Watches made by the revered French watchmaker François-Paul Journe have a distinct look and feel. The 1999 Tourbillon Souverain, the first model sold by his eponymous firm, founded that same year, helped define the Journe aesthetic: elegant, tradition-bound, and recognizable from across the room. Produced until 2003, the 38 mm dress watch features such quintessential F.P. Journe elements as a crown with a rope-like pattern, a vintage typeface, elaborate dial, silvered subdials, guilloche work, and, of course, his motto, Invenit et Fecit—Latin for “invented and made"—on the bottom of the dial.
The Tourbillon Souverain’s most appealing incarnation may well be the Souscription model with the yellow-gold dial plate. Produced on commission in 1999 in just 20 examples, the watch was sold to buyers before it was manufactured, a tactic Journe borrowed from the 18th-century master watchmaker Abraham-Louis Breguet. At the time, the strategy helped the fledgling watchmaker get his business off the ground. A quarter of a century later, the model is a striking reminder of why Mr. Journe is so revered.
From the article by Allen Farmelo, Paige Reddinger, Victoria Gomelsky, Oren Hartov, Blake Buettner
