Lot Essay
This endangered species strap is shown for display purposes only and is not for sale. The watch will be supplied with a calf leather strap.
A historic piece of Formula 1 memorabilia as well as one of the rarest models of F.P. Journe’s production, this Ruthenium Chronomètre à Résonance is number 92 of only 99 pieces made between 2001 and 2005. One of the set of 5 watches of F.P. Journe’s ‘Ruthenium Collection’, each numbered 92/99 from the Michael Schumacher collection.
The Chronomètre à Résonance
Perhaps the watch that most clearly showcases the sheer genius contemporary watchmaker François-Paul Journe. It is the only wristwatch in the world with a movement based on ‘resonance’, a natural physical phenomenon said to have been first discovered by Christiaan Huygens in 1665. Huygens noticed that two pendulum clocks, when hung together on the same beam would beat together in perfect synchronicity. An idea that was further experimented with by the great French clockmaker Antide Janvier and the legendary watchmaker Abraham-Louis Breguet, both of whose work F.P. Journe greatly admires. F.P. Journe’s resonance watches notably feature two balances that are naturally synchronized and oscillate in ‘resonance’ with each other. The negative effects of wrist and body movements are hence considerably reduced. Breguet had experimented with the theory of resonance in watches in the early 19th century and indeed constructed three pocket watches using the two-balance system. With the development and production of the Chronomètre à Résonance, F.P. Journe became the first watchmaker to make a wristwatch constructed on the principle of resonance, an incredible achievement of modern horology.
The present watch gives collectors the extremely rare opportunity to obtain a very special example of the final early series watches of the Chronomètre à Résonance with ruthenium plated brass movement, seen so rarely on the open market today with such unimpeachable first-owner provenance.
A historic piece of Formula 1 memorabilia as well as one of the rarest models of F.P. Journe’s production, this Ruthenium Chronomètre à Résonance is number 92 of only 99 pieces made between 2001 and 2005. One of the set of 5 watches of F.P. Journe’s ‘Ruthenium Collection’, each numbered 92/99 from the Michael Schumacher collection.
The Chronomètre à Résonance
Perhaps the watch that most clearly showcases the sheer genius contemporary watchmaker François-Paul Journe. It is the only wristwatch in the world with a movement based on ‘resonance’, a natural physical phenomenon said to have been first discovered by Christiaan Huygens in 1665. Huygens noticed that two pendulum clocks, when hung together on the same beam would beat together in perfect synchronicity. An idea that was further experimented with by the great French clockmaker Antide Janvier and the legendary watchmaker Abraham-Louis Breguet, both of whose work F.P. Journe greatly admires. F.P. Journe’s resonance watches notably feature two balances that are naturally synchronized and oscillate in ‘resonance’ with each other. The negative effects of wrist and body movements are hence considerably reduced. Breguet had experimented with the theory of resonance in watches in the early 19th century and indeed constructed three pocket watches using the two-balance system. With the development and production of the Chronomètre à Résonance, F.P. Journe became the first watchmaker to make a wristwatch constructed on the principle of resonance, an incredible achievement of modern horology.
The present watch gives collectors the extremely rare opportunity to obtain a very special example of the final early series watches of the Chronomètre à Résonance with ruthenium plated brass movement, seen so rarely on the open market today with such unimpeachable first-owner provenance.