François-Paul Journe: The lone watchmaker who continues to lead the way

François-Paul Journe says that he made plans for his life as a watchmaker in 2000. These included becoming a manufacture and opening his own boutiques. One of his plans was a black watch. The Chronomètre Fourtif, released in 2025, is not simply an all-black watch, but is packed with Journe's signature innovations.

The culmination of FP Journe's maturity: the climax

　The Chronomètre Souverain features a thin 40mm case, a highly accurate manual-winding movement, and an iconic design. Excellent packaging and far from ordinary, this model has long been one of the "holy grails" for many watch enthusiasts. The Chronomètre Fourtif, with its completely different appearance, has been added to the Chronomètre Souverain line.

　Since its founding, FP Journe has continued to create unique movements. However, in recent years, the company has increasingly focused on dials and cases. However, the choice of anthracite grey enamel and tungsten carbide, which are extremely difficult to manufacture, was unusual. François-Paul Journe said, "We wanted to use new materials, so we experimented with ceramics and tantalum, and even developed black ceramic in collaboration with Chanel. This plan was scrapped, but looking back, I'm glad we did."

　Instead of ceramics, they chose a hard and heavy tungsten alloy, and planning began in 2022. Journe first built a prototype in titanium, tested it on the wrist, and then spent 10 months perfecting the product.

　Prior to the launch of the Chronomètre Fourtif, Journe created the Chronomètre Fourtif Bleu for Only Watch, which was almost identical to the production version, but with a blue enamel dial and a tantalum case. In retrospect, this model was likely a test case for the more difficult-to-machine material, tungsten carbide.

　The anthracite grey enamel dial further accentuates the impact of this watch. "I've wanted to do an enamel dial for a long time," Journe said, and to that end he adopted a center seconds layout, a first for the company. "With a small seconds hand, the number of layers increases, making it difficult to mount a thick enamel dial." Journe, who creates watches with the exterior in mind, therefore created a new interior for the dial.

"The color of the dial was decided to match the case, and the indexes and logo were laser engraved."

　The aim is to make the watch flutif, or stealth. Unless the watch is turned towards you, the hands and indices are recessed, making it difficult to read the time. To emphasize this stealth, Journe has incorporated a new technique called laser-engraved enamel.

　The movement used in this model is the same as that of the Chronomètre Fourtif Bleu. Not only does it have a center second hand, but it also has a moon phase and power reserve indicator. The reason for choosing a direct second hand with the fourth wheel in the center is to prevent the hands from jumping and to make the gear train more compact. Journe took advantage of the free space to make the movement even more symmetrical.

　What impressed me about this model was the complete package. It weighs just 250g, but the thin case and excellent weight balance make it comfortable to wear. The polished anthracite gray enamel dial is, to put it mildly, the best available. Its price tag will be extremely high for a standard three-hand watch. But this model is definitely worth the hefty price tag.

Manufacture FP Journe at the forefront

　Despite its small annual production of around 1000 watches, FP Journe is a manufacture capable of producing almost all of its interior and exterior components in-house. Moreover, rather than simply producing components, the company has also produced gold movements, tantalum exteriors, and vividly colored lacquer dials, which are the envy of other companies. The company has now poured all its efforts into creating the Chronomètre Fourtif, a watch packed with extremely difficult-to-make materials.

François-Paul Journe says, "There's no point in doing something that isn't the best." Needless to say, it was the maturity of the manufacture that made the Chronomètre Fourtif possible.

　The Chronomètre Fourtif was currently under construction at the company's headquarters in Geneva's Old Town. The movement's caliber, the 1522, is a comprehensive improvement over the caliber 1304 used in the Chronomètre Souverain. The movement's diameter has increased from 30.40mm to 33.50mm, and its thickness from 4.0mm to 5.9mm. Despite the addition of a 0.7mm enamel dial, the case's thickness is only 0.7mm thicker than the Souverain's 8.6mm. While the use of a hard tungsten alloy is responsible for the slimness, Journe has also made significant advances in case design. The reason for the movement's larger size and thickness is due to the addition of additional functions. The 1522, with its direct center seconds, centered on the fourth wheel, moon phase display at 6 o'clock, and power reserve indicator at 12 o'clock, is a distinct complication, albeit one that is in the Souverain lineage.

　That said, the performance of this movement is inherited from the Chronomètre Souverain. Journe has always preferred an approach that maximizes accuracy but limits the balance wheel oscillation to 270 to 280 degrees. This is understandable, considering his aversion to swinging. However, in the hand-wound Chronomètre Souverain, the oscillation angle was increased from 310 to 320 degrees to improve accuracy, and a double barrel was used to suppress swinging of the balance.

　The same goes for the Fourtif 1522. It also has the same power reserve of approximately 56 hours and a balance wheel with a relatively large moment of inertia of 10.10 mg/cm2. However, the oscillation angle has actually been improved, reaching 320 degrees in a horizontal position after 12 hours, rather than when fully wound. This model is not merely a cosmetic copy of the Souverain, but is a genuine model in the lineage of the Chronomètre Souverain.

　However, its production is more difficult than that of a regular Chronometer Souverain. Because the axis extending from the fourth wheel is long, the parallelism of the hands must be checked every 15 minutes. Also, the base and legs of the enamel dial are made of gold instead of silver, so if they are tightened too much when fixed to the movement, they will crack. It is only natural that only a limited number of watchmakers are able to assemble it.

　The exterior is made of tungsten carbide, which Journe said was "much more difficult than tantalum." Made by reacting carbon and tungsten at temperatures between 1400 and 2000°C, this material has a density similar to gold and a hardness of HV1600, which is about three times that of steel. When you hear that one manufacturer uses it for the dies used to punch out the cases, you can imagine how difficult it is to process. "Normal tungsten carbide has a hardness of HV1600. But at this hardness, the tool would be ruined after drilling 30 holes. So we added a little nickel to bring it down to HV1350. Nickel can cause allergies, so we coated the exterior surface," said Journe.

"We didn't think it was possible to make a tungsten case," says a representative at FP Journe's case factory in Boitiers, Geneva. "It's just a difficult material. We made a case for a prototype, but we need to make a lot of them, so we're currently optimizing the manufacturing process."

　The tungsten carbide material, delivered in plate form, is roughly shaped using a wire EDM machine before undergoing the cutting process. The surface is then micro-blasted and sandblasted, and then chamfered with a diamond tool. "Because the material is hard, increasing the cutting speed would break the tool. So we set the speed the same as a normal tool. Because it can only be cut slowly, the work takes 10 times longer than with platinum." Furthermore, the tip of the cutting tool is made of a special material harder than diamond. "Even if the tool breaks, it takes about eight to ten weeks to deliver because it is a custom-made product," says Journe. For the 2023 Chronomètre Fourtif Bleu, FP Journe completed a tantalum exterior, but according to a representative, "making a tungsten carbide exterior is much more difficult than making one with tantalum."

　Paired with this exterior is an anthracite gray enamel dial. To begin with, it is difficult to obtain high-quality enamel. In addition, the color of anthracite gray is unstable, making it even more difficult to produce. Furthermore, enamel dials, which are made by layering multiple layers of glassy glaze, are difficult to make thin. However, FP Journe, which has been producing its own enamel for 20 years, has completed an enamel dial that can be said to be flawless. However, a person in charge laments that "the (final) yield is at best 25%."

　The base plate used for enamel dials is usually about 1mm thick. Moreover, enamel is applied not only to the front but also to the back before firing. This is to prevent distortion during heating. In contrast, FP Journe uses an extremely thin gold base plate, keeping the thickness of the dial to just 0.7mm. When asked how they manage to prevent distortion, they were told it was a trade secret. So how did they manage to keep the thickness of the dial to just 0.7mm using the classic enamel dial manufacturing method, which involves applying glaze to the back as well?

　There's also some ingenuity in the firing of the enamel. This is true Grand Feu enamel, fired at high temperatures, but "if the temperature is too high, the enamel can crack." The temperature is likely slightly different. The process of applying one layer of glaze, firing it, then applying another, and firing it is repeated four times to fix the color to the dial. The reason it's difficult to achieve a color close to black is because any air bubbles or dust would be noticeable. Therefore, the surface is repeatedly scraped and adjusted after each firing. Once complete, it is placed back into the furnace to add a "fire polish," and the surface is polished with paper, felt, liquid, etc. to complete the watch. Incidentally, the logo and indexes are laser-processed by a supplier.

The logo and indexes on the anthracite gray enamel dial are embedded in the glass depending on the angle, because they are laser engraved. As the photo shows, the finish is excellent. However, the yield is said to be reduced by half at this stage.

In the enamel workshop, each anthracite grey Grand Feu enamel dial is carefully crafted and finished.

　What surprised me was the color. I had assumed it would be black, but it turned out to be a very dark gray. If you apply it thinly, the color will be lighter, and if you want to make it darker, you need to apply it thicker. It was surprising that a deep anthracite gray could be produced with just a 0.3mm layer of enamel.

　The Chronomètre Fourtif represents the combined efforts of FP Journe in design, assembly, and parts manufacturing. FP Journe has now become a manufacturer that deserves mention not only for its movements but also for their exteriors.

To prevent the dial from warping during firing, the back of the dial is lined with enamel. The shape of this backing appears to be the key to its thinness.

Polishing process for enamel dials. This is not the final polishing process, but an intermediate step.