WatchTime - August 2012

PROFILE
François-Paul Journe
94 WatchTime August 2012
Journe incorporated
his remontoir
d’égalité in the 1999
Tourbillon Souverain
Sympathique clock-and-watch timepieces that Breguet ma
the late 18th and early 19th centuries. Like Breguet’s Sy
thiques, the one that Journe made consists of a pocketw
that each night is meant to be placed in a cradle atop a
clock, where it synchronizes itself with the clock. Journe
pleted his Pendule Sympathique in 1988.
Journe is also proud of his Sonnerie Souveraine, unvei
2000, a wristwatch with grande and petite sonnerie as wel
minute repeater. “It took me six years to develop the first p
types, followed by approximately seven months for the assem
patented mechanism ensures that the user cannot reset the time
while the watch is striking. The mechanism blocks the crown so it
cannot be withdrawn.”
But Journe’s favorite model is his Chronomètre Souveraine,
which he introduced in 2005. “This is precisely the watch that I
wanted to make at the beginning of my career,” he says. “The
“IT’S EASY TO
MAKE SOMETHING
COMPLICATED,
BUT MUCH LESS
EASY TO MAKE IT
SIMPLE.”
movement has two barrels, which primarily assure greater stability
of rate.”
Much as he likes it, Journe doesn’t wear his Chronométre Souverain
most days. Instead, he wears whatever watch he is testing at
the moment: usually his newest creation. “Today, for example, I’m
wearing the new CTS Centigraphe Sport, the first wristwatch made
entirely of aluminum,” he says.
What Journe likes most about his work is problem-solving. The
more nettlesome the question, the better. “I’m especially happy
when I find a solution to an extremely difficult problem,” he says.
“For example, the objective with the Grande Sonnerie was to create
a reliable timepiece that cannot be damaged by attempting to
reset the time during the striking process. Ten patents were registered
for this device. It was especially challenging to construct the
movement from only 450 components. It’s easy to make something
complicated, but much less easy to make it simple.”