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THE GOOD LIFE Watches


watchmaking’s two biggest names have long been its only true bankers. ‘Journe has joined Patek Philippe and


Rolex in terms of demand far outstripping supply across the whole of the offering,’ says Charlie Pragnell, managing director of Pragnell jewellers, the Stratford-upon-Av- on-based business that is FP Journe’s sole UK dealer. ‘It’s a brand of passion – there’s a mag- ic to it that is very delicate and unusual.’ Accordingly waiting lists for new watches, as with Patek and Rolex, are suddenly stretching into multiple years. The hardest model to get hold of is in fact the cheapest, a tantalum-cased beauty known as the Chronomètre Bleu, priced at around £20,000. Had you put yourself on a list a couple of years ago, you might now own one. But looking ahead… well, good luck. On the secondary market, the few examples available are currently sailing past the £50,000 mark. Auction results are even more eye- popping. Last summer Phillips auctioneers brought to market two of the original ‘souscription’ models mentioned earlier – one each of the resonance watch and the tourbillon. Unbelievably, the Chronomètre à Résonance went for just over a million Swiss francs (£790,000), while the Tourbillon Souverain hammered at no less than 1.4 million francs (£1.1 million).


F


ive years ago, it’s unlikely either would have made six figures, let alone seven. In the tranquil waters of the watch


market, where little really changes other than the ever-inflating worth of Patek and Rolex, this is quite astonishing stuff. So what changed? Certainly, relentless championing by prominent collectors on social media and elsewhere has widened awareness. But Silas Walton, founder of the specialist online sales platform A Collected Man, believes that it’s more a case of destiny and market forces falling into sweet align- ment. With watches from the two biggest names becoming ever more unobtainable, other major players – particularly conglomer- ate-owned brands beset with growth targets and management-by-spreadsheet – have sin- gularly failed to step up. Journe now stands in the vanguard of a significant turn towards the independent sector, a trend that unites both serious collectors, deep-pocketed enthusiasts and speculators. ‘He’s occupying the ground surrendered by mainstream brands – out of boredom, people turn to something more esoteric and


François-Paul Journe worked for brands such as Cartier and Piaget before striking out alone


diverse,’ Walton says. ‘But equally there’s a very clear preference for quality, and that leads you to Journe. It was very clearly under- valued for so long.’ What’s remarkable is how fast this has changed. Last year FP Journe went from 5 per


cent of A Collected Man’s business to 40 per cent. One auctioneer told me prices have risen as much as 200 per cent in a year. It won’t continue at the same rate, but nor do the experts think it’s a bubble – Journe is simply too canny an operator to bow to the hype, and it isn’t really of his making. And anyway, the watches simply are that good. In 2018, eyebrows were nevertheless raised when he sold a 20 per cent stake in his business to Chanel. However, the luxury giant reportedly has no operational involvement, and according to a Journe spokesperson, the investment ‘was a security… to make sure that, the day he would not be there anymore, the work of his lifetime would not be jeopard- ised, through a company that understands what producing exceptional pieces within a limited production means’. In other words, for a watchmaker so concerned with history, Journe’s attention has finally turned to posterity. It seems his position there is assured. S


One auctioneer


told me that prices have risen as


much as 200 per cent in a year


Left: The back of Astronomic Souveraine Right: FP Journe’s rare ‘entry-level’ watch, the Chronomètre Bleu


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