F.P. Journe

An extremely attractive, fine and rare limited-edition complicated wristwatch of the Swiss watch brand F. P. Journe Invenit et Fecit, founded in 1999 by the French watchmaker François-Paul Journe. Purchase date: 2006. Case in 18k rose gold, diameter 38mm, 10.6mm thick, black mother-of-pearl dial, silver subdial with clous de Paris guilloché pattern, fine circular grooves and thin metal frame fixed by screws, applied silver arc scale for date indication fixed by screws, sapphire caseback. Thin self-winding caliber 1300.2, mainplate and bridges in solid 18k rose gold, rotor in 22k pink gold, power reserve of up to 160 hours. Functions – hours, minutes, small seconds hands, annual calendar with the day of the week and month indication in apertures, and retrograde date indicator by the central hand. Brown leather strap with F. P. Journe buckle in 18k rose gold. Limited edition of 10 pieces for Sincere Fine Watches (Singapore). 

François-Paul Journe is one of the few watchmakers to have developed a wristwatch with an annual calendar complication, automatic winding and long 5-day power reserve. The Octa Calendrier, presented by F. P. Journe in 2002, is the third model of the Octa collection, issued after the Octa Réserve de Marche (2001) and the Octa Chronographe (2002). All Octa timepieces are powered by the same self-winding base caliber 1300 with a notably large (10.1mm) chronometric balance. This caliber was initially developed by François-Paul Journe to meet the requests of his customers preferring a self-winding watch. He conceived a slim caliber, allowing various additional complications to be installed without changing the overall thickness of the movement and ensuring the thickness of the case remained practically the same for all models in the Octa collection. For the caliber, François-Paul Journe developed a large barrel with a 1000mm long and 0.1mm thick winding spring, which provided a power reserve of approximately 160 hours, from which 120 hours were picked, guaranteeing a chronometric rate. The annual calendar function of the Octa Calendrier indicates the date by the large central hand and it advances automatically for the months with 29, 30 and 31 days. In non-leap years (three years out of four) the date should be advanced manually from the 28th to the 29th of February by turning the crown. The date then passes automatically from February 29th to March 1st. 

Shortly after its official launch, the Octa Calendrier watch won the Special Jury’s Award at the prestigious Grand Prix d’Horlogerie de Genève in 2002. Early Octa Calendrier watches featured the first-generation caliber 1300 made of rhodium-coated brass. From 2004, the watchmaker began making the Octa movements in 18k rose gold (the second generation), marking the start of caliber 1300.2, as in the present lot. In 2007, the brand introduced the 3rd generation caliber 1300.3, again made of 18k pink gold, but equipped with unidirectional winding. When the Octa was first launched in 2001, its automatic winding mechanism was designed to be bidirectional, which, as it turned out, with an inactive lifestyle of the watch owner, was less effective than unidirectional winding. The production of the Octa Calendrier watch ceased in 2015.