I used to start my previous articles, in general, as follows; such and such watch brand/model has been with us, for a while, to review and get the user experience. The case is different this time; I asked for a timepiece, that I myself admire, to review. Just as the top league comprises of the holy trinity of Patek Philippe, Vacheron Constantin and Audemars Piquet; the holy trinity, if any, accepted by the highest level of independent watchmaking definitely comprises of F.P. Journe, Philippe Dufour and Kari Voutilainen. Here, the watch, that I’d taken for a while and reviewed, is the Chronometre Blue by F. P. Journe of this holy trinity.
When I first saw the Chronometre Blue alive and tried on my wrist, asking for it from my friend, I realized that I was facing with a very special thing. In 2018, we were at the MB&F Istanbul Event; you know how these events take place. A group of watch afficinados are invited; upon arriving at the event grounds, people get a drink, and the chat begins, everyone’s eyes are on the wrists of one another. Watches are put off, and exchanged. The features are discussed, and the watches are tried on the wrists, and so on. As I’ve said we were at a very special event that evening. A man of great character, Mr. Max Büsser (I had a great pleasure to meet him) and his horological marvels were with us. All were enchanted with the sage narratives of Monsieur Büsser and his machines, each being really a work of high level creativity and imagination. Other than these, something else remained with me: the “Chronometre Bleu“.
First introduced in 2009, the Chronometre Bleu is one of the brand’s well-known and much sought-after models. Although the watch seems like a standard time-only model with no complication, it is not a simple model. It is quite sophisticated in terms of the choice of materials used in the case and movement as well as the production technique of the dial and the architecture of the caliber employed. Let me try to tell why I love it that much and explain one by one as far as I can.
When I took the watch in my hand, what surprised me first was its weight. As you know, the case is made of tantalum. Since tantalum is an element hard to work with, it is not a much preferred material by watch firms. With a density of 16,6 g/cm3, it is more than twice as dense as hard steel. I say it, in order that you can make a comparison, that 24k gold has a density of 19,3 g/ cm3. Or as a result, when you hold the watch, it is more than twice as heavy as a steel watch of the same size.
The case of Chronometre Bleu is completely high polished. By the way, F. P. Journe manufactures the entire case in-house. Perhaps, a complete high polished case would be disturbing if it was a steel watch or in a larger size. Yet, since the watch mentioned here is produced from tantalum, it has a color darker than steel and it is also quite durable against scratches. For the color, I can tell it is a dark grey having blueish tints. It has a color darker than titanium, too. The 39mm case has a perfect size for daily use. It is 8,6mm thick, that is, quite thin. It is incredibly comfortable on the wrist due to F. P. Journe’s lug structure wrapping around your wrist.
Another eye-catching point in the case is that the bezel and the caseback are designed as to overbrim the case. And the crown has a very flat design which we may call F. P. Journe’s signature.
Made of Louisiana alligator’s leather, the highest quality strap features a bigger pattern on its outer surface and a small pattern on the inner surface. Normally, the Chronometre Bleu is offered with blue strap in harmony with the dial. The sample in our hand is an original brown F. P. Journe strap, being the personal preference of its owner. The combination of tantalum case and blue dial together with blue strap creates a palette of completely cold colors. I think some warmth has been added to the outlook with the brown strap. The strap buckle is made of tantalum just like the case and an F. P. Journe inscription is engraved on it. Curved spring pins are used to attach the strap to the case. With the notch on the pins, the strap can be changed without using any tool.
The dial is, of course, the most striking part of the watch. In order to achieve the incredible blue hue, the dial is hand-lacquered, then polished and this process is repeated many times. Only a miserable amount of the dials produced may conform to the highest of all high level quality standards of Monsieur Journe, and thus has a chance to be employed in a watch. The color of the dial alternates between black and neon blue under changing lights and angles. In addition, it has a depth as if it is made of blue glass. For the sake of maintaining a high level of legibility through the contrast on the dial, ivory-white (to me, off-white) indexes with Arabic numerals and hands set are used. On the outer side of the numerals is placed a track-like minute scale. At 7:30 o’clock is the small second sub-dial. Most of the dial designers either remove or cut those indexes hitting the sub-dial or date window. And here, 7 and 8 numerals are scaled down as compared to the remaining numerals. Thus, all hour indexes are provided with a place on the dial without any cut or removal. A nice detail. It is not for those with a symmetromania, but the location of the small second is not for them at all. The small second sub-dial has a circular finish with its own track-like scale, one of the details adding motion to the dial. Hours and minutes hands feature a biomorphic form, another signature of F. P. Journe. At 12:00 o’clock, it reads F. P. Journe and just below it, the brand’s motto Invenit et Fecit (Invented and Made). No luminova is used on the dial. Personally I didn’t care about the lack of it.
Speaking of the mechanism; 1304 caliber is made of 18k gold with 22 jewels, operating at a frequency of 21,600 vph and has a power reserve of about 56 hours. Unlike most of the other models with a chronometer standard, the caliber is adjustable at 6 positions, manually wounded and it reaches the full power reserve when you rotate the winding crown 38 times. Two hairsprings are employed for a stable use of the power reserve. Interestingly, the gear train, which transforms the power stored by these hairsprings to the balance spring, is not on the sight. By this means, the balance spring seems as if it oscillates on its own. F. P. Journe named it the mystery balance. In fact, the gear train carrying power is on the other side of the mainplate, that is, it is hidden under the dial. The blank space stemming from the visual lack of this gear train is embellished with a perfect decoration called barleycorn. The remaining parts are decorated Cotes de Geneve. All screw heads are polished, and all edges and angles are chamfered and beveled. In short, with all of its 129 components, the movement is entirely manufactured with a high level workmanship.
In result, buying a watch from the brand of an independent master watchmaker is far different than buying from other brands. In comparison to the watches of the industry giant brands with huge production numbers, people can easily establish a bond with the watches they own. And all has a story. It was really hard for me to part from the Chronometre Blue having high level features, such as the manufacturing of its all details with perfect workmanship and material, its perfect size for daily use between a dresswatch and a sports watch with its 39mm diameter and its weight not making itself forgotten though very comfortable on the wrist, and with its deep dial at a level of a masterpiece giving different hues under different lights.
If you want to get one, then you have to pay a price higher than the list price on the secondhand or wait for a long time. Because the production numbers for such a special manufacture are very limited and, as you may guess, this is the most demanded model of the brand.
It is a product materializing, to the max, the Latin phrase Invenit et Fecit (invented and made) on the dial. The work of Monsieur Journe’s genius mind is sprung to life with perfect workmanship and materials.
You may visit the https://www.fpjourne.com/en website for more information about this and other watches of F. P. Journe.
