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In-Depth The F. P. Journe Astronomic Souveraine

From prototype to production.


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The F. P. Journe Astronomic Souverain was originally introduced last July, as a unique piece for Only Watch. The unique piece, dubbed the Astronomic Blue, has a tantalum case and blue dial, and it was a resounding success at the auction, eventually hammering for CHF 1.8 million. There were some expressions of surprise, when F. P. Journe, shortly after the auction, announced that the watch would go into production, with a different dial, and in a steel case; the announcement was made on November 14th, in Tokyo. However, the initial press release from July 1 for the prototype, clearly noted that the prototype would be followed by a production model, albeit one made in very small numbers per year; F. P. Journe commented in part, "But the notion of prototype implies there will be a finished piece. That piece will take its place among the collection on the day following the Only Watch sale – 10 November. The Astronomic Blue will make way for the Astronomic."

The basic design of the watch, according to Journe, goes back to an astronomical pocket watch, which he created for "a collector of scientific instruments," in 1987. That watch showed mean time and sidereal time, the equation of time, a full calendar, and the power reserve. Certainly, the two watches have a great deal in common – the pocket watch has the same dual-dial configuration as the Astronomic Souverain, but those familiar with F. P. Journe's work will recognize that Journe has taken advantage of the versatility of this design in his resonance watches as well. 

F.P. Journe Chronomètre à Résonance, as seen in our Talking Watches with NBA star David Robinson.

This sort of configuration naturally lends itself to any number of combinations of two different types of time. George Daniels used it to great effect in his Space Traveller watches and Daniels in turn, owed a debt to Breguet, whom he admired for the latter's ability to create complicated watches which, despite their mechanical complexity, and the amount of information conveyed, still managed to achieve a very rare kind of elegance as well.

The George Daniels Space Traveler II pocket watch, showing mean solar and sidereal time on two separate dials – from our 2017 Auction Report, on the occasion of its coming up for auction at Sotheby's.

This particular breed of elegance in complicated watches has for most of his career, been one of the most consistent characteristics of F. P. Journe timepieces. Highly complicated watches have historically tended to be, exactly as you would expect, on the massive side – the Patek Philippe Henry Graves Supercomplication, for instance, is 70mm in diameter and weighs over a pound, albeit it contains chiming complications which it is difficult to put on a diet: a grande et petite sonnerie, and minute repeater. However even in the case of these two complications F. P. Journe has managed to fit them into an unusually slim and genuinely elegant case – the Sonnerie Souverain is at 42mm x 12.5mm a bit large in comparison to other complicated watches from Journe, but it is remarkably flat for such a chiming timepiece, and to get a grande et petite sonnerie with minute repeater into such a relatively small space, a number of technical innovations were required – there were a total of 10 patents awarded to the watch.

A Ringing Success: The Sonnerie Souverain

The Sonnerie Souverain is one of the most remarkable complicated watches from F. P. Journe, and it has a number of remarkable technical innovations. To find out more, check out HODINKEE founder Ben Clymer's 2015 In Depth look at the watch, and how it came about.

Journe's love of astronomical complications goes back even further than the 1987 pocket watch – one of his earliest projects, at the age of 22, was to create a planetarium mechanism for Asprey in London, which was completed in 1979. The planetarium is regulated by a pendulum, and shows the movements of Mercury, Venus, the Earth around the Sun, as well as the orbit of the Moon around the Earth. 

Journe for much of his professional life has been famous for chronometrically oriented complications – he has been an enthusiastic experimenter with the tourbillon, the train remontoir (which he uses to power his deadbeat seconds complications) and of course, his resonance watches, which are based on the same principle as the resonance timepieces made by Breguet, and in which the balances are mechanically coupled by the minute tugging force placed on the movement plate by the balance spring (a force so small that Breguet himself could not at first believe the effect was real, but which does in fact, result in the two balances coming into resonance). The new Astronomic Souveraine, however, is a return to the fascination Journe showed in his youth, with the movements of heavenly bodies, and with time as it pertains to the motion of such bodies.

Diagram of the dial of the Astronomic Blue; the Astronomic Souveraine has an identical configuration.

Most of the information delivered is shown on the front of the watch, and indeed, it is a remarkably orderly and intelligently organized display. The dial on the left shows sidereal time, or "star" time, which is based on the rotation of the Earth, relative to the fixed stars rather than to the Sun. Sidereal time gains about four minutes per day compared to civil time; the hours of the latter is shown in the dial on the right, along with the time for a second time zone of the wearer's choosing. 

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The moonphase is shown in an aperture on the lower right, which is balanced by a similar aperture for the running seconds on the left. Symmetry is enhanced by the placement of the power reserve at 6:00, and the sunrise/sunset aperture, which is fairly exactly between eleven and one o'clock on the outer edge of the main dial – or I suppose one ought to say five minutes before the hour, and five minutes after, as the numbers on the perimeter of the dial are part of a minutes track (which, technically, makes this a regulator watch, at least as far as civil time is concerned).

The caseback of the Only Watch prototype, in tantalum.

The back of the watch, shows several key movement components, including the train remontoir, the 60 second tourbillon, the two jewels for the two mainspring barrels, and the equation of time. The latter is the difference between mean solar time, and actual solar time, the difference can be roughly plus or minus fifteen minutes at different points during the year. Knowing the equation of time was once useful for setting clocks by a sundial, as you could simply add or subtract the equation for the day, from the time shown by the sundial. The annual calendar shows the date, and as well, the position of the Sun in the Zodiac as it progresses through them during the course of a year.

The day/night, sunrise/sunset display of the Astronomic Souveraine.

The sunrise/sunset complication is a somewhat unusual one. Generally in watches with such a complication, the time of sunrise and time of sunset are shown on two separate subdials. On rare occasions, in some clocks and watches, the sector configuration used by Journe in the Astronomic Souverain is used instead; it consists of two moveable shutters, which increase or decrease the visible arc which the Sun crosses, depending on the time of year. Recently, this system was used by Dr. Ludwig Oechslin in the Ochs und Junior Day/Night, and Patek Philippe used it for the Star Caliber 2000 pocket watch (I've seen it used in old longcase clocks as well). While it does not tell you the exact time of sunset or sunrise this can roughly be determined by noting the time that the Sun appears from behind the shutter leaf on the left, and disappears behind the leaf on the right, and the system has the advantage of allowing you to see the amount of daylight left as well. You can also determine (again, approximately) the time of true solar noon, by noting when the Sun is at the top of the arc.

The caseback of the steel Astronomic Souveraine.

The view through the caseback of the Astronomic Souveraine is where, quite possibly, there is the greatest difference between the prototype and the production timepiece. Where the steelwork and movement plates and bridges in the prototype were left unfinished, in the production model the full range of finishing methods characteristic of high end watchmaking are present. While Journe has never been known primarily for extremely fine finishing per se, the caliber 1619 in 18k rose gold, is as delightfully turned out a mechanism as any Journe enthusiast could hope and in its basic layout, and the contrast of polished steel with gold (which again, recalls the best of English watchmaking, including the work of Dr. Daniels, and of course the work of Breguet himself) it is a wonderful demonstration of just how seductive beautifully made machinery can be.

Of course one last significant difference between the Astronomic Blue for Only Watch, and the Astronomic Souveraine in steel, is the price; the Blue hammered for a record CHF 1.8 million, while the Astronomic Souveraine will be priced at CHF 889,000. 

The Astronomic Souveraine from F. P. Journe: case, stainless steel, 44.00 x 13.80mm, with sapphire front and back. Movement, Journe caliber 1619 in 18k rose gold; 37.00 x 10.70mm; 758 components in all; running at 21,600 vph in 68 jewels. Hours, minutes and seconds; second time zone; sidereal time; equation of time; moonphase; tourbillon with remontoir d'egalité; power reserve, annual calendar, and position of the Sun in the Zodiac. Price, CHF 889,000. See our Introduction to the Astronomic Blue here; for more on the Astronomic Souveraine, visit F. P. Journe online.