F.P. Journe Chronometre Bleu in tantalum

The new F.P. Journe Chronometre Bleu hand-wound wrist watch brings you an in-house Calibre 1304 movement, which is hidden inside a finely crafted, extra slender case made from tantalum: a highly corrosion-resistant metal that you will rarely see outside of mobile phones, computers and other sorts of electronic gadgets that surround us in our life.

This one took me long. I first noticed this interesting timepiece back in November (time indeed flies,) but it is only now that I got the time to write a piece about this brilliant job.

Although the F.P. Journe Chronometre Bleu clearly lacks a lot of features we are used to expect from a fine watch (like, say, hand-guilloched dial or complexly polished case) it takes exactly 0.3 seconds to understand that you are dealing with a true haute horlogerie product.

F.P. Journe did the trick using a winning combination of a noble blue dial, bluish-grey case made of matte finished tantalum and adding to the mix their signature “Journe” hour and minute hands.

Judging by F.P. Journe’s press release regarding this watch, the Swiss manufacture positions this time measuring device as the best back-to-school gift a particularly wealthy watch connoisseur may make to his/her heir.

Well, at 39 mm in diameter and less than 9 millimeters in height, this beautiful watch will perfectly fit even rather thin wrist and it will definitely fit your college kid better than some massive Rolex automatic chronograph.

Its manually-wound Calibre 1304 in-house movement also deserves some attention.

Clearly seen through a sapphire display caseback, the caliber sports two mainspring barrels that store enough energy to supply it with 56 hours of power reserve. Its baseplate and bridges are carved out of 18k rose gold and are decorated with Geneva stripes and circular graining (also known as ‘perlage’.) The movement is dynamically adjusted to six positions, which makes it a true chronometer.

Photos: F.P. Journe

F.P. Journe Chronometre Bleu watch specification

Price range: $23,000
Movement: Calibre 1304, hand-wound, in-house, 22 jewels, 133 parts, 21,600 vph, 30.4 mm in diameter, 3.75 mm thick
Complications: N/A
Power reserve: 56 hours
Case material: Tantalum
Case shape: Round
Case size: 39 mm
Case height: 8.6 mm
Dial: Blue
Hands: White
Water resistance: N/A
Strap: Black leather
Crystal: Sapphire on both sides