FRANCOIS-Paul Journe, or F P Journe as he’s popularly known, is a living legend in the watch world. Practically all of his creations has turned into gold at auctions and other resale markets. Every year, the independent watchmaker’s workshop in Geneva rolls out 900 new models, which are snapped up before they hit the shelf.

F P Journe boutiques and authorised dealers worldwide are mere showrooms, not shops. The watches there are for display only. Want to buy an F P Journe? Get in line first – but be warned that it could (and probably will) be a long wait.

But good things come to those who wait. Presented here are, according to The Hour Glass – one of very few authorised dealers globally and the only one in Singapore – three evergreen pieces from the F P Journe factory: the Quantieme Perpetual Calibre 1300.3, the Automatique Lune Havana Calibre 1300.3, and the Divine Calibre 1300.3.

Start-to-finish watchmaking Excellence, creativity and independence are the three key words that describe F P Journe. The F P Journe world is self-contained. Every watch that leaves its workshop was conceived, made, assembled and tested there. Not many watchmakers in today’s segmented industry undertake all the stages of watchmaking.

Even the components for the watches are all made in-house. Under the watchful eye of the man himself, watchmakers and craftsmen created the watches largely by hand, and with a high level of skills and precision. Except for the lineSports and elegante models, the movements are produced in 18K rose gold – a first in the world of watchmaking.

The Calibre 1300.3 that powers the three timepieces is one example. It is produced for F P Journe’s Octa collection, which features an automatic winding movement that can support a range of complications. The movement is designed so that no matter which complication is incorporated, it stays at a 30 mm x 5.5 mm size – and still has enough of a power reserve to keep the watch ticking, with precision, for over 120 hours, or five days. 

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The watch that runs on the Calibre 1300.3 is wound unidirectionally by an off-centre rotor in 22K red gold, using a self-locking ball bearing system that ensures unequalled efficiency. “Every infinitesimal movement of the wrist is thus maximally exploited for an optimised winding of the watch,” F P Journe said.

The Octa collection now offers a range of complications that include a power reserve, UTC (Universal Time Coordinated), moonphase and even a perpetual calendar. The complications have a common base, but each model has its own identity.

F P Journe Quantieme Perpetuel The Quantieme Perpetuel, the ninth creation in the Octa line, is a perpetual calendar that displays the exact date by automatically taking into account the varying length of the months and leap-year cycle; the day, month and often, the moonphases, are also displayed. The latest model, unveiled in August, comes in a blue dial with a platinum or 18K red-gold case, in 40 or 42 mm.

The watch also has an “instantaneous jump” feature where each date, including those in a leap year, jumps 0.016 second – offering a pleasing aesthetic different from existing perpetual calendars. The instantaneous jump is reinforced by an ingenious system designed to build up and release energy instantly when the date, day or month changes.

Telling time on the watch is a cinch, thanks to an uncluttered dial with large apertures — two for the day and month calendar, and a large date in two windows. The dial is in red or white gold, framed in a platinum or 18K red-gold case in 40 mm or 42 mm.

The Quantieme Perpetuel is also easy to operate; no tool is needed. All corrections are done using the three-position crown – except for the rapid correction of months, which is carried out by a protected and hidden corrector lever under the lug at one o’clock.

F P Journe Automatique Lune Havana The Automatique Lune Havana expands on a previous model, with the addition of a bigger date aperture and a revisited moonphase in sapphire. The standout feature, however, is “Havana”. That, of course, is not merely an extension of the name for this model. Havana refers to the brown hue of the dial; depending on how the light hits it, it can appear anywhere from a darker coffee shade to a lighter, almost-milk chocolate one.

F P Journe said the warm colour is an ideal match for the 42 mm platinum or 18K 6N rose-gold case, both also available in 40 mm. It had taken F P Journe’s dial makers months to develop. In essence, the colour is a mix of gold and ruthenium, but to get it just right required many adjustments to the formula.

The guilloche Clous de Paris (a small square knob pattern) silver dial, ringed by printed numerals, blends with the long teardrop-haired ivory-coloured steel hand – and the moonphase. The latter recalls ancient times when people had to wait for a full moon to travel at night. These days, this mythical celestial body no longer serves the purpose, but the moonphase indication is still one of the most poetic horological complications. On the Automatique Lune Havana, the moonphase is easily adjusted on the crown.  

F P Journe Divine The Divine has a design new to F P Journe chronometers – it has central hands. While this is traditionally the way to show time, it is a first for the brand. The debut F P Journe timepiece rolled out in 1999 had drawn attention because the hour, minute and seconds indications were presented in engine-turned silver rings placed on and screwed to the dial. This pioneering model nonetheless went on to inspire many creations on the watchmaking scene.

In creating the Divine, F P Journe had wished to make it easier to read the time and to show that the identity of a timepiece goes beyond the arrangement of the time indications. The watch was also the first Octa model made with women in mind, featuring cases as small as 36mm and set in diamonds.

Its updated Divine Calibre 1300.3 wears a fresh look – elegant, uncluttered and perfectly legible. The instantaneous date appears in enlarged windows that stand out against the gold dial, on which the seconds disc display and the retrograde power reserve indicator are subtly delineated. An elegant sapphire moonphase disc, delicate blued-steel hands and the streamlined polished steel circle screwed to the dial are all signs of an F P Journe timepiece.

But a spark of whimsy has been added by the different-sized numerals of the hour ring, while red dots enliven the resolutely contemporary aesthetic of the dial.

The watch is housed in a 40 mm or 42 mm case, in platinum or 18K 6N rose gold, which holds a white gold or 5N gold dial with whitened silver or blue-steeled hands.