F P Journe: Ace watchmaker still curious at 65

F P JOURNE is one of only two living independent watchmakers whose watches now regularly fetch over one million dollars at non-charity auctions.

His first watch to cross the seven-figure hammer price was a Souscription Tourbillon, one of 20 watches produced in the 1990s to help finance the launch of his company. It sold for US$1.4 million in 2020, many times the original price. Another Souscription Tourbillon went for US$3.5 million recently.

Auction bids of a million bucks or more used to focus on vintage timepieces from a handful of big names, like Patek Philippe and Rolex. Not only beautiful, but also rare and path-breaking, these are pieces for which serious collectors will shell out huge sums.