SIGNED F.P. JOURNE, CENTIGRAPHE SOUVERAIN MODEL, NO. 239-CT, CIRCA 2014

Produced between 2008 and 2017, the Centigraphe Souverain was born from the encounter between François-Paul Journe and collector Jean Todt through the ICM foundation. It was developed with the aim of producing the ideal chronograph for the world of car racing. Following extensive research on the balance of power in a movement, energy loss, motricity and pushers, François-Paul Journe created an unprecedented chronograph able to measure elapsed time from a 100th of a second to ten minutes. The hand of the second dial at 2 o’clock is making a tour in 20 seconds, and the third hand of the dial at 6 o’clock, makes a tour in 10 minutes, the hand of the first dial at 10 o’clock makes a turn in one second on a scale marked in hundredths of a second, making it possible in theory to time an object moving at 360,000 km/h, or approximately 1/3000ths of the speed of light. The Centigraphe lead F.P. Journe towards winning the top prize of the Golden Hand Award at the Geneva watchmaking Grand Prix for the third time since the opening of his manufacture in 2000, the Centigraphe Souverain was recognized as an unprecedented creation.

The manually-wound mechanical movement is the first in the world equipped to measure elapsed times from from a 100th of a second to ten minutes. The watch is equipped with a patented re-set button in the band at two o'clock, which can be rocked back and forth to make the chronograph start, stop or return-to-zero. This system is an ingenious variation of the standard buttons used in chronograph watches on each side of the crown. Moreover, the maintaining power and power reserve in this watch are highly efficient. The mainspring barrel features a maintaining power system to ensure that the driving force does not decrease during winding. Without utilizing the chronograph function, the mainspring can supply a minimum of 100 hours of power reserve and 24 hours if the chronograph is being operated continuously.