F.P. JOURNEOCTA CHRONOGRAPHE RUTHENIUM NO. 5⁄99
F.P. JOURNE. AN IMPORTANT PLATINUM LIMITED EDITION AUTOMATIC FLYBACK CHRONOGRAPH WRISTWATCH WITH DATE
OCTA CHRONOGRAPHE RUTHENIUM MODEL, NO. 5⁄99-02C, CIRCA 2004
F.P. JOURNE. AN IMPORTANT PLATINUM LIMITED EDITION AUTOMATIC FLYBACK CHRONOGRAPH WRISTWATCH WITH DATE
OCTA CHRONOGRAPHE RUTHENIUM MODEL, NO. 5⁄99-02C, CIRCA 2004
Movement: Ruthenium-coated brass, automatic
Dial: Ruthenium
Case: 40 mm. diam.
With: 18k white gold F.P. Journe deployant clasp, undated Certificate, spring bar tool, magnifying glass, polishing cloth, presentation box and outer packaging
Remark: Part of the set of five F.P. Journe ruthenium models numbered 5⁄99
F.P. JOURNE. AN IMPORTANT PLATINUM LIMITED EDITION AUTOMATIC FLYBACK CHRONOGRAPH WRISTWATCH WITH DATE
OCTA CHRONOGRAPHE RUTHENIUM MODEL, NO. 5⁄99-02C, CIRCA 2004
Movement: Ruthenium-coated brass, automatic
Dial: Ruthenium
Case: 40 mm. diam.
With: 18k white gold F.P. Journe deployant clasp, undated Certificate, spring bar tool, magnifying glass, polishing cloth, presentation box and outer packaging
Remark: Part of the set of five F.P. Journe ruthenium models numbered 5⁄99 The present limited edition Ruthenium Octa Chronograph is number 05 of only 99 pieces produced between 2001 and 2003. This special series in platinum was made at the end of the period when F.P. Journe was using brass movements. From 2004 onwards, Journe’s movements have famously been made from 18k gold. With the tremendous and continually growing interest in François-Paul Journe’s work, collectors have focused their attention on early production and pre-production watches with brass movements. As a result, these watches - an important part of F.P. Journe’s history - have become extremely sought after and are very difficult to obtain.
Superbly preserved, the present watch is accompanied by its original large-size paper certificate, which confirms the 40 mm platinum case, ruthenium-covered movement, and 18k gold ruthenium-covered dial. In addition, this watch is offered with a magnifying glass, polishing cloth, spring bar tool, presentation box, and outer packaging.
Octa Chronographe
The Octa Chronographe is one of the rarest and most intriguing of François-Paul Journe’s early series wristwatches with only 313 examples ever made across all production. The present watch as part of the ‘Ruthenium Collection’ is particularly desirable as part of the early ‘brass movement’ era watches and is hardly ever seen at auction. Technically brilliant, the Octa Chronographe uses the same caliber 1300 as other Octa models but is fitted with an integrated stopwatch mechanism on the dial plate. This allowed the Chronographe to be the same height as other Octa models, a quite remarkable achievement. The Octa Chronographe was replaced by the ‘Centigraphe’ in 2008.
