- Movement
- Manual winding
- Size
- 40 mm
Overview
A minute repeater 4.50 mm thick
The F.P. Journe Répétition Souveraine, reference RM, in steel on the steel bracelet with the whitened guilloché silver dial and blued steel hands. 40 mm and 8.5 mm high; manually wound calibre 1408 in 18K rose gold, a minute repeater 4.50 mm thick, released by a slide on the left of the case.
The Répétition Souveraine is F.P. Journe's minute repeater: on demand, from a slide on the left side of the case, it strikes the hours, the quarters and the minutes. The brand's account puts the minute repeater second only to the grande sonnerie among complications and places the oldest known example at about 1710, in Friedberg. Journe's stated aim was a repeater as slim as a plain hand-wound calibre. The movement is 4.50 mm high and the cased watch 8.50 mm, and the brand says it has applied for two patents on the construction. It followed the Sonnerie Souveraine, and in its whitened silver execution it wears the Chronomètre Souverain's guilloché dial, with small seconds at 7:30 and the reserve at 3 o'clock; what gives the complication away is an aperture between 9 and 10 o'clock through which the hammers can be seen.
Two developments make the height possible. The gong is flat, a form first used on the Sonnerie Souveraine, and it sits under the dial rather than around the movement, which the brand says gives a louder and clearer note and leaves more room for the calibre. The striking racks and the strike-selection work are a new arrangement that takes up less space than the usual one. The hours and the minutes strike on the same hammer, so when there are no quarters a pause is inserted between the hour strokes and the minute strokes; the quarters sound as double chimes. An inertia regulator governs the speed of the strike in place of the air regulator whose whirr is normally heard behind a repeater. Under the striking work the going train is that of a chronometer: two barrels in parallel, a free-sprung balance with four inertia weights on a flat Anachron spring, 21,600 vibrations an hour, 56 hours of reserve.
For collectors
The case is steel, and the brand describes that as an exception it makes for its striking watches: gold and platinum were set aside because, in its words, steel resonates sound above every other metal. With the gold movement inside, the watch on its strap weighs 69.6 grams, a figure the brand quotes. The calibre shares its base with the Chronomètre Souverain and, by the brand's count, carries nearly twice the parts in a movement 4.50 mm high.
Key details
Design and engineering
- A slide, not a pusherA single indented slide on the left side of the case sets off the strike. Hours, quarters and minutes sound in turn, and the hammers are visible through the window between 9 and 10 o'clock.
- Flat gong under the dialFirst used on the Sonnerie Souveraine. Mounted beneath the dial instead of around the movement, it frees space for the calibre and, in the brand's account, sounds louder and clearer than a conventional gong.
- One hammer for hours and minutesUnlike the usual repeater layout, hours and minutes strike on the same hammer, so a pause separates them when no quarters are due. Quarters are double chimes. An inertia regulator sets the tempo without the noise of an air regulator.
- Steel caseChosen for the strike. The brand's view is that steel carries a chime better than any other case metal, and it used it for the Sonnerie Souveraine before this.
- Chronometer baseTwo barrels in parallel for stable torque over most of the 56-hour reserve; a free-sprung balance with four inertia weights, adjusted dynamically in six positions. Amplitude 320° dial-up at full wind and 280° after 24 hours.
- DecorationCircular-grained base plate, straight waves on the bridges, 3D engraving, polished and bevelled screw heads, pegs with polished rounded ends, steel parts hand-polished and decorated.
Calibre 1408
- Manual winding, 38 turns of the crown
- Base plate and bridges in 18K rose gold
- Minute repeater struck on demand; two mainspring barrels in parallel; linear escapement with 15-tooth escape wheel
- 21,600 vibrations per hour (3 Hz), 33 jewels
- Power reserve 56 ± 2 hours
- 31.60 mm casing-up diameter, 4.50 mm high, 312 parts
The reference
Technical specifications
| Reference | RM |
|---|---|
| Collection | Classique |
| Calibre | Calibre 1408 |
| Movement | Manual winding |
| Movement material | 18K rose gold |
| Functions | Central hours and minutes, Sub-second at 7h30, Power reserve at 3h00, View to striking hammers |
| Case dimensions | 40 mm |
| Case thickness | 8.5 mm |
| Case material | Steel |
| Dial | whitened guilloché Silver |
| Hands | blued Steel |
| Bracelet | Steel |
| Power reserve | 56 ± 2 hours |
| Frequency | 21'600 Alt/h (3Hz) |
| Movement parts | 312 |
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