Artle - Octa Reserve De Mache in Stainless Steel

DETAILS

This extremely rare, important and attractive watch with a 38 mm stainless steel case is part of the box set of 5 models launched in 2015 in a limited edition of 38 pieces, marking the end of an era of 38 mm size in the F. P. Journe collection. This is one of those F.P. Journe watches that appear very rarely on the market and are always perceived as an exceptional event.

This edition was preceded by a long history that began with the introduction of 38 mm as the main size in the early years of the brand.

The Octa Réserve de Marche is the first automatic watch launched by F. P. Journe. Its caliber 1300 was originally developed by François-Paul Journe to meet the wishes of his customers who preferred a self-winding watch. He designed a slim caliber that made it possible to incorporate various additional complications without changing the overall thickness of the movement and ensured that the thickness of the case remained practically the same for all models in the Octa collection. For the caliber 1300, François-Paul Journe developed a large barrel with a meter-long mainspring that allowed a power reserve of about 160 hours, of which 120 hours were taken to ensure a chronometric rate with only a 25% drop in amplitude after the first 120 hours of power reserve.

REASONS TO BUY

The Octa Réserve de Marche in stainless steel is an exclusive offering. It is a rare find for collectors and connoisseurs of F. P. Journe watchmaking, who have the chance to acquire the latest representative of this model in a 38 mm case, which was launched in 2015 in a limited edition of only 38 pieces, when the regular Octa Réserve de Marche models were not even produced. Now this size is no longer offered in the F. P. Journe collection, which makes the status of this limited edition and this watch unique. The most important of the aforementioned advantages of this watch is the stainless-steel execution, a sign of the exclusivity of any watch bearing the F. P. Journe brand name.

ABOUT THIS WATCH

Launched in 2001, the Octa Réserve de Marche was equipped with a traditional brass movement during a three-year production phase before being fitted with a new-generation movement with mainplate and bridges in 18k rose gold. This caliber 1300.2 with bidirectional winding was then used for the next 3 years. In 2007, F. P. Journe changed the winding system to unidirectional winding; this version of the movement is known as caliber 1300.3. The third generation of the Octa Réserve de Marche was produced until 2014 and then discontinued, only to be unexpectedly relaunched in 2021 under the name Octa Automatique in honor of the 20th anniversary of the Octa Réserve de Marche. Now, this model remains in the brand's collection with the same caliber 1300.3 and a 40- or 42-mm case in platinum 950 or 18k rose gold.

An extremely attractive feature of the present watch is that it dates from the time when production of the Octa Réserve de Marche was already discontinued in 2014, before being resumed 7 years later. In fact, this watch is the last Octa Réserve de Marche to retain the incredibly charismatic design of the original Octa Réserve de Marche from 2001 with a 38 mm case. Valuable features of F. P. Journe watchmaking such as the matt textured solid yellow gold dial, the guilloché solid silver sub-dial, the drop-shaped blued steel Journe hands and the Arabic numerals designed by François-Paul Journe himself undoubtedly enhance the appeal of this watch. As does the stainless-steel case and the stainless-steel double folding clasp, which are an unmistakable sign of exclusivity in F. P. Journe watches.