THIS MODEL WAS PRODUCED BETWEEN 2006 AND 2010.

AN EXCLUSIVE COLLECTION AVAILABLE ONLY FOR F.P.JOURNE WATCH OWNERS.

WITH A LIMITED PRODUCTION OF ABOUT 1000 TIMEPIECES PER YEAR, F.P.JOURNE WANTED TO OFFER AN EVEN MORE EXCLUSIVE TIMEKEEPER THAT WOULD BE AVAILABLE ONLY FOR OWNERS OF AN F.P.JOURNE WATCH. WITH A CASE MADE IN PLATINUM, THE MOST PRECIOUS METAL, F.P.JOURNE HAS CREATED A DISTINGUISHED LACQUERED BLACK DIAL THAT PERSONALIZES EVEN FURTHER THE ELEGANCE OF THE BRAND WATCHES. THE BLACK LABEL COLLECTION WAS BORN.

THE BLACK LABEL COLLECTION IS AVAILABLE ONLY IN THE F.P.JOURNE BOUTIQUES AND ESPACES.

AN EMBLEMATIC TIMEPIECE THAT SIGNIFICANTLY MARKS THE RESEARCH ON PRECISION MADE BY MASTER WATCHMAKER FRANÇOIS-PAUL JOURNE. THIS UNIQUE WATCH REPRESENTS ONE OF THE WILDEST CHALLENGES EVER IN THE FIELD OF THE MECHANICAL WATCH. FEATURING THE NATURAL PHENOMENON OF RESONANCE, THIS EXCEPTIONAL MECHANISM, WITH ITS TWIN BALANCES BEATING IN PERFECT SYNCHRONISATION, REVOLUTIONIZED THE CLASSIC STANDARDS OF WATCHMAKING BY OFFERING AN UNEQUALLED PRECISION FOR A WRISTWATCH.

THIS PHYSICAL PHENOMENON KNOWN AS “RESONANCE” IS FREQUENTLY PART OF OUR DAILY LIVES AND YET WE HARDLY EVEN NOTICE IT. WHEN ONE IS LOOKING FOR A PROGRAM ON THE RADIO, IT CRACKLES UNTIL THE CHOSEN WAVELENGTHS MEET THOSE OF THE TRANSMITTER: ONLY THEN DO THEY HARMONISE TO BEGIN RESONATING TOGETHER.

IN AN ULTIMATE QUEST FOR PRECISION, THE DIAL AT 9 O’CLOCK FEATURES A 24 HOUR ANALOG INDICATOR PRECISELY DEFINING THE HOURS OF DAY AND THOSE OF NIGHT. THE DIAL AT 3 O’CLOCK IN GUILLOCHÉ SILVER, WITH ANALOG 12 HOUR DISPLAY, INDICATES THE LOCAL TIME BUT CAN ALSO BE USED FOR THE SAME TIME ZONE.

THE CHRONOMÈTRE A RÉSONANCE IS IMBUED WITH A PROFOUNDLY POETIC DEPTH. IT REMAINS, NEARLY 20 YEARS AFTER ITS CREATION, THE MOST PRECISE MECHANICAL WATCH OF CONTEMPORARY WATCHMAKING.

CHRONOMÈTRE À RÉSONANCE

"I WILL TRY TO EXPLAIN THE HISTORICAL REASONS THAT LED ME TO BUILD SUCH OR SUCH A WATCH. AS FAR AS THE RESONANCE PHENOMENON IS CONCERNED, THE INTUITION THAT ENERGY IS DISSIPATED WITHOUT BEING LOST GOES BACK TO THE 18TH CENTURY AND THE RESEARCH PERFORMED BY THE GREAT CHEMIST LAVOISIER, WHO STATED IN HIS FAMOUS THEORY WHICH HIGHLIGHTS MY MODEST EXPLANATIONS: "NOTHING IS LOST, NOTHING IS CREATED, EVERYTHING IS TRANSFORMED". WITH THE INVENTION OF THE PENDULUM, WATCHMAKERS NOTICED THAT THEIR BEAT OFTEN INTERFERED WITH THEIR ENVIRONMENT AND IT WAS NOT UNUSUAL FOR A PENDULUM CLOCK TO STOP OF ITS OWN ACCORD WHEN THE PENDULUM CAME INTO RESONANCE WITH THE DRIVING-WEIGHT SUSPENDED FROM ITS CORDS.

AFTER THE THEORIES OF CHRISTIAAN HUYGENS, THE BRILLIANT WATCHMAKER OR "MECHANICAL ENGINEER" AS HE DESCRIBED HIMSELF, WHO WAS THE FIRST TO HAVE THE FEELING THAT ONE MIGHT USE TURN THIS DISADVANTAGE INTO AN ASSET: ANTIDE JANVIER, BORN IN 1751 IN ST CLAUDE, FRANCE. HIS IDEA WAS TO BUILD TWO COMPLETE MOVEMENTS WITH TWO PRECISION ESCAPEMENTS AND TO PLACE THEM CLOSE TO EACH OTHER, ENSURING THAT THE TWO PENDULUMS WERE HANGING FROM THE SAME CONSTRUCTION. JUST AS HE IMAGINED, THE PENDULUMS RECOVERED THE ENERGY DISSIPATED BY EACH OTHER AND BEGAN TO BEAT TOGETHER, THUS ENTERING INTO RESONANCE. MAINTAINED BY THIS WAVE AND THUS PROTECTED FROM OUTSIDE VIBRATIONS, THIS PRINCIPLE CONSIDERABLY ENHANCED THEIR PRECISION. ABOUT 1780, ANTIDE JANVIER BUILT TWO PRECISION REGULATORS, ONE OF WHICH IS PRESERVED AT THE PAUL DUPUY MUSEUM IN TOULOUSE AND THE SECOND IN THE PRIVATE COLLECTION OF MONTRES JOURNES SA, GENEVA. A THIRD DESK-TOP REGULATOR IS KEPT IN THE PATEK PHILIPPE MUSEUM IN GENEVA. THIRTY YEARS LATER, ABRAHAM-LOUIS BREGUET BUILT A RESONANCE REGULATOR FOR LOUIS XVIII, KING OF FRANCE, WHICH IS NOW PART OF THE COLLECTION OF THE MUSÉE DES ARTS ET MÉTIERS IN PARIS; AND A SECOND FOR THE KING OF ENGLAND, GEORGES III, WHICH IS HOUSED IN BUCKINGHAM PALACE. HE ALSO MADE A POCKET-WATCH BASED ON THE SAME PRINCIPLE FOR EACH OF THESE ILLUSTRIOUS FIGURES. TO MY KNOWLEDGE, NO-ONE ELSE IN WATCHMAKING TOOK ANY FURTHER INTEREST IN THIS FASCINATING PHYSICAL PHENOMENON! THE ADVANTAGES OF THIS PHENOMENON IN TERMS OF PRECISION LED ME TO PURSUE MY OWN PERSONAL RESEARCH AND ATTEMPTS WHICH, AFTER FIFTEEN YEARS, ENABLED ME TO ADAPT IT TO A WRISTWATCH, THE CHRONOMÈTRE À RÉSONANCE. I FELT THAT THIS RESONANCE SYSTEM WAS PARTICULARLY WELL SUITED TO THE VARIOUS WRIST MOVEMENTS THAT SUBJECT WATCH MECHANISMS TO REPEATED JARRING WHICH IS DETRIMENTAL TO THEIR SMOOTH RUNNING."

FRANÇOIS-PAUL JOURNE