The Big Four
The launch of a new F P Journe timepiece is a big event for serious watch fans. What’s even better is when a quartet of new models are unveiled
Quantieme Perpetual
FLAUNTING an instantaneous jump feature, the new F P Journe Quantieme Perpetual is the easiest to use and read among perpetual calendars. Its uncluttered dial, in red of white gold, allows time to be gleaned at a glance, with no distractions.
Typical of F P Journe watches, the day and month peek out from two large apertures at 12 o’clock, while the date appears in two equally big windows at 6 o’clock.
When the date, day or month changes, energy is instantaneously released from an ingenious system designed to accumulate it, reinforcing the instantaneous jump.
While other perpetual calendars are hard to adjust, all corrections on the Quantieme Perpetual, except for the corrections of months, are simply made using the three-position crown. Corrections of months are done by a protected and concealed corrector lever under the lug at 1 o’clock. No specific tool is needed to facilitate the adjustment over four years.
The months with 28, 29, 30 and 31 days are automatically accounted for, with the leap years shown in the centre of the dial under the hour and minute hands. The years 1, 2 and 3 are indicated in black, the leap year by “L” in red.
A NEWSLETTER FOR YOU
Friday, 2 pm
Lifestyle
Our picks of the latest dining, travel and leisure options to treat yourself.
As with all F P Journe’s precision chronometers, the self-winding in-house movement is made in 18K rose gold. The retrograde display on the dial indicates it has a power reserve of more than 120 hours.
The new Quantieme Perpetual, the ninth creation of the Octa line, has a limited production of nearly 900 pieces yearly. It comes in platinum or 18K red gold, 40 or 42 millimetres wide.
Octa Divine
F P Journe Octa timepieces are said to be practical, with automatic winding and have a long power reserve. The watches are quite small and ergonomic and their dials are always legible.
The emblematic collection is given a new interpretation by a design overhaul of the Octa Divine, which is given a larger 42 mm platinum or 18K red gold case. The new model looks even more elegant, uncluttered and legible. The instantaneous large date, a key feature in the Octa Divine, appears in larger windows, set prominently on the gold dial where the seconds disk display and the power reserve indicator are subtly delineated.
Yet, some things never change – the elegant sapphire moon phase disk, the delicate blue steel hands and the streamlined polished steel circle screwed to the dial. All these features are familiarly and exclusive to F P Journe.
A spark of whimsy is added by varying the size of the numerals on the hours ring, while red dots enliven the contemporary aesthetics of the dial.
The new model is powered by an in-house automatic movement with five days’ power reserve. It is also available in a 40 mm case, in platinum or 18K red gold.
Octa Lune
The date in this reworked version of the Octa Lune is twice as big as the previous watch, which of course enhanced the timepiece’s legibility.
A clearer readability of the time is provided by an enlargement of the first, off-centre, dial which features embossed hour numbers surfaced with a diamond tool. The second dial has a very large date in the aperture at 11 o’clock. The dial is in red or white gold and silver.
The retrograde power reserve indicator at 9 o’clock shows the in-house automatic-winding movement has a power reserve of 120 hours, or five days, while the phases of the moon are displayed at 8 o’clock.
The Octa Lune comes in a 40 or 42mm case, in platinum or 18K red gold, paired with a leather strap, or a platinum or red gold bracelet.
Automatique Lune Havana
When the Automatique Lune was rolled out in 2007, it was among F P Journe’s first timepieces with hands mounted at the centre of the dial. The whole dial was used to display the hours and minutes. Legibility is maximised with long teardrop-shaped blue steel hands, set against a stark silver guilloche dial.
The moon-phase is found at the lower left quarter, balanced by a small seconds at the bottom right. Another teardrop-shaped hand sweeps across the power reserve at 9 o’clock. At 11 o’clock is F P Journe’s signature moon-planer grand date.
The new Automatique Lune is a bigger version of the original, sporting a larger date opening and a revisited moon-phase in sapphire. The dial is silver in both a 40 and 42mm case, platinum or 18K rose gold, with a guilloche Clous de Paris centre and blue printed numerals around it, blending with the blue steel hands and moon-phase. Also fitted on the new model is a larger crown, decorated with F P Journe’s distinctive silk-rope motif.
In the Havana version, F P Journe has created a warm-coloured dial to match the platinum and 18K rose gold case, in 40 and 42mm, as well as the caramel alligator strap. The Havana model is also available with platinum and 18K gold bracelets.
The dial, with long teardrop-shaped ivory colour steel hands and the moon-phase, has a colour unique to F P Journe. A combination of gold and ruthenium, it took months and many adjustments to create.
At the heart of the new Automatique Lune is Calibre F P Journe 1300.3, an in-house unidirectional automatic winding movement in 18K gold. It has a power reserve of 160 hours.
Copyright SPH Media. All rights reserved.
