The Enduring Allure of the FP Journe Chronomètre Bleu
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- Опубликовано: 10 сен 2024
- In 2009 FP Journe introduced the Chronometre Bleu as an entry level chronometer for the brand. From its inception, it has been a favorite of collectors worldwide.
I also bought my FPJ from Miami Boutique about 2 years ago. Even then, there was a 3 to 6 month waiting list. I cannot be happier with my buying experience from Miami. FPJ's brother was working there at the time. Not sure if he still is. He personally called me to answer any questions (or maybe to vet if I was worthy of buying ha) and invited me to lunch which was super cool. Great watch, great brand. Cannot say enough good things about the Miami boutique.
Hi Levicrush, that is indeed a fantastic buying experience! Similarly, working with the FPJ Service Center in Miami, I was assigned a 'Guardian Angel' who looked after my watches as they (...ever...so...slowly..) went through the service and overhaul process. The NYC FP Journe Boutique is equally helpful and enjoyable to be around. So far, I've only bought straps from them, but once I win the lottery, that's where I'll get my Chronomètre Optimum. Kindest regards, Bill
Amazing review, cracking job Bill, keep it up.
Hey Rudi...considering the source of where I got the idea... For me, it was fun too! Cheers, Bill
The dial and the process for it is what makes it interesting. The failure rate is high and the reflective nature of it is second to none. It’s easily my favorite watch and I’ve yet to find as many that I just desire as much as the CB.
I did wait patiently at NY boutique myself for the longest, however, I didn’t find the level of love I got from the Miami boutique.
Hey Jessie, they have a waiting list of almost 100 at the NYC boutique, and that may have had something to do with the love. Both the NYC Boutique and the Miami FPJ Service Center have been wonderful towards me, and when my ship comes in, I'll get the Chronometre Optimum they have there in NYC! My CS is my favorite watch matched only by my H. Moser and Bovet....and my Parmigianis...What's next on your wish list? Cheers, Bill
@@watchartsci So funny I am REvisiting this. I am chasing the CO pretty hard. My Miami contact moved to NYC. It's been through three years since. I was hoping for allocation in 2025. The new prices are painful, but that's the patience price.
I am looking forward to checking out the new London boutique and getting to the new Soho in the future.
@@jessieanderson3931 Jesse ...I don't know what the best strategy would be to get your hands on a CO, but you might try contacting contact several FPJ boutiques and see if you can determine the shortest waiting list. Let me know what you can work out.
beautiful watch.....simplicity or minimalism mixed with grandeur.
Thanks WA! That's a perfect way of putting ! Cheers, Bill
What a magnificent watch! I’ll have to put this on my grail list Thanks for the great video Bill. BTW I had resent you some pictures of my new watch earlier in the week. Anyway thanks again for your wonderful videos, I have learned so much from you and I really appreciate it. I hope you and your wife have a very Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year.
Bruce I got the watch pictures. Thin and elegant. That's watchmaking at it's nadir! Merry Christmas & Happy New Year to you too ... and some great deals on watches as a holiday wish! Cheers, Bill
It was a great and fun video Bill. At first glance I didn't really like the CB but only after a short period of time. It became one my favorite watches. F.P. Journe and his way of thinking is really admirable.
Hi Barış .... I had fun too! Yes, the CB does have a powerful amount of fans, many of whom are willing to wait for years to get one! FPJ does rock the boat! Cheers, Bill
I love the look of it. I will put my name on a list today😋 Merry Christmas!
Or Bill ... you could consider a pre-owned FP Journe Chronomètre Souverain in gold or platinum and get a power reserve indicator to boot. Of course, signing up for a Bleu is a great way to have time to save! Merry Christmas to you & yours! Cheers, Bill
dream watch
They are indeed popular but have gone to the far side of the moon price wise...PE. Take care, Bill
Hi Bill, I was hoping you would do a video about the FPJ CB. It is in deed an amazing watch. I was lucky enough to buy mine a few months back with no waiting list. I visited the Boutique while I was in Paris and here it was ready available for me. I just picked it up like that. No mater how much we take pictures or videos of this watch they will never give the true light effect we see with our eyes. The dial is mirror like, with many shades and if you get the correct angle you will see the Arabic numbers floating with a 3 D effects. Absolutely amazing. No other watchmaker has managed to have this dial effect. Thank you for sharing. Best regards.
Hey DG B, that is so cool! They just happened to have one in the Paris Boutique...and Bob's your uncle! If you think the dial is magic, look at the back and use the balance cock as a pointer to the escape wheel and you can see the fork...but where is the end of the wheel train?! It must be there somewhere because it keeps on ticking. It's a wonderful watch no matter how you look at it...and as tough as nails. Cheers and congratulations! Bill
Thanks for your research Bill take a lot of preparing. never heard of any of those metals before, the cost must be very high.
A nice watch with some nice features.."Must add it to my bucket list"..Thanks for posting
Hey Bill Merry Christmas ... got the card! My bucket has no bottom...so I guess I have a 'Sieve List' Cheers, Bill
Great video Bill!
The Chronomètre Bleu has definitively became a class in horology mainly due to the rarity of Tantalum.
Of course it comes with a social price as you mentioned.
If I was Journe I'd go for a strategy like Chopard Fairmined.
That would be (or try to be) politically correct and would also add even more value to the pieces.
My 0.02 cents.
Merry Xmas my friend!
Amintas
Amintas! Great to hear from you, and now that you are closer in timeline, please join us for some live streams! (GMT +2 , no?) Journe is famous (or infamous) for his behavior; none of which outside of his watch designs are well loved. As far as affordable is concerned, indeed your strategy makes sense...but with these temperamental artist...who knows? feliz Natal e Feliz Ano Novo Bill
Great video! This watch is my only dream and grail but looking up the tantalum mines was a little turnoff from it :(
Hi Henry ... forget about the Bleu. Get the gold or platinum CS. Take care, Bill
@@watchartsci with the way the market is, that will surely be my best possibility of getting a Journe!
I have an interested in the Elegante 48. Do you have any comments on this watch?
Hi Decha, for some reason the Elegance 48s seem to have become scarce. The watch is based on the unique quartz movement designed and developed by FPJ, and while at 48mm, it's a big boy, it would be a unique addition to most collections. Kindest regards, Bill
Timing damn you!! Haha was hunting for a while in an agreement for a used but he is traveling in India until early January. Hope on wrist few weeks into January. Bill people were saying (fp journe forums, Rolex forum etc) tha FPJ collapsed the bleu waiting lists after found out ny peeps go to Miami for a shorter list etc. so supposedly one list unified in Geneva. As i stated s lot this was my fav fpj and I found a good deal Soooo pounce when you can
Hey Richard, there is great love for the Bleu, and I feel the same way about my Souvrain ... same movement..plus power reserve indicator and shorter lines! I do like Bleus, though. Now all the lists are in Geneva ... good move. Traveling in India ... sounds like something that would happen to me! Cheers, Bill
WatchArtSci love your Soverain. The blue is such a unique watch imo (lot of reasons you stated in video). Dial goes black to blue to purplish hues it is amazing
And heard in the bleu that there is no drive train but that black magic
Makes the escapement work. ;-)
It's either witch craft or black magic (maybe Voodoo...?) I can't believe I just discovered that hidden linking ... actually, I didn't find it; just found out about it and have been looking at my own watch trying to see how they did it! The Bleu's colors act like a real kaleidoscope .... I just get to see the hands on my CS go from black to blue. Cheers, Bill
Depending on where you go you can find CBs to order at boutiques. New York of course has the longest waiting list because the number of people. I’m willing to bet the list in Kiev is significantly shorter...
Regardless... I never felt the love from the New York boutique like I did Miami. I got to meet executives and they just had a nice presence. That’s surely why they are growing into a larger boutique! I’d, personally, buy my next FPJ from them because of their persistence and personality.
Someone walked into the Paris boutique recently and picked up a CB...no muss; no fuss...but lots of luck!
Pretty sure Chrono 24 has a bunch of them for sale , not sure what they are going for ?
Yes, they have 4 and 3 of them are over $40k Pat ... steep! Kindest regards, Bill.
saving my pennies for this one!
Hey Mainspring! Also check out some really good buys on Chronomètre Souverains while you're saving. They have the same movement as the Bleu, plus they have a power reserve indicator. Bleus are wonderful watches, but the gold and platinum ones aren't bad either! Good hunting, Bill
Hi bill. So it’s not just Rolex who make there watches out of unobtainium and they say there’s no money around these days😂😂😂😂
No Neil, not just Rolex, but maybe for a different reason. For Rolex who produces out 1.4 million units a year, it's a matter of smartly controlling the supply. F.P. Journe only does between 800-900 total because of craftsmanship limits. Nothing wrong with Rolexes, they're just meeting a different demand...of course the unobtainium has to come from a mine on Mars for both Rolex & FPJ... Cheers Bill
I was told FP Journe only made 640 watches last year.
Hi Rudi, you may be right, but most guesstimates are between 800-900 ( watchesbysjx.com/2017/05/hands-on-with-the-f-p-journe-black-label-minute-repeater.html ), but if around 150 less watches were produced because new models, whims, or whatever, I wouldn't be surprised. Cheers, Bill
Yea just saw one for 37 Grand not to bad
Hi Pat, an FP Journe Chronomètre Bleu sold new for about $22k from an AD a few years ago. If you bought one, then, $37k would be very nice to get for it. I'ver seen them for around $40k+. It's a crazy hobby we have. Kindest regards, Bill.
Nice review and caliber description, Bill. Very happy to own the watch and the Tantalum finish is cool. You can get the watch in reasonable time. It all depends on what you put on their Application Form, that is specific to this model. If you're a previous owner and can prove you are not a resale predator, then you can get it in a couple months or less. BTW, it is pronounced "Chronomet Bluh" (not blue) in French. Or "Blue Chronometer" in English. "Bleu" in French: ruclips.net/video/Gumy8_kKYh0/видео.html
I didn't know you had a Bleu, SouthNC. Tell me about it. Thanks, Bill
It took him a month to figure out his buddy didn’t want the watch ? Something sketchy?
Well, Pat, you know how it is ... you just never know! Cheers, Bill
Making a customer wait 8 years is not, "caring for" them. How long do you think it takes to manufacture a Chronmetre Blue.? Well F.P. makes about a thousand watches a year,(give or take 100 or so). That sounds like 3 watches a day. So to tell someone that they must wait 8 years to get one of these is ridiculous. But not having to pay a premium must make it all better. 8 years of inflation covers the premium, so it must be okay right? I used to love those watches, but the more I learn about it the more disgusted I get.
No one is making customers wait 8 years. FPJ chose to focus on quality, and quality cannot be rushed, Timothy. Take care and be safe, Bill😷
Why don't they use overcoil hairspring on this one? Same goes for Roger Smith's watches.
Akmaster, where did you read they do not have overcools in their hairsprings? Take care, Bill
@@watchartsci For the Chronometre Bleu, it's stated on their website under the watch's technical specifications, and for Roger Smith's I forgot where exactly, but they both use flat balance spring and I wonder why. Did I miss something?
@@akmaster001 Hi Akmaster ... you didn't miss a thing ... well maybe one thing. This is a quote from one of the Journe Guy's comments on the Optimum, "The final spice that Mr. Journe added to the movement [Optimum's movement] lies with the balance wheel/spring itself. The Optimum is the only Journe in today’s collection that utilizes a Phillips curve with regards to the hairspring, allowing a more concentric movement thanks to its three dimensional shape." I thank you for providing this nugget of information! Take care, Bill
@@watchartsci you'd expect grail watches such as Journe's Bleu and Roger Smith's to at least have the overcoil hairspring...I hope they have a good reason for this other than to cut the cost. Chronometre Optimum is a totally different story, its version of breguet's natural escapement and the remontoire is really something else albeit being quite delicate.
@@akmaster001 I doubt it's the cost, but I have no idea why.
Bill, I wouldn't wear an F.P. if you paid me 22,000. Plus waiting 8 years. I know these are luxury items and you can always spend your money elsewhere. But that kind of elitist attitude and to actually admit that the company could make 3000 or more units a year but they just choose not to in order to create scarcity and some artificial sense of exclusivity blows my mind. I wonder if F.P. and his "black label" customers that he cares so much about have ever visited the real world.
Timothy, it's rare because it's not part of mass production, and collectors appreciate the artistry of FPJ. Take care and be safe, Bill😷
@@watchartsci Thanks for the reply Bill. As always, succinct,lol short and sweet. I apologize for taking the comments section hostage with my rant. I do agree that the watches are something special, they are one of the very few watches that one can identify with just a glance. His style is unique, when you see one you know it's an F.P. and nothing else. Can I separate the man himself from the watches?, I dont know. Having never met him i shouldn't presume to judge his character. However, his company is not a "microbrand" company, hasn't been for a long time. I know there are costs, in both time and money, but the greater part of these manufacturing costs are bought and payed for, he doesn't have to buy new machinery every year, his distribution networks,( boutiques, A.D.s, shipping etc.) Are well established by now, so to tell a customer that they can't ship more then one Chronmetre blue per month to their own A.D.s is ridiculous.
@@styx4947 It's the artistry. It's like getting an original Picasso. Think of it that way, and you'll understand. Not a print, but an original. Take care and be safe. Bill😷
Tell ole' F.P. to send the villagers a couple of souvraines at list price, no premium. Problem solved.
Timothy, FPJ has lots of charities, and they're not for watch collectors. Take care and be safe, Bill😷