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Lot Essay
François-Paul Journe’s early production has achieved the status of exceptional artwork, their incredible horological complexity harmonises perfectly with the delicacy of hand-made details such as the gold dials and case engravings which have often softened and mellowed to a sublime patina that cannot be replicated and is only found on these early masterpieces.
One of the rarest and most important of all the early F.P. Journe timepieces is the ‘Pre-Souscription’ platinum Chronomètre à Résonance. As an epochal model of F.P. Journe’s production, the Chronomètre à Résonance is so closely associated with François-Paul Journe himself that all versions of the model are always incredibly sought after. Naturally, the earliest and scarcest are at the highest level of desirability for collectors and are unquestionably considered to be of world-class importance.
The present example is a phenomenon even among these earliest Chronomètre à Résonance. Clearly the case is engraved with the suffix ‘01R’ for the year 2001 and is therefore theoretically too late for a ‘Pre-Souscription’ watch which are usually engraved ‘00R’ for the year 2000. However, according to F.P. Journe, the case and movement of the present watch were indeed produced in 2000, but the finished Chronomètre à Résonance cases had already been numbered in advance, divided between the years 2000 and 2001 and engraved as such. At the time the present watch was completed, the cases that were engraved for 2000 had already been used, and subsequently it was cased using an ‘01R’ 2001 engraved case instead.
It is not known how many ‘Pre-Souscription’ watches were cased in ‘01R’ cases, but this highly unusual anomaly showing the early use of 2001 cases before the end of 2000 makes the present watch undoubtedly one of the most fascinating and important Chronomètre à Résonance for collectors.
The history of the development of the Chronomètre à Résonance is both fascinating and complex. Officially, the model was launched in 2000 starting with a series of twenty ‘Souscription’ watches numbered 1 to 20 engraved with the suffix 00R for the year 2000. These first twenty pieces were so-called because they were pre-ordered on ‘souscription’, whereby the prospective buyer paid a sum upfront in order to provide enough funds for François-Paul Journe to construct and deliver each watch, an idea inspired by Abraham-Louis Breguet who took orders for 'souscription' watches from his clients in order to re-establish his business after the French revolution. However, recent study has shown that the official ‘Souscription’ watches numbered 1 to 20 are not in fact the first Chronomètre à Résonance watches to have been created. Indeed, two distinct earlier groups comprising approximately 30 watches have been identified as predating the official ‘Souscription’ series; the ‘pre-production’ (with suffix 99R); and the ‘pre-souscription’ (with suffix 00R or occasionally 01R). The suffixes refer to the year that the case was made and the watch completed and the letter ‘R’ for ‘Resonance’.
One of the rarest and most important of all the early F.P. Journe timepieces is the ‘Pre-Souscription’ platinum Chronomètre à Résonance. As an epochal model of F.P. Journe’s production, the Chronomètre à Résonance is so closely associated with François-Paul Journe himself that all versions of the model are always incredibly sought after. Naturally, the earliest and scarcest are at the highest level of desirability for collectors and are unquestionably considered to be of world-class importance.
The present example is a phenomenon even among these earliest Chronomètre à Résonance. Clearly the case is engraved with the suffix ‘01R’ for the year 2001 and is therefore theoretically too late for a ‘Pre-Souscription’ watch which are usually engraved ‘00R’ for the year 2000. However, according to F.P. Journe, the case and movement of the present watch were indeed produced in 2000, but the finished Chronomètre à Résonance cases had already been numbered in advance, divided between the years 2000 and 2001 and engraved as such. At the time the present watch was completed, the cases that were engraved for 2000 had already been used, and subsequently it was cased using an ‘01R’ 2001 engraved case instead.
It is not known how many ‘Pre-Souscription’ watches were cased in ‘01R’ cases, but this highly unusual anomaly showing the early use of 2001 cases before the end of 2000 makes the present watch undoubtedly one of the most fascinating and important Chronomètre à Résonance for collectors.
The history of the development of the Chronomètre à Résonance is both fascinating and complex. Officially, the model was launched in 2000 starting with a series of twenty ‘Souscription’ watches numbered 1 to 20 engraved with the suffix 00R for the year 2000. These first twenty pieces were so-called because they were pre-ordered on ‘souscription’, whereby the prospective buyer paid a sum upfront in order to provide enough funds for François-Paul Journe to construct and deliver each watch, an idea inspired by Abraham-Louis Breguet who took orders for 'souscription' watches from his clients in order to re-establish his business after the French revolution. However, recent study has shown that the official ‘Souscription’ watches numbered 1 to 20 are not in fact the first Chronomètre à Résonance watches to have been created. Indeed, two distinct earlier groups comprising approximately 30 watches have been identified as predating the official ‘Souscription’ series; the ‘pre-production’ (with suffix 99R); and the ‘pre-souscription’ (with suffix 00R or occasionally 01R). The suffixes refer to the year that the case was made and the watch completed and the letter ‘R’ for ‘Resonance’.