F.P. Journe’s Final Limited-Edition Watch Is Here, and It’s a Stunner
F.P. Journe is marking the 20th anniversary of its first boutique in momentous form, by introducing a manual, non-rattrapante chronograph in a 200-piece limited edition—marking the very last limited edition watch for the watchmaker. From now on, F.P. Journe will not engrave edition numbers on its casebacks or produce watches in fixed limited series. Obviously, this makes the 200 new Chronographe FB models the hottest tickets on the planet.
“The reason why it is the last limited edition is because François-Paul says limited editions are a sign of weakness,” Pierre Halimi, manager of F.P. Journe for the Americas told Robb Report. “It creates artificial scarcity—which for us does not mean much, as we are scarce anyway.” He adds, “For my part, it is so difficult to explain to great collectors that they cannot get one. It’s not fun to say no all the time.”
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When asked if there are any plans to increase production, he says no, and points to the quality of production and service. “We are trying to do as many watches as possible, but remember that each watch is fully assembled by one watchmaker,” says Halimi. “Note that during the warranty period, should the watch come back for an issue, it goes to the watchmaker that assembled it, not to after-sales service.”
François-Paul Journe elaborated on the topic last year in the F.P. Journal: “Since I don’t want to move from our building in the Old Town of Geneva, there is no question of changing our way of working. It is even less conceivable to double the production, which would only lead to a lower quality. As a result, speculation is on the rise. The small limited editions are mainly affected by speculation, so after 2024, I will stop making limited series.”
He also leveled a polite warning to speculators: “It still happens that collectors sell their watches secretly. We manage to find them sooner or later. The penalty is not too severe; this person finds himself at the end of the waiting list with the impossibility of buying a new watch for a few years. A word of advice: If you want to dispose of one of our watches, go through us directly if you want to stay in the family.”
The Chronographe FB was launched at the Tokyo boutique earlier this week, where F.P. Journe began his retail venture 20 years ago. Journe chose Japan as the location for his first boutique because “it’s a country that cultivates both modernity and age-old traditions,” he said in a statement. The boutique is adorned with watchmaking details, including a door handle designed to resemble the rotor of Journe’s automatic Octa movement, along with portraits of the great watchmakers of history lining the walls (a generous gesture of respect from the great modern master), and various antique lathes and watchmaking tools. There is also a bar, and a library stocked with books on watchmaking. It was designed by Japanese architect Tadao Ando, and features a huge double staircase with dramatically curved balustrades. The design set the tone for the 12 other F.P. Journe boutiques around the world, including Hong Kong, Geneva, Paris, and New York.
The Chronographe FB is a flyback chronograph with a large date and powered by a new movement, the manual-wind cal. 1518.2. It is based on the 1518 split-seconds movement, which is used in the Sport Chronographe Rattrapante, except that it’s been pared down as just a single chronograph with a flyback function. Most of the movement is made of 18-karat gold, which is rare in watchmaking but a tradition for F.P. Journe since 2016. It’s decorated with circular stripes on the bridges, a circular grained baseplate, polished screw heads, and chamfered edges—finishes that are emphasized by the glint of 18-karat gold.
Like some of F.P. Journe’s past boutique editions, the Chronographe FB has a polished titanium case with pink-gold pushers and crown, and measures 40 mm by 10 mm. The dial is ruthenium, coated with a Clous de Paris guilloché center. The clear sapphire subdials reveal some of the mechanics under the dial. Journe’s boutique editions have long been the watchmaker’s way of thanking his loyal clients. Like the Black Label editions—only available for top clients—they are only sold at F.P. Journe boutiques. They have included the Chronomètre Souverain (20 pieces), a Chronomètre à Résonance (12 pieces), a Tourbillon Souverain (20 pieces), an Octa Perpétuelle (99 pieces), and a Centigraphe Souverain (80 pieces). Each is numbered and engraved. The final limited edition, the Chronographe FB, is priced at $106,000.
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