- Movement
- Manual winding
- Size
- 40 or 42 mm
Overview
Two balances, one beat
The F.P. Journe Chronomètre à Résonance Black Label, reference RQ, in platinum, blackened gold dial with two whitened silver guilloché sub-dials, blued and rhodium-plated steel hands. Two independent balances kept in step by resonance, driven by calibre 1520 in 18K rose gold from one barrel through two remontoirs d'égalité. 10.8 mm high.
The Black Label Résonance is the current calibre 1520 construction in the collection the brand reserves for people who already own an F.P. Journe watch, sold only in its boutiques and espaces; F.P. Journe gives its production as about 900 watches a year. The platinum case carries a blackened gold dial with the two whitened guilloché silver sub-dials, and the hands are blued steel and rhodium-plated steel.
Resonance, one oscillator falling into step with a neighbour through the structure they share, was observed by Huygens in the seventeenth century and used in precision regulators by Antide Janvier around 1780 and by Breguet a generation later. F.P. Journe records no later use before his own: after fifteen years of trials he presented the first Chronomètre à Résonance in 2000, and Résonance is his registered name for it. The watch in this catalogue is the current calibre 1520 generation, introduced for the model's twentieth anniversary.
The original ran two complete movements from two barrels. Calibre 1520 has one barrel, and a differential on the first wheel, visible at the centre of the dial, divides its torque between two secondary trains. Each train carries a remontoir d'égalité that rearms every second, so each escapement receives a near-constant force for as long as the remontoirs are kept armed, which the brand rates at 28 of the 42 hours of reserve. The two balances, sharing the plate, hold each other to a common rate; the brand's case for resonance is that a balance disturbed by a wrist movement is pulled back into step by its twin.
For collectors
What changed with calibre 1520 is easy to miss on the dial and fundamental in the movement: one barrel and two constant-force devices replaced two barrels, so the balances receive matched, near-constant torque rather than two separately unwinding springs. The brand specifies constant force for 28 ± 2 hours of the 42-hour total, so its rate specification applies to that window; beyond it the movement runs on declining mainspring torque until it stops. The crown at 2 o'clock and the seconds reset at 4 belong to the redesigned case of this calibre.
Key details
Design and engineering
- Resonance without couplingThe two balances share nothing mechanical. They synchronise through the plate they are mounted on. Each has four inertia weights, a flat micro-flamed Anachron spring on a Nivatronic collet, and its own 15-tooth escapement.
- One barrel, one differentialA single mainspring feeds a differential on the first wheel, which splits the drive into two trains so that neither balance can starve the other of power. The differential is visible at the dial centre.
- Two remontoirs d'égalitéA constant-force device on each train rearms once a second. The escapement is driven by the remontoir's spring rather than directly by the mainspring, so the torque it receives varies far less as the mainspring unwinds; the brand rates isochronism at 28 ± 2 hours.
- Two dialsLeft 24 hours, right 12 hours, each with its own seconds at 6 o'clock; the reserve is at 12. Setting turns the left dial clockwise and the right anti-clockwise.
- Two crowns2 o'clock winds and sets; pulling 4 o'clock resets both seconds hands to zero together.
- FinishingPartial circular graining on the base plate, screw heads polished and bevelled with chamfered slots, steel parts hand-finished.
Calibre 1520
- Manual winding, 31 turns of the crown
- 18K rose gold
- One barrel, differential, two one-second remontoirs d'égalité
- 21,600 vibrations per hour (3 Hz), 62 jewels
- Total autonomy 42 hours, of which 28 ± 2 hours at constant force
- 34.60 mm overall diameter, 6.90 mm high, 378 parts
The reference
Technical specifications
| Reference | RQ |
|---|---|
| Collection | Black Label |
| Calibre | Calibre 1520 |
| Movement | Manual winding |
| Functions | Double time display: Left dial (analogue) indicating 24 hours, Right dial (analogue) indicating 12 hours, 2 small seconds at 6h, Power reserve at 12h |
| Case dimensions | 40 or 42 mm |
| Case thickness | 10.8 mm |
| Case material | Platinum |
| Notes | Double display (analog 24 hours and analog 12 hours) |
| Dial | blackened Gold and whitened guilloché Silver |
| Hands | blued Steel and rhodium plated Steel |
| Jewels | 62 |
| Frequency | 21’600 v/h, 3Hz |
| Distribution | Black Label collection: available only for F.P. Journe watch owners, and only in the F.P. Journe boutiques and espaces. |
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