrin, [11] a municipality in the Canton of Geneva. In 2018, 20% of the company was acquired by Chanel for an undisclosed amount. [12]
François-Paul Journe was born in Marseille, France in 1957. [13] An unruly child, he was sent to a local technical college at the age of 14. He went on to graduate from the Paris watchmaking school in 1976.
The motto of the brand, Invenit et Fecit ( Latin for "[He] invented it and made it") denotes that the company designs and builds the entirety of the movements. [4] [5] Journe's movement designs are original and he has invented completely new systems, such as the resonance chronometer. [14]
Journe was interviewed in 2008 by Lusso magazine. The writer, Oliver Walston, said "He welcomed me with a big smile, but perhaps this is because I already own two of his watches". [14]
F.P. Journe has won the Aiguille d'Or grand prize at the Grand Prix d'Horlogerie on three occasions: In 2004 for the Tourbillon Souverain à seconde morte, [2] the current-generation Tourbillon Souverain with dead beat seconds; in 2006 for the Sonnerie Souverain, [2] both a Grande Sonnerie and a Petite Sonnerie for which F.P. Journe received 10 patents; [14] [15] and in 2008 for the Centigraphe Souverain, [2] a chronograph with timekeeping isolated from chronograph mechanism, allowing the chronograph to measure hundredths of a second despite a 3 Hz movement. [16] No other manufacture has won the Aiguille d'Or more than twice.
F.P. Journe has also won four category prizes at the Grand Prix d'Horlogerie: the 2002 Special Jury Prize for the Octa Calendrier; the 2003 Men's Watch Prize for the Octa Lune; the 2005 Men's Watch Prize for the Chronomètre Souverain; and the 2010 Complicated Watch Prize for the Chronomètre à Résonance. [2]
F.P. Journe participated in the Only Watch auction for the first time in 2015, submitting the Tourbillon Souverain Bleu - a tourbillon watch based on the Chronomètre Bleu, including a chrome blue dial and a tantalum case, the latter which is very rare for a tourbillon. [17] As with the standard Tourbillon Souverain, it features an in-house rose gold movement and remontoire d'égalité, as well as dead beat seconds. [17] The Tourbillon Souverain Bleu sold for CHF 550,000 at auction. [18]
For the 2017 edition of Only Watch, F.P. Journe donated a monopusher split-seconds chronograph in 44mm with a blue dial and featuring a completely new movement [19] that would not be used in any other F.P Journe watches. [20] The watch sold for CHF 1,150,000 at auction, making it one of the most expensive independent wristwatches in history. [21] [22] F.P. Journe later released a modified version of the movement in the "lineSport"-brand Chronographe Monopoussoir Rattrapante series. [20]
F.P. Journe has donated watches to auctions benefiting Swiss charity Action Innocence . In 2015, a special purple dial Tourbillon Souverain raised CHF 650,000 while a special purple dial Élegante raised CHF 55,000. [23] In 2017, a special purple dial Chronomètre Optimum sold for CHF 200,000. [24] In 2023, a special purple dial Octa sold for 1,000,000 SFr.
F.P. Journe watches are only available through company-owned boutiques and official retail partnerships (branded as "ESPACE F.P. Journe"). The current 12 company-owned boutiques, listed in order of opening date, are located in:
In 2016, F.P. Journe launched Patrimoine Service, an official program that acquires out-of-production watches for interested collectors. [25] F.P. Journe purchases, authenticates, and services the watches at their Geneva headquarters, then resells the watches via their official boutiques and online platforms such as Watchbox. [25] [26] [27] A new guarantee card, box, and three-year warranty accompany all watches sold via the Patrimoine Service. [27] F.P. Journe is the first Swiss manufacture to offer such a service. [25]
Company type | Private ( SA) |
---|---|
Industry | Designer watchmaking |
Founded |
Geneva, Switzerland 1999 |
Founders | François-Paul Journe |
Headquarters | , Switzerland |
Area served | Worldwide |
Products | luxury watches |
Production output | 900-1000 pieces (2023) |
Number of employees | 150-200 |
Website |
www |
F. P. Journe (legally Montres Journe SA) is a Swiss luxury watch manufacture d'horlogerie founded in 1999 by François-Paul Journe. [1] The only three-time winner of the Aiguille d'Or grand prize from the Fondation du Grand Prix d'Horlogerie de Genève, [2] Journe focuses on complex precision chronometers [3] with a production of around 800 watches per year. [4]
The company's motto, Invenit et Fecit ( Latin: "[He] invented it and made it"), denotes that the company designs and builds the entirety of the watch movements. [4] [5] [6]
F.P.Journe is the only watchmaker still based in central Geneva, [7] with company headquarters, manufacturing facilities, and an exhibition space with library housed in a converted gaslamp factory in the Coulouvrenière Rois neighborhood. [8] [9] [10] F.P. Journe also owns its own casemaker, Les Boîtiers de Genève, and its own dialmaker, Les Cadraniers de Genève, housed in the same facility in Meyrin, [11] a municipality in the Canton of Geneva. In 2018, 20% of the company was acquired by Chanel for an undisclosed amount. [12]
François-Paul Journe was born in Marseille, France in 1957. [13] An unruly child, he was sent to a local technical college at the age of 14. He went on to graduate from the Paris watchmaking school in 1976.
The motto of the brand, Invenit et Fecit ( Latin for "[He] invented it and made it") denotes that the company designs and builds the entirety of the movements. [4] [5] Journe's movement designs are original and he has invented completely new systems, such as the resonance chronometer. [14]
Journe was interviewed in 2008 by Lusso magazine. The writer, Oliver Walston, said "He welcomed me with a big smile, but perhaps this is because I already own two of his watches". [14]
F.P. Journe has won the Aiguille d'Or grand prize at the Grand Prix d'Horlogerie on three occasions: In 2004 for the Tourbillon Souverain à seconde morte, [2] the current-generation Tourbillon Souverain with dead beat seconds; in 2006 for the Sonnerie Souverain, [2] both a Grande Sonnerie and a Petite Sonnerie for which F.P. Journe received 10 patents; [14] [15] and in 2008 for the Centigraphe Souverain, [2] a chronograph with timekeeping isolated from chronograph mechanism, allowing the chronograph to measure hundredths of a second despite a 3 Hz movement. [16] No other manufacture has won the Aiguille d'Or more than twice.
F.P. Journe has also won four category prizes at the Grand Prix d'Horlogerie: the 2002 Special Jury Prize for the Octa Calendrier; the 2003 Men's Watch Prize for the Octa Lune; the 2005 Men's Watch Prize for the Chronomètre Souverain; and the 2010 Complicated Watch Prize for the Chronomètre à Résonance. [2]
F.P. Journe participated in the Only Watch auction for the first time in 2015, submitting the Tourbillon Souverain Bleu - a tourbillon watch based on the Chronomètre Bleu, including a chrome blue dial and a tantalum case, the latter which is very rare for a tourbillon. [17] As with the standard Tourbillon Souverain, it features an in-house rose gold movement and remontoire d'égalité, as well as dead beat seconds. [17] The Tourbillon Souverain Bleu sold for CHF 550,000 at auction. [18]
For the 2017 edition of Only Watch, F.P. Journe donated a monopusher split-seconds chronograph in 44mm with a blue dial and featuring a completely new movement [19] that would not be used in any other F.P Journe watches. [20] The watch sold for CHF 1,150,000 at auction, making it one of the most expensive independent wristwatches in history. [21] [22] F.P. Journe later released a modified version of the movement in the "lineSport"-brand Chronographe Monopoussoir Rattrapante series. [20]
F.P. Journe has donated watches to auctions benefiting Swiss charity Action Innocence . In 2015, a special purple dial Tourbillon Souverain raised CHF 650,000 while a special purple dial Élegante raised CHF 55,000. [23] In 2017, a special purple dial Chronomètre Optimum sold for CHF 200,000. [24] In 2023, a special purple dial Octa sold for 1,000,000 SFr.
F.P. Journe watches are only available through company-owned boutiques and official retail partnerships (branded as "ESPACE F.P. Journe"). The current 12 company-owned boutiques, listed in order of opening date, are located in:
In 2016, F.P. Journe launched Patrimoine Service, an official program that acquires out-of-production watches for interested collectors. [25] F.P. Journe purchases, authenticates, and services the watches at their Geneva headquarters, then resells the watches via their official boutiques and online platforms such as Watchbox. [25] [26] [27] A new guarantee card, box, and three-year warranty accompany all watches sold via the Patrimoine Service. [27] F.P. Journe is the first Swiss manufacture to offer such a service. [25]