SIGNED F.P. JOURNE, OCTA CHRONOGRAPHE RUTHENIUM MODEL, NO. 54⁄99-02C, CIRCA 2008

This limited edition Ruthenium Octa Calendrier is number 54 of only 99 pieces made between 2001 and 2003. This special series in platinum was produced at the end of the period when F.P. Journe was using brass movements. From 2004 onwards, Journe’s movements have famously been made from 18k gold. With the tremendous and continually growing interest in François-Paul Journe’s work, collectors have focused their attention on the early production and pre-production watches with brass movements. Consequently these watches which are an important part of F.P. Journe history have become extremely sought after and very difficult to obtain.

The present watch is accompanied by its original large-size paper Certificate which confirms the 40 mm. platinum case, ruthenium covered movement and 18k gold ruthenium covered dial.

Octa Chronographe
The Octa Chronographe is one of the rarest and most intriguing of François-Paul Journe’s early series wristwatches with only 313 examples ever made across all production. The present watch as part of the ‘Ruthenium Collection’ is particularly desirable as part of the early ‘brass movement’ era watches and is hardly ever seen at auction. Technically brilliant, the Octa Chronographe uses the same caliber 1300 as other Octa models but is fitted with an integrated stopwatch mechanism on the dial plate. This allowed the Chronographe to be the same height as other Octa models, a quite remarkable achievement. The Octa Chronographe was replaced by the ‘Centigraphe’ in 2008.