Hands-On F.P. Journe's Élégante 'Gino's Dream' Is A Bright, Fun, Tenth Anniversary Tribute To A Friend

No, F.P. Journe was not at Watches & Wonders. Just like the brand has long chosen to eschew the GPHG Awards after a long, unbeaten run of awards, they forego such official things as major fairs to put on their events at Montres Journe headquarters in Old Town Geneva. We'll have more soon from a tour of the facilities that I did earlier this month, but the headquarters transformed into a hangout for the Journe acolytes that have turned the brand into arguably the biggest traditional independent powerhouse in watches over the last decade. I ran into Osama (TheJourneGuy), among others, at the headquarters before being taken to see the new F.P. Journe's élégante "Gino's Dream."

In hindsight, the choice of an élégante (without capitalization, the way the brand stylizes the name) should have been obvious. It's the 10th anniversary of the reference. The new F.P. Journe's élégante is, at its core, the same as the brand's past 48mm (measured lug-to-lug) quartz-powered releases. This makes it yet another "Tortue" shaped watch announced this year. The case comes in either titanium or titalyt-coated (black) titanium, with 30m water resistance. I'll cover the specs below, but the most eye-catching part of the model is by far the most important and emotional: the ceramic glass bezel. 

The late Gino Cukrowicz (1959-2021) was one of three co-founders in what would become Montres Journe, a massive personality and vocal and passionate friend of François-Paul from the early days of the brand. He founded the retailer Ginotti in 1987 and quickly became a central figure in the independent scene. It was Daniel Roth who introduced Cukrowicz to Journe. Prior to the announcement of the Tourbillon Remontoir d'Egalite in 1999, Cukrowicz became a co-founder of the brand. 

Cukrowicz was known for his colorful personality and clothing. François-Paul designed the rainbow-bezel watch to celebrate the 10th anniversary of the ingenious quartz watch. During previews, one person referred to the watch as "Gino's Dream" due to the ceramic glass pieces set into the bezel. The name stuck.

The élégante remains F.P. Journe's largest production piece of the catalogue. While the brand does not make (nor plans ever to make) more than 1,000 mechanical watches a year, it makes almost half that number again in its technical marvel of a quartz watch, the élégante. Key features remain the same like the white or black luminous dials and silver-toned titanium or black titalyt-coated titanium cases made in-house at Les Cadraniers and Les Boîtiers de Genève. Unfortunately the white dial only comes in the titanium case now, paring down the lineup a bit. The case, with 30m water resistance, measures 40mm diameter by 7.95mm thick by 48mm lug-to-lug, making this an "élégante 48" – the larger and more sporty of the two case sizes. Its sportiness continues with the rubber strap offered in a myriad of colors, with a deployant clasp. 

It's also one of the most affordable watches in the F.P. Journe catalog at $18,900 ($16,500 for the 40mm version is the overall winner). And despite naysayers pointing to the fact that a quartz watch misses the point of F.P. Journe's mechanical expertise, it's a watch the man himself wears quite often.

The watch is powered by the caliber 1210 electromechanical movement made in Geneva (instead of being outsourced to a country far more known for work on circuitry). The goes to sleep after 35 minutes of inactivity but will move the hands to the correct time when "woken" by moving the watch, which rotates a small weight seen through an aperture on the dial at 4:30. The watch has 8-10 years of power reserve in standard mode and 18 years in standby mode, one of the longest on the market. Again, all this remains the same as past models. But that ignores the rainbow-colored elephant in the room.

When I first saw pictures of "Gino's Dream," I thought I was looking at yet another rainbow bezel set with sapphires. That itself might not have been a surprise; F.P. Journe isn't one to skip subtlety for the sake of bold design. But it would be disappointing to hear that a portion of production for the brand's most affordable watches would be going to something that inevitably would be extremely expensive.

Instead, the bezel is set with ceramic sapphire stones, with a gradient of hues hand-selected by François-Paul Journe for color balance and effect. These synthetically made stones allow the brand to make far more of the new "Gino's Dream" than they would have been able to with sapphires and at a cost that's much, much lower: $40,000. Yes, that's twice the price of the base model but to use a word I've avoided since Watches & Wonders started, it's the price you pay to get a "novelty" that's, well, actually novel.

Then there's the setting of the stones themselves, which is likely where the bulk of the cost lies. Setting stones into a metal like titanium is no small feat. There's a reason why gem-setting is usually reserved for forms of gold (or sometimes platinum, when the stones and surfaces are large enough). These softer metals allow the setter to conform the case or bracelet material to the watch and finish it appropriately. While F.P. Journe wouldn't tell me exactly how they accomplished the feat, a close examination of the bezel seems to give some answers.

From what I can tell, the stones seem to be nestled under the inner flange of the bezel near the dial. At the outside edge, it looks like there's a small ribbon strip of metal (maybe titanium) putting pressure between the outer bezel and the stones, which is then tensioned in place by small mirror-polished tacks. This reminds me of how artwork is tightened around a canvas and tacked in place, then tightened even further by tapping "keys" into the back of the stretcher. It's an ingenious bit of work to do something unexpected. 

If you're looking for grand answers about what makes this watch so enticing, I'm afraid you've come to the wrong Hands-On. I'm unsure what makes this rainbow offering so fun in a world where rainbow-set watches have become ubiquitous. I expected to show photos of this watch to other team members and find out that I was the only one drawn in by the surprise release, but it seemed like nearly everyone else felt the same: "Gino's Dream" is just fun. Maybe it was the delirium of the week or the fact that so much of the Swiss watch industry takes itself so seriously, but it was a release that I needed to see. While I'll keep my name on the list for a 48mm titalyt model in the meantime, it will be fun to see these around in the wild in the coming months, knowing Gino would be proud to see his dream come to life.

F.P. Journe élégante 48mm "Gino's Dream," 40mm diameter by 7.95mm thick by 48mm lug-to-lug case in Titanium or Titalyt-coated titanium, with 30m water resistance. White or black luminous dial, blued or silver hands, hours, minutes, subsidiary seconds, and "sleep mode" functions. Cal. 1210 electromechanical movement that goes to sleep after 35 minutes of inactivity but will move the hands to the correct time when "woken." 8-10 years of power reserve in standard mode and 18 years in standby mode. Rubber strap with folding clasp. Price: CHF $40,000.