Horological Meandering

AndrewD
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My thoughts on the F.P.Journe Chronomètre Optimum

The Optimum has been whispered about for some years: a super-chronometer that brings together many of Journe’s design and engineering ideas into one watch. And now it is finally unveiled [click here]. And as usual it is a polarising watch, but one which I believe is the most important F.P.Journe timepiece since the Centigraphe Souverain.

Chronometry has always been a central driving factor in F.P.Journe watches. The Chronomètre Souverain achieved this in a fairly standard manner with two large mainspring barrels in parallel and a free sprung balance. But Journe often went about maximising chronometric performance in unconventional ways – a twin escapement using the resonance phenomenon in the Chronomètre a Resonance and the first remontoir in a wristwatch in the Tourbillon Souverain (TS).

So early on we had some clues to what might be in the Optimum – twin barrels, manual wind and a remontoir were clear choices, but given Mr Journe’s strong roots in traditional horology I wasn’t expecting a new escapement architecture. However Journe has reached back to the natural beat designs of A.L. Breguet and produced a direct impulse bi-axial escapement with modern materials (the escape wheels and arbors are in titanium) which do not require lubrication. This will presumably lead to greater stability over time (no aging of the oils with changes to performance) but we are yet to see if this translates into longer service intervals.

F.P.Journe press photo: platinum case and WG dial.

The remontoir, first seen in the TS, has been updated with a titanium spring. The long 70 hour power reserve (50 hours with isochronism) is very practical. 40mm is probably the perfect case size (while I like most Journe watches in 38mm with the thinner bezel, 40mm suits the DS and I think also the new CO), but given current trends, offering a 42 mm version covers most sizes across the Journe catalogue. We will have to wait to see both the 40mm and 42mm watches to decide which is aesthetically more balanced. And at 10.1mm thickness the proportions will again be perfectly elegant on the wrist. I also applaud the larger crown which should allow much easier and more comfortable winding of the CO; any Journe owner will know what I mean.

While not everyone buys into the Journe aesthetic – a post-modern design with historical references – the design of the Optimum is a further distillation of the ‘house style’ with some touches of magic. For those of us with aging eyes we now have a larger hour-minute dial. The spinning remontoir is again visible from the front of the watch and harks back to the original TS, superseded in 2004 by the Dead Seconds tourbillon. I don’t particularly like the use of the red arrow on the reserve de marche display. It is appropriate and looks great on the F.P.Journe sports watches, but on the Optimum I would have preferred the more sober RdM design we have on the Resonance and TS.

F.P.Journe press photo: RG case and RG dial.

Here is where the Journe magic really comes in for me: I expected a large dead seconds display on the front of the watch, the same size as the hour-minute dial. But instead what we get is a smaller ‘continuous’ seconds on the front (actually showing the 3Hz frequency of the escapement) and a larger dead seconds display on the rear (showing the 1Hz frequency of the remontoir) which is completely independent of the escapement. And the dead seconds runs counter clockwise! These dual but independent and unique seconds displays alone are quirky enough to make me love this watch.

F.P.Journe press teaser, brightened.

While a zero second reset such as we have in the Glashütte Original Senator Chronometer would have been a fantastic addition (or even a hacking seconds as an inferior alternative), Journe has stated many times that he doesn’t like mechanisms that stop the balance wheel and perturb timekeeping. Whether this is essential to you or you consider it a design fault I will leave that up to you. Personally I am happy to wind my DS so that the seconds are perfectly matched with atomic time and then watch how it tracks over the weeks that I wear it.

Photo credit: KIH Tokyo Boutique Optimum launch. Cropped and flipped.

Only the true Journe-o-philes will have read through these ramblings but if, like me, you appreciate the concepts, design and unique combinations of complications that F.P. Journe brings to his timepieces then I think you will love the Chronomètre Optimum as much as I do.

Very interested to hear both your emotional and intellectual responses to this watch.

Andrew

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