Review: F.P. Journe Chronomètre Souverain Nacre in rose gold case and mother-of-pearl dial

Is this the best investment value F.P. Journe timepiece today?

Jan 13, 2021

The independent watch brands are a bit like the startups in a tech world dominated by big players such as Amazon, Google and Microsoft. To survive and thrive, the startups have to be more innovative and simply perform better. Once in a while, an “unicorn” such as Airbnb and Uber would emerge and catch all the attention and limelight. F.P. Journe is such an “unicorn” widely regarded as the best known “indie” brand in the watch making space. Its phenomenal commercial success has made it the darling of watch collectors. Being founded in a not-too-far 1999, F.P. Journe is less of an independent watchmaker like many of his fellow AHCI members, but more of an independent brand like Patek and AP, with boutiques and ADs all over the world. Owning a F.P. Journe timepiece would be a dream come true for many watch enthusiasts.

The entry level F.P. Journe mechanical watch model (yes, there is a quartz model) should be the Chronometre Bleu (CB) in theory. However, the CB is in such great demand it is simply out of reach and the prices at the secondary markets and auctions are about 3 times the retail price. So, effectively, the Chronometre Souverain (CS) is the entry level to the kingdom of F.P. Journe. However, CS is nothing short of a masterpiece. In fact, it received the Best Men’s Watch Prize at the GPHG in 2005. In a 2008 interview with the WatchTime Magazine, Mr. F.P. Journe was asked to name his favorite among all the watches he had created, he replied “I’d have to say the Chronomètre Souverain is my favorite, since it is the watch I wanted to do from the beginning”. I set my sight on this model, as perhaps my only Journe piece to add to the collection.

The complete F.P. Journe Boutique Edition Nacre Collection including Chronomètre Souverain, Octa Automatique & Octa Automatique Lune. Since March 2019, only the Chronomètre Souverain Nacre are available.

FPJ has released a wide variety of dials for CS with the same 1304 movement since 2005, ranging from different dial materials and color scheme, while the basic design of layout and hands remain the same. FPJ is capable of doing this because it owns the dial workshop by itself. For 2019 to now, there are six configurations in the current production. However, if you look more closely, there are two more options under the Boutique Edition, specifically, the Nacre Collection. As the name implies, the Boutique Edition watches are available at FPJ boutiques around the world only. Boutique Edition started in 2009 with an elegantly designed black dial for all models of the Octa and Souveraine collections available with red Gold case. These models had been phased out in March 2019. Today, there are two lines in the Boutique Edition: the Black Label collection and the Nacre collection. The Black Label collection consists of black dial with models in Platinum case, while the Nacre collection includes model with mother-of-pearl dial with either rose gold or platinum. The Nacre collection is available in some special ADs as well who are referred to as Espaces. Considering that the nacre dial would be even more rare and rose gold matches with my skin tone nicely, I decided to go for the CS Nacre with the rose gold. I placed an order with the AD and waited for seven months before my piece finally arrived.

What a stunning beatuy! First of all, this is a watch that the dial, case and movement are all made of rose gold, which is likely unprecedented in the watchmaking history. The case profile is quite slim and streamlined with a thin crown. The dial layout and the hands are elegant and classy with unmistakable F.P. Journe design DNA. The mother-of-pearl outer ring is pink and reflects with different colors under the light. The center area of the dial is decorated with classic guilloche patterns. The movement is like a miniature 3-D sculpture that is immaculately decorated and finished except that it is also a high precision timing machine. I could only say that iPhone photos here don’t do justice to the artistic masterpiece and engineering wonder.

F.P. Journe Chronomètre Souverain Nacre in rose gold and mother-of-pearl dial, in the original F.P. Journe presentation box.

Engravings on the caseback:

“FP. Journe”
“Inv. Fecit”
“Chronomètre Souverain”
“No 2-6xx CS” - indicating number 16xx in the CS production queue, which suggests that the annual production volume of CS models since 2005 is 100.
“AU750” - symbol for 18 karat gold

Engravings on the movement:

“F.P. Journe”
“Invenit et Fecit”
“Chronomètre Souverain”
“Adjusted in 6 positions” - normally only 5 positions are used
“Geneva Made” - normally it is “Swiss Made”
“18K Gold Movement”
“Cal. 1304”
“22 Jewels”

This timepiece is still “unworn”, as it is a precious art to me and I’d like to keep it in absolutely perfect condition. I measured the timing accuracy with a mobile app called WatchTracker and the result is -0.8 seconds per day measured over 26 days. The manual wind watch comes with a power reserve of 56 hours, which makes it easy to go into a cadence of one wind every two days. One may wonder why two barrels only deliver 56 hours of autonomy, the answer is that they were designed to provide more consistent power reserve so only part of the energy is used. As a chronometer this timepiece is supposed to keep very accurate time and this goal has certainly been reached marvelously.

To put the timepiece in another art form, I have commissioned an artwork by the Paris based artist Alex E. (IG handle @watchachoniste). I proposed that the background be the coastal city of Marseille for the following reasons: 1) Mr. F.P. Journe was born in Marseille, France in 1957; 2) The CS was inspired by the marine chronometers and the dial is decorated with mother-of-the-pearl, so a seaside city would be quite a perfect match; and 3) Our family went on a cruise vacation and visited Marseille in the summer of 2018. The final artwork is absolutely beautiful, hanging on the wall of our family room. Alex told me that the most tricky part in creating the drawing was the color of the mother-of-the-pearl and he spent a lot of time on the details of the movement and the city scene. This painting is a companion accessory to the CS timepiece now.

F.P. Journe is a titan and “unicorn” of the independent watchmaking scene today, with strong interests from collectors and media. The prices in auctions and secondary markets simply went through the roof. I wrote an article named “Which brands might be the next F.P. Journe?”, by looking into the reasons behinds F.P. Journe’s incredible success. It just occurred to me that we don’t need to look far for the reasons and we simply need to look at the entry level CS collection being produced from 2005 to now. We may see perfection, dedication, innovation, passion and craftsmanship embedded in each of the about 1700 CS pieces now treasured by collectors all over the world. As many Journe watches become more and more unattainable, the Chronomètre Souverain in a variety of dials might be just the best investment value F.P. Journe timepiece to own today.