- Movement
- Manual winding
- Size
- 42 mm
Overview
A grand strike made safe to use
The F.P. Journe Sonnerie Souveraine, reference GS, in steel on the steel bracelet with the white gold dial and whitened guilloché silver sub-dials. 42 mm, manually wound calibre 1505 in 18K rose gold: grand and small strike, silent mode and minute repeater, with hours and minutes at 3 o'clock.
The Sonnerie Souveraine is F.P. Journe's grand-strike clockwatch with minute repeater, produced between 2006 and 2019. Journe calls the grand strike the most complex of horological creations, and the difficulty he names is energy: a wristwatch mainspring has to run a full clockwatch without weakening the sound or reliability of the chime. The first line of his specification was that an eight-year-old child should be able to use it safely. Meeting it took a movement built on new principles, protected by 10 patents, and F.P. Journe says each Sonnerie Souveraine is called by the name of its owner.
One mainspring powers both the going train and the strike, and the chiming alone uses almost 60% of its energy. Journe's answer was efficiency rather than force: a low-tension movement with gentle mechanisms, finely adjusted so that the chimes sound reliably, which the brand counts at 35,040 times a year. The pusher at 4 o'clock selects grand strike, small strike in passing each quarter hour, or silence; the pusher at 2 o'clock sounds the minute repeater on demand. Hours and minutes are read at 3 o'clock with small seconds at 6, and the striking hammers are visible.
For collectors
The case for this watch is as much about handling as about sound. On a chiming watch, Journe notes, a mistake such as setting the time while it strikes can damage the works; the Sonnerie Souveraine was specified from the outset so that such mistakes do no harm, which is why its movement was designed on new principles rather than adapted.
Key details
Design and engineering
- Energy budgetChiming takes almost 60% of the mainspring's energy, so the movement was built for low tension, with gentle, finely adjusted mechanisms rather than strong springs.
- Operating safetyJourne's brief was a watch an eight-year-old could handle without damaging it, including the familiar risk of setting the time while the chime is running. The solutions are covered by 10 patents.
- Strike modesGrand strike, small strike in passing each quarter hour, or silent mode, chosen by the pusher at 4 o'clock. The minute repeater is sounded on demand from the pusher at 2 o'clock.
- EscapementLinear escapement with a 15-tooth escape wheel. Amplitude is 320° dial-up at full wind and 200° after 24 hours.
- DisplaysHours and minutes at 3 o'clock, small seconds at 6, a power reserve and a strike-mode indication, with a view of the striking hammers.
Calibre 1505
- Manual winding, 23 turns of the crown, two-position crown
- 18K rose gold, 40 jewels
- Grand strike, small strike, silent mode, minute repeater on demand
- Autonomy 120 hours without strike
- 35.80 mm overall diameter, 8.60 mm high, frame 6.25 mm
- 408 parts without dial; 465 cased on leather strap, 582 on steel bracelet
The reference
Technical specifications
| Reference | GS |
|---|---|
| Collection | Souveraine |
| Calibre | Calibre 1505 |
| Movement | Manual winding |
| Case dimensions | 42 mm |
| Case thickness | 12.5 mm |
| Case material | Steel |
| Dial | white Gold and whitened guilloché Silver |
| Hands | blued Steel |
| Bracelet | Steel |
| Power reserve | 120 hours without strike |
| Movement parts | 408 |
| Status | No longer in the current collection |
Buying with HYPA
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