F P Journe, platinum & titanium watch under hammer!

Online Auction-Geneva, 2–12 November 2020 

Sotheby’s is excited to present a sale of Important Watches Part II, format like no other before in Geneva from 2 & up to 12 November 2020. This season we are offering two sessions of fantastic watches, one online and one live, in a single day of luxury sales that spans jewellery, cars and accessories. 

Highlighting the sales are highly complicated offerings from Audemars Piguet and Hublot, sports Rolex from vintage Daytona to Sea-Dwellers and Submariners, and a selection of world-famous independent brands such as Greuebel Forsey and F.P. Journe.

Illustrated here is F.P. Journe, Octa Automatique Reserve De Marche platinum wristwatch with digital date display and 5-day power reserve indication circa 2007. Building his first tourbillon at the age of 25, Francois-Paul Journe began his watchmaking career in 1985 making unique watches for private clients from a small Parisian workshop.

Dedicated to providing the highest quality and craftsmanship Mr Journe sees a depth, an emotional element to watchmaking. He was to spend 15 years developing his brand until, in the year 2000; he opened his first boutique in the heart of Geneva’s contemporary art scene. 

There, with a team of 50, the now ‘F.P. Journe – Invenit et Fecit’ were producing three to four watches per day. With boutiques worldwide F.P Journe is a multi-award winning watchmaker deservedly renowned for that standard of quality and craftsmanship that Mr Journe insisted upon over 30 years ago. 

Perhaps one of the most interesting elements of horology is that it represents an area of continual development, striving constantly to improve and in so doing discovering things along the way. The innovation that has manifested from this of course takes many shapes but one of which are complications. 

Now complications take many forms too, some improve accuracy, some improve functionality and other convey startling levels of information. They engage the wearer, they are playful and interesting to observe, and beyond this they demonstrate an astounding technical prowess. This sale is delighted to showcase a host of different complications from tourbillon to chronographs to automaton, perpetual calendars and power reserve indications. 

F.P. Journe, élégante, titanium and diamond-set wristwatch with motion detector , CIRCA 2015 with white dial, 1210 quartz, 18 jewels in Calibre-cal. Case is of titanium and diamond-set, sapphire crystal display back secured by 4 screws.