Hands-On F.P. Journe's Chronomètre à Résonance Makes Me Feel Like A Dunce

Eighteenth-century watchmakers Abraham-Louis Breguet and Antide Janvier pioneered the concept of resonance in horology, and modern day makers such as Journe, Armin Strom, Beat Haldimann, and Vianney Halter have all experimented with its application in wristwatch form. Directly inspired by Breguet and Janvier's creations, Journe was the first contemporary watchmaker to develop his own system of resonance, creating a unique pocket watch all the way back in 1983 before releasing the first application of resonance in a wristwatch in 2000 through a souscription series

Since then, F.P. Journe's Chronomètre à Résonance has arguably become the watchmaker's defining work, a singular creation that has cemented Journe as one of the most brilliant horological thinkers of the modern era. The original Chronomètre à Résonance series was retired in late 2019 after 20 years of production, but Journe wasn't going to abandon one of his most recognizable creations. 

A few months later, in 2020, a new version of the Chronomètre à Résonance was officially announced. And now, two years after its debut, I was finally able to take a closer look at the watch while visiting the F.P. Journe manufacture in the heart of Old Town Geneva.

Some resonance systems feature twin oscillators that are mechanically coupled, but the traditional approach discovered by Breguet and used today by Journe requires no physical connection. Sounds impossible, right? The accepted theory behind how Journe's approach to the resonance phenomenon is able to maintain precision is that the subtle vibrations given off by the beating balances reverberate across the baseplate of the dial to engage with one another and gradually synchronize.

There are two big threats that can impact this approach to resonance. The first is that the oscillators have to initially be adjusted to operate within a very close frequency of one another; a starting rate with too large of a deviation will keep the oscillators working independently of one another without ever encountering resonance. Additionally, once the balances are off to the races and fully engaged in resonance, it's important to maintain the overall amplitude of the movement so that the harmonic connection isn't accidentally broken. 

F.P. Journe developed countermeasures for both of these issues in the current generation of the Chronomètre à Résonance.

There is now a single mainspring barrel, as opposed to two in the past, and it's hidden from view underneath the rose gold mainplate, providing energy through the opposing pair of gear trains and down to the synchronized balances. An easter egg in the form of individual remontoirs d'egalité are fixed to each gear train, controlling the transition of energy from gear train to balance in one-second intervals and maintaining amplitude as the mainspring gradually relaxes as time passes.

The use of dueling remontoirs d'egalité act as constant force mechanisms and make the caliber 1520 more precise, efficient, and reliable. That's only true, however, for a certain amount of time. The total power reserve of the new movement is up to 48 hours, but Journe only promises approximately 28 hours of isochronous action. After 28 hours or so has passed, the mainspring is unwound to a point where it no longer has enough torque to wind the individual remontoir springs. Although they are not using the resonance phenomenon, a similar outcome can be found in other watches with two escapements, such as Bernhard Lederer's Central Impulse Chronometer and Charles Frodsham's Double Impulse Chronometer.

As a result of the updated movement, the case profile of the Chronomètre à Résonance has also been substantially retooled. The off-kilter 12 o'clock crown found on the original model has been moved to be near the traditional two o'clock position, a much more attractive complement to the secondary crown at four o'clock that remains in its original place.

The dial of the watch retains the consistent focus on symmetry that the model family is known for, with two stacked registers featuring an hour and minutes sub-dial and overlapping seconds sub-dial; the only difference between the two sides is that one hour and minutes sub-dial is set up with a 24-hour display and the other features the more traditional 12-hour range. The opening in the center of the dial is new, exposing the differential within the movement that divides the energy stored within the mainspring barrel between the opposing gear trains.

It's a bit of a struggle to remember which of the two crowns does what; they aren't labeled at all, so you might assume that each crown controls a separate set of sub-dials. That's not how it works. The two o'clock crown allows you to wind the movement when it's flush against the case and then set the time for both hour-and-minute dials (counter-clockwise for the 24-hour display; clockwise for the 12-hour sub-dial) by pulling it out. The four o'clock crown has one purpose – when it's pulled out, the pair of small seconds displays both immediately reset to zero, immediately synchronizing the time and the twin oscillators underneath the dial.

I won't lie, I couldn't help but feel a bit inadequate – and plenty unsophisticated – after looking down at the mid-tier automatic dive watch on my wrist while thinking back and writing about my experience with the Chronomètre à Résonance.

It's a beautiful watch, don't get me wrong. And I find the very essence of the resonance phenomenon to be downright fascinating, even if it does seem a touch far-fetched at times. But the entire time I spent with the new generation of the Chronomètre à Résonance, I kept thinking back to some of the high prices we've recently seen various Chronomètre à Résonance examples achieve at auction in recent months, particularly the unexpected sequence of events at Phillips Geneva that I highlighted in my recent report on mid-year auction trends.

There were three Chronomètre à Résonance models up for grabs on that fine May day in Geneva. A first-generation  Chronomètre à Résonance from the model's inaugural production year, 1999, sold for CHF 453,600. The very next lot was a current-generation example – identical to the models I've talked about today – with a 2021 production year, that ended up selling for CHF 415,800, a little less than quadruple (!) the current MSRP. Finally, another Chronomètre à Résonance hit the rostrum – and it's a doozy, part of a limited-edition run of 10 pieces from the mid-2000s with an attractive black mother-of-pearl dial. It ended up selling for a total of CHF 441,000. 

These were three wildly different executions of the Chronomètre à Résonance platform, each featuring vastly different degrees of rarity. You would think they would have different levels of interest impacting their final results, but that doesn't seem to be the case whatsoever. I can't help but find it utterly absurd that a current, non-limited production example of the Chronomètre à Résonance is valued within CHF 40,000 of a first-generation model from 1999.

Was the watch I handled a few weeks ago at the F.P. Journe manufacture also worth CHF 415,800? As magical as resonance might be, F.P. Journe has the watch set with a list price of $136,700, in 18k rose gold, and $140,000 in platinum. Are the bean counters at F.P. Journe's HQ that off-base when estimating the worth of their own product? Or is that what the watch should really be worth, and the auction prices are totally insane? 

It's enough to make you want to bang your head against the wall and go home.