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Lot Essay
With only 2 pieces made per year between approximately 2010 and 2019, and now discontinued, the present super-exclusive edition of F.P. Journe's Chronomètre à Résonance, the RT Black Label ‘Parking Meter’ is one of the rarest versions of all among the already almost unobtainable Chronomètre à Résonance. It is calculated that a total of only around 18 RT Black Label ‘Parking Meter’ watches were likely to have ever been produced. Moreover, the present watch, number 020-RT, is by far the earliest example known to the market. To date, only three others are known publicly: 100-RT; 163-RT; and 186-RT.
Offered in exceptional condition and accompanied by the special Black Label Certificate of Guarantee and original accessories, it is one of only four examples that have appeared publicly and offers connoisseurs and collectors of F.P. Journe’s remarkable timepieces the extremely unusual and almost unheard of opportunity to obtain an example of the almost mythical and completely stunning RT Black Label Chronomètre à Résonance.
F.P. Journe’s Black Label Collection was available only in the brand’s boutiques and then only to clients who already owned a Journe timepiece. The idea was that F.P. Journe wanted to offer loyal clients an even more exclusive timekeeper that would be available only for existing owners of an F.P. Journe watch. The ravishingly beautiful watches of the Black Label Collection are always cased in platinum and are immediately recognisable by their inky high gloss black lacquered dials. Each F.P. Journe boutique received only one Black Label timepiece per month.
The ‘RT’ series was the third generation of the Chronomètre à Résonance, two different versions were created, both with one of the twin dials indicating 12-hours, the other indicating 24-hours in order to differentiate between day and night. The present earlier version has a digital 24-hour display and analogue 12-hour display, the distinctive and unusual shape of the stainless-steel framed digital display has led to the model’s nickname, the “Parking Meter”. The later version of the ‘RT’ model has traditional symmetrical analogue displays for both the 12-hours and 24-hours.
The Chronomètre à Résonance
Perhaps the watch that most clearly showcases the sheer genius of contemporary watchmaker François-Paul Journe. It is the only wristwatch in the world with a movement based on ‘resonance’, a natural physical phenomenon said to have been first discovered by Christiaan Huygens in 1665. Huygens noticed that two pendulum clocks, when hung together on the same beam would beat together in perfect synchronicity. An idea that was further experimented with by the great French clockmaker Antide Janvier and the legendary watchmaker Abraham-Louis Breguet, both of whose work F.P. Journe greatly admires. F.P. Journe’s resonance watches notably feature two balances that are naturally synchronized and oscillate in ‘resonance’ with each other. The negative effects of wrist and body movements are hence considerably reduced. Breguet had experimented with the theory of resonance in watches in the early 19th century and indeed constructed three pocket watches using the two-balance system. With the development and production of the Chronomètre à Résonance, F.P. Journe became the first watchmaker to make a wristwatch constructed on the principle of resonance, an incredible achievement of modern horology.
Offered in exceptional condition and accompanied by the special Black Label Certificate of Guarantee and original accessories, it is one of only four examples that have appeared publicly and offers connoisseurs and collectors of F.P. Journe’s remarkable timepieces the extremely unusual and almost unheard of opportunity to obtain an example of the almost mythical and completely stunning RT Black Label Chronomètre à Résonance.
F.P. Journe’s Black Label Collection was available only in the brand’s boutiques and then only to clients who already owned a Journe timepiece. The idea was that F.P. Journe wanted to offer loyal clients an even more exclusive timekeeper that would be available only for existing owners of an F.P. Journe watch. The ravishingly beautiful watches of the Black Label Collection are always cased in platinum and are immediately recognisable by their inky high gloss black lacquered dials. Each F.P. Journe boutique received only one Black Label timepiece per month.
The ‘RT’ series was the third generation of the Chronomètre à Résonance, two different versions were created, both with one of the twin dials indicating 12-hours, the other indicating 24-hours in order to differentiate between day and night. The present earlier version has a digital 24-hour display and analogue 12-hour display, the distinctive and unusual shape of the stainless-steel framed digital display has led to the model’s nickname, the “Parking Meter”. The later version of the ‘RT’ model has traditional symmetrical analogue displays for both the 12-hours and 24-hours.
The Chronomètre à Résonance
Perhaps the watch that most clearly showcases the sheer genius of contemporary watchmaker François-Paul Journe. It is the only wristwatch in the world with a movement based on ‘resonance’, a natural physical phenomenon said to have been first discovered by Christiaan Huygens in 1665. Huygens noticed that two pendulum clocks, when hung together on the same beam would beat together in perfect synchronicity. An idea that was further experimented with by the great French clockmaker Antide Janvier and the legendary watchmaker Abraham-Louis Breguet, both of whose work F.P. Journe greatly admires. F.P. Journe’s resonance watches notably feature two balances that are naturally synchronized and oscillate in ‘resonance’ with each other. The negative effects of wrist and body movements are hence considerably reduced. Breguet had experimented with the theory of resonance in watches in the early 19th century and indeed constructed three pocket watches using the two-balance system. With the development and production of the Chronomètre à Résonance, F.P. Journe became the first watchmaker to make a wristwatch constructed on the principle of resonance, an incredible achievement of modern horology.