Our remarks

F.P.JOURNE Centigraphe Souverain, Ref. CT PT A, 950 Platinum, Box and Papers, Year 2011, Rare

In 2008, F.P.Journe set out to solve a problem most chronograph makers had quietly given up on, genuine legibility down to the hundredth of a second, and the result won the Centigraphe Souverain the Aiguille d'Or, the top honor at the Grand Prix d'Horlogerie de Genève. It remains one of the most technically ambitious chronographs Journe has ever produced, and one now discontinued since 2019.

The case is 950 platinum, a compact 40mm, worn on an alligator strap that keeps the whole piece surprisingly light on the wrist for a watch carrying this much mechanical density. The dial, in white gold and whitened guilloché silver, arranges three subdials each with a red time scale and black tachometer, together capable of reading elapsed time from a hundredth of a second up to ten minutes.

Operating the chronograph is done through a patented rocker set into the case band at two o'clock rather than the pushers found on virtually every other chronograph, allowing an instant start, stop and reset in a single motion. Just as significant, Journe isolated the chronograph mechanism entirely from the timekeeping train, meaning the balance amplitude stays completely unaffected whether the chronograph is running or not, a patented solution to a problem chronographs had lived with for over a century.

Behind the sapphire case back sits the hand wound caliber 1506, finished with anglage and Côtes de Genève across an architecture built largely from 18k rose gold, delivering roughly 80 hours of power reserve from 50 jewels.

This example is offered as:

- Discontinued reference

- Full set with box and warranty card, 

- extra lether strap

- FPJ cleaning tissue

"A chronograph that solved its own biggest limitation, precision down to a hundredth of a second, and an Aiguille d'Or to prove it. A genuinely significant piece of modern independent watchmaking, and one that rarely surfaces complete with its full set."