Phillips is auctioning off the earliest commercially numbered example of the legendary F.P. Journe Chronomètre à Résonance watch this November.
Jay-Z Rocked an Ultra-Rare Vintage Rolex Daytona at the World Cup FinalHow to Buy Your First Vintage Watch, According to Dealers: XXIV this November. The watch was produced in 1999—a year before the model’s launch—occupying a singular place in Résonance history as quite possibly the first piece delivered to a collector.
The Chronomètre à Résonance was the world’s first wristwatch to harness the phenomenon of resonance. Drawing on observations made by late, great horologists Antide Janvier and Abraham-Louis Breguet, François-Paul Journe gave the timepiece a movement with two closely positioned balance wheels and escapements that could influence one another through subtle vibrations until they settled into the same rate of oscillation, thereby improving the chronometric stability .
The watch was, and still is, a clear standout in contemporary horology, combining innovative mechanics with elegant aesthetics. Journe offered the first 20, numbered 001-020/00R, to his early supporters through a subscription system, asking them to place deposits that helped to finance his budding manufacture. He kept the next piece, marked with serial number 021, as his presentation watch for clients and retailers.
The following example, bearing the serial number 022/99R, went to a collector who selected it because “002” matched his birth date. He has held onto it for the past 27 years, but has finally decided to pass it on to another collector. The watch is one of only 10 pre-production examples that are believed to exist, according to Phillips.
It features a 38 mm platinum case, an exceptionally rare shiny pink-gold dial with silver-toned subdials, and a brass movement that is visible through the transparent caseback. It is also engraved with that all-important serial number, which marks the moment when the legendary dual-balance timepiece first became commercially available.
“What we have here with the present Chronomètre à Résonance 022/99R is not simply an early Résonance: it is, in all likelihood, the very first one delivered, the piece that proved a young independent watchmaker’s most audacious complication worked on the wrist, in the real world,” Alexandre Ghotbi and Tiffany To of Phillips jointly said in a statement. “Everything that followed—the acclaim, the waiting lists, the mythology around Journe—traces back to this watch.
”The lot is expected to fetch between CHF 500,000 and 1 million Swiss francs, about $617,000 and $1.2 million, underscoring the growing demand for F.P. Journe watches. François-Paul Journe has become the hottestalive, with a cult following that has expanded rapidly over the past decade. The Frenchman’s creations continue to be some of the most fiercely contested lots at watch auctions, resulting in truly remarkable results.
At a Phillips sale in May, ninecollectively set no fewer than six world records. We wouldn’t be surprised if this particular Résonance shattered those pre-sale estimates, in fact. The Geneva Watch Auction: XXIV will take place at Hotel President on November 7 and 8, with a public preview on the days leading up to the sale. Rachel Cormack is a digital editor at Robb Report.
She cut her teeth writing for HuffPost, Concrete Playground, and several other online publications in Australia, before moving to New York at the…Former Audemars Piguet CEO François-Henri Bennahmias Is Starting His Own Watch Brand
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