The élégante Collection By F.P. Journe 

It’s no surprise that more and more Swiss watch makers are increasingly tapping into the female demographic of late to stay afloat and relevant, just like this re-imagined élégante jewellery Collection from F.P. Journe. Like its older siblings from 2015, this refreshed model line basically explores accents and detailing that appeal more to Eve’s kind, with an interesting movement selection.

Sheltered in a 40 mm Platinum, patented ® flat Tortue case, the timepiece is an amalgamation of diamonds, rubies, blue sapphires and black diamonds or tsavorites, as they are commonly called. It also comes with a powdered satin bracelet of matching colour hues to complete a nicely curated feminine idea. In similar idealisation, the dials of the élégante timepieces are also finished with stones and a diamond hour circle. What do we think about it? Well, we asked a lady of course. According to the sole wonder women from our Grid team, the ever-bubbly Ms. Rachel Tan, she thinks that the timepiece is a busy piece to just look at. Where others would learn to appreciate its thorough detailing over time, Rachel believes that the élégante Collection is a miss-hit, and after some scrutiny of its images, we as a team, agree. 

While the general idea of slapping on as many jewells onto a dial is a common practice by Swiss watchmakers, the placement of the jewells have been rather abruptly laced on. Unlike the seamlessness of Patek Philippes and the embellishment of Cartiers (two brands that are known for their feminine jewellry watches mind you), this F.P. Journe élégante Collection is perhaps trying too hard visually, and in that sense, it has perhaps been over-done. It is a bit of a quandary, considering how it took 8 years of research for F.P.Journe to develop this intricate concept. However, it does have a stellar movement in place.

It comes with an electromechanical movement that is fitted with a mechanical motion detector visible on the dial at 4h30. The collection’s data sheet tells us that after sitting motionless for 30 minutes, the watch switches to standby mode to save energy by stopping its hands from moving. the watch’s microprocessor then continues to measure time, but the mechanical elements, such as the gear train, rotors and hands, all stop moving.

All of it begin to work like clockwork again as soon as the watch is worn again. That’s a pretty neat movement and if you must know, it is the only haute horology electromechanical movement in the luxury market currently. So, where its visual interplay has been somewhat over-expressed, it still offers a pretty modern movement despite its dated looks. We’re just wondering how much would this fetch though, to really comment on its value. Still, good try F.P. Journe.