- Movement
- Manual winding
- Size
- 40 mm
Overview
A wristwatch marine chronometer
The F.P. Journe Chronomètre Souverain Black Label, reference CS, in platinum on a leather strap with the blackened silver dial, 18K white gold numerals and rhodium-plated steel hands. 40 mm and 8 mm high, manually wound on calibre 1304 in 18K rose gold, with small seconds at 7:30 and the power reserve at 3 o'clock.
The Black Label version is the Chronomètre Souverain in the collection the brand reserves for people who already own an F.P. Journe watch. On F.P. Journe's account it was created, against a production of about 900 watches a year, as a still more restricted piece in a platinum case with a black dial, and it is sold only in its boutiques and espaces. Here that is a blackened silver dial with 18K white gold numerals and rhodium-plated steel hands.
F.P. Journe built the Chronomètre Souverain on the pattern of the early nineteenth-century marine chronometer, the instrument that held time at sea so that longitude could be calculated. The wristwatch keeps that instrument's priorities: time only, a separate seconds display, a reserve indicator, and a movement arranged for a steady rate rather than a long one. It took the Best Men's Watch prize at the Grand Prix d'Horlogerie de Genève in 2005, and the brand describes it as its model of reference.
Calibre 1304 is 4 mm thick, with base plate and bridges in 18K rose gold. Its two mainspring barrels work in parallel, sharing the load rather than one feeding the other, so the torque reaching the escapement stays close to linear for most of the reserve, which limits the change in rate as the springs unwind. The balance is free-sprung, regulated by four inertia weights on its rim, with a flat Anachron spring; the escapement beats at 21,600 vibrations an hour.
For collectors
The twin barrels are often read as a power-reserve feature. They are not: 56 hours is ordinary for a hand-wound movement, and the point of running the barrels in parallel is torque stability, which is what a chronometer is for. The Souverain's plates and bridges are rose gold.
Key details
Design and engineering
- Twin barrels in parallelTwo barrels driving the train together, rather than in series, keep the delivered torque nearly flat across most of the reserve. Full wind takes 38 turns of the crown.
- Free-sprung balanceThere is no regulator index. The rate is set by four inertia weights on the balance rim, which leaves the flat Anachron spring undisturbed. Amplitude is 320° dial-up at full wind and 280° after 24 hours, a measure of how little the torque drops.
- Extra-flat constructionThe movement is 4 mm high and the cased watch 8 mm, which the brand describes as particularly slim for a movement carrying two barrels and a reserve indicator.
- DialSmall seconds at 7:30 and the reserve at 3 o'clock. Blackened silver with 18K white gold numerals; rhodium-plated steel hands.
- DecorationPartly circular-grained base plate with barleycorn guilloché, polished screw heads with chamfered slots, pegs with polished rounded ends.
Calibre 1304
- Manual winding, 38 turns of the crown
- Base plate and bridges in 18K rose gold
- Two mainspring barrels in parallel
- 21,600 vibrations per hour (3 Hz), 22 jewels
- Power reserve 56 ± 2 hours
- 30.40 mm overall diameter, 4.00 mm high, 161 parts
The reference
Technical specifications
| Reference | CS |
|---|---|
| Collection | Black Label |
| Calibre | Calibre 1304 |
| Movement | Manual winding |
| Movement material | 18K rose gold |
| Functions | Central hours and minutes, Sub-second at 7h30 |
| Case dimensions | 40 mm |
| Case thickness | 8 mm |
| Case material | Platinum |
| Dial | blackened Silver with 18K white Gold numerals |
| Hands | rhodium plated Steel |
| Strap | Leather strap |
| Jewels | 22 |
| Power reserve | 56 ± 2 hours |
| Movement parts | 161 |
| Distribution | Black Label collection: available only for F.P. Journe watch owners, and only in the F.P. Journe boutiques and espaces. |
Buying with HYPA
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- Registered Australian dealerHYPA International Pty Ltd · Registered Victorian second-hand dealer, Registration No. SHD-0018017.
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