Thirty-eight of the sets were made to commemorate the end of the 38mm case size, (very much the choice of the original purist) and this was the first time that any Journe dress watch (excluding a grande or petite sonnerie chiming watch), was made available in steel. Four of the five pieces, including this Octa Automatique, in the collection have been discontinued. Moreover, the original version of the had never been made with a gold movement.
In 2001, the ‘Octa’ debuted as the first automatic movement to deliver 120 hours of precision timekeeping through reserved-power. A year later, The Octa Automatique became F.P. Journe’s first automatic watch, produced between 2002 and 2014.
The Octa Automatique is quintessentially an F.P Journe, in both its design language and movement. Housed in a classical 38 mm dress watch case, it is made distinctive by F.P. Journe’s signature ‘flat crown’ with a rope-like pattern. The yellow dial is softly textured, and displays a separate silver guilloché dial for the hours and minutes. The words Invenit et Fecit are inscribed to the left the subsidiary seconds (Latin for “Invented and Made”) in classic F.P Journe style - a nod to signing conventions of a century ago. The signature F.P. Journe style hands form a distinct contrast to the dial. Between eight and nine o’clock is a power reserve indicator of 120 hours, with a large date aperture above. Overall, the dial layout is clean and highly legible.
While this piece is undeniably attractive, it is the movement that F.P. Journe is famed for. Since the introduction of the first ‘Reserve de Marche’ in 2001, mechanical F.P. Journe wristwatches can been divided into two main movement types – the manually-wound Souverain and self-winding Octa (Latin for ‘eight’ or ‘infinite’). Impressively, all variations within F. P Journe’s ‘Octa’ calibre's are identical, both in diameter and thickness, incorporating fully-integrated complications within the same volume.
This automatic, self-winding F.P. Journe caliber 1300.3 movement is 18-carat rose gold, with circular Côtes de Genève, constructed with 39 jewels and a shock absorber mechanism. It further features a straight-line lever escapement, and monometallic 4-arm balance with 4 timing weights, adjusted to 5 positions. It includes a self-compensating free-sprung flat balance spring and off-centre, bi-directional 22-carat gold guilloche rotor. The movement is engraved "Exclusive Power Reserve System" and "Precision Chronometer".
We leave the final word to F.P. Journe, who on their website state “it is extremely rare for luxury watches to be cased in steel. There are very few such watches, and they reach much higher prices at auction than the same models in precious metals. This set is intended for true collectors, those who know what is rare. The combination of 18K rose-gold movements with 38 mm steel cases makes this set the rarest of all F.P. Journe’s collections.”
Viewings are available at our office in central London, by appointment only.
Closer look
| Brand: | F. P. Journe |
| Model: | Octa Automatique - Limited Edition of 38 pieces |
| Movement: | mechanical automatic Cal. 1300.3 |
| Functions: | date, hours, minutes, sub-seconds, power reserve indicator |
| Features: | Limited Edition, guilloche sub-dial, display back |
| Case: | 38 mm stainless steel |
| Crystal: | sapphire, display back |
| Strap: | nubuck strap, black alligator strap with steel deployant buckle |
| Lug/buckle width: | |
| Year: | 2015 |
| Box & papers: | copy of the certificate from the original set |
