You would need to have been living under rock to have missed the meteoric rise of F.P. Journe watches over the past five years.
WatchBox built the equivalent of a stadium world tour around the rock star watchmaker, having amassed one of the world’s greatest collections of Mr Journe’s timepieces.
Auctioneers have become accustomed to building a catalogue around his watches, which rose in price to stratospheric levels through to the summer of last year.
Things may have cooled a little, as a dip in prices across the collector-grade watches in the autumn sales showed, but demand remains strong for F.P. Journe pieces, which are still capable of commanding seven figure prices.
Christie’s will provide the ultimate test of demand in May with an entire auction devoted to F.P. Journe, where 40 watches will go under the hammer.
Among the lots are a platinum Tourbillon Souverain with jade dial and a pré-souscription platinum Chronomètre à Résonance, both expected to sell for over CHF 1 million.
Highlights of The Art of F.P. Journe sale
Descriptions and estimates by Christie’s
F.P. Journe Tourbillon Souverain
This platinum F.P. Journe Tourbillon Souverain with solid platinum bracelet, is a magnificent timepiece, elevated to the highest degree of rarity, due to its superb jade dial, of which only a few examples exist. Circa 2018.
(Est: CHF500,000-1,000,000)
Pré-Souscription platinum Chronomètre à Résonance
When launching his brand, F.P. Journe introduced a ‘subscription’ model, with 20 of his closest friends and clients committing to purchase timepieces made under his name with the resulting Souscription Tourbillon numbered 1 to 20.
Shortly after, the Chronomètre à Résonance was produced, and F.P. Journe reserved the initial 20 numbers for those clients who had previously subscribed, offering them the opportunity to acquire a Souscription Résonance with matching engraved numbers.
The auction will offer an early example of the ‘Pré-Souscription’ platinum Chronomètre à Résonance. Circa 2000.
(Est: CHF500,000-1,000,000)
Centigraphe Souverain
Another quintessentially F.P. Journe example is this Centigraphe Souverain platinum ergonomic chronograph wristwatch with 100th of a second, 20th seconds, 10-minute registers, a red chrome dial and platinum bracelet. Only available upon special request, this “Ferrari red dial” edition of the Centigraphe Souverain unites the worlds of high horology and motor sports. Circa 2010.
(Est: CHF400,000-600,000)
Octa Calendrier
This highly exclusive platinum Octa Calendrier is one of only 15 pieces made for the prestigious Singaporean retailer ‘Sincere Fine Watches’ with a black mother of pearl dial.
Rarely available at auction, the offering of this piece provides collectors with the rare opportunity to obtain an example of this automatic annual calendar. Circa 2006.
(Est: CHF150,000-250,000)
Chronomètre Souverain
Signed F.P. Journe, this exclusive and distinctive platinum limited edition wristwatch with green dial is one of only 99 examples of the Chronomètre Souverain produced in 2020 to celebrate the opening of F.P. Journe’s first Dubai boutique (on October 30th, 2019). Circa 2021.
(Est: CHF60,000-120,000)
Octa ‘LineSport’
Possibly one of the rarest and most attractive versions of F.P. Journe’s ultra-light titanium Octa ‘LineSport’ automatic wristwatches, this blue dial model was made in a highly exclusive and very limited edition of only 8 pieces.
To our knowledge, this is the first blue dial Octa LineSport to come to international auction to date.
A portion of the sale result of this watch will be donated to “Only Watch”, benefitting the Association Monégasque contre les Myopathies, for research on Duchenne muscular dystrophy . Circa 2019.
(Est: CHF60,000-120,000)
The Christie’s Art of F.P. Journe auction takes place at Geneva’s Four Seasons Hotel and online on May 12.
