The Manufacture F.P.Journe donated a unique piece, an Automatique presented with an exclusive dial specially made for the Action Innocence. The bidding for this Automatique started at CHF 45,000. After a fierce battle between several collectors, it was finally sold for CHF 1’000’000. The funds collected will be used by the Action Innocence Foundation to support concrete actions for the protection of children.

Action Innocence was founded in Geneva in 1999 by Mrs. Valérie Wertheimer. Its first mission was to point out the emerging abuses of the Internet and to denounce what was being prepared in terms of pedocriminality. The Foundation has developed and given free of charge to interested police services an AntiPedoFiles tracking software that has allowed the arrest of thousands of individuals consuming child pornography material. One of the first actions was to develop a prevention programme targeting children, informing them of various risks surrounding the Internet : coming across disturbing and/or illegal images ; the disclosure of personal data ; meeting the wrong kind of people ; sexting ; cyber-bullying, Internet addiction. More recently, the Foundation has decided to tackle the premature exposure of children to screens, the effects of which are worrying for childcare professionals who are noticing worrying behaviors in their practices: delayed speech development, difficulty relating to other children, attention span deficit, poor fine motor skills, lack of interest in traditional games.

Varnished, lacquered, honed and polished by hand, the dial of this unique Automatique echoes the same themes as those of the Tourbillon Souverain, élégante and Chronomètre Optimum which were gifted to Action Innocence in 2015 and 2017. As for the hours, minutes and seconds, they are displayed on the off-center dial in whitened guilloche Silver secured by a polished Steel circle, while the instantaneous date is revealed through a large window for enhanced legibility.

The uncluttered design of an F.P.Journe timepiece always reflects the highest level of technical innovation. At the heart of the 40 mm Platinum case, the Octa 1300.3 automatic caliber offers chronometric precision during 120 hours and an exceptional 160-hour power reserve for great comfort of use. Its off-center 22K 5N Gold rotor turns unidirectionally and exploits each slightest movement of the wrist to ensure an optimal winding of the watch. The sapphire glass caseback emphasizes the magnificent 18K rose Gold mechanism as well as the subtle decorations and watchmaking finishes executed by the Manufacture's craftsmen.

CALIBRE OCTA

A HOROLOGICAL IDEAL

“THE CONSTRUCTION OF THE OCTA CALIBRE HAS LESS POWERFUL TIES WITH HOROLOGICAL HISTORY THAN DO THE CONSTANT-FORCE DEVICE OR RESONANCE MODELS, BUT IT SYMBOLISES AN HOROLOGICAL IDEAL OF GIVING TIMEKEEPERS THE HIGHEST POSSIBLE DEGREE OF PRECISION AND AUTONOMY!

ONE CAN INDEED NOTE THE FACT THAT IF CHURCH CLOCKS ARE PLACED SO HIGH, IN ADDITION TO ENHANCING VISIBILITY, IT WAS MOSTLY BECAUSE IT OFTEN TOOK AN ENTIRE MONTH FOR THE DRIVING-WEIGHTS TO DROP THE LENGTH OF THEIR CORDS. NUMEROUS SYSTEMS WERE INVENTED TO INCREASE THE OPERATING DURATION OF TIMEKEEPING DEVICES, MEETING WITH VARIOUS DEGREES OF SUCCESS. GIVEN THE SMALL VOLUME OF A WRISTWATCH, THE SIZE OF THE MAINSPRING WAS AUTOMATICALLY LIMITED. WATCHMAKERS THEREFORE DISCOVERED THE TRICK OF ADDING AN EXTRA WHEEL TO THE CUSTOMARY GEARTRAIN IN ORDER TO EXTEND THE DURATION OF ITS DEVELOPMENT. UNFORTUNATELY, ACTUALLY USING THIS SYSTEM, EVEN WITH A STRONGER SPRING, LED THEM TO OBSERVE THAT THE LEVEL OF ENERGY ACTUALLY REACHING THE BALANCE REMAINED LOW. TO COMPENSATE FOR THIS, THEY FITTED A SMALLER BALANCE USING LESS ENERGY, BUT WHICH WAS ALSO LESS STABLE. IT IS THEREFORE NOT UNUSUAL TO FIND THAT SOME WATCHES ABLE TO RUN FOR SEVERAL DAYS DISPLAY AN EXTREMELY UNPREDICTABLE LEVEL OF PRECISION.

THIS CHALLENGE WAS A POWERFUL SOURCE OF MOTIVATION! I THEN IMAGINED THAT THE BEST AND THE MOST OBVIOUS MEANS OF EXTENDING THE RUNNING DURATION WOULD BE TO EXTEND THE CAPACITY OF THE SPRING DEVELOPMENT. THE DIFFICULTY LAY IN INTEGRATING IT ON THE SAME LEVEL AS THE GEAR-TRAIN AND THE ESCAPEMENT, GIVEN ITS STABILITY: 1 METRE AND 1 MILLIMETRE THICK. THANKS TO THE LOW TORQUE OF THIS SPRING, I COULD ACHIEVE EXTREMELY FAST AUTOMATIC WINDING (ONE AND A HALF HOURS ON A CHAPPUIS CYCLOTEST FOR OVER 5 DAYS’ RUNNING).

ONCE THE CHALLENGE OF AUTONOMY WAS THUS SUCCESSFULLY MET WITH THIS AUTOMATIC WINDING CALIBRE, I KNUCKLED DOWN TO THE SECOND CHALLENGE OF MANAGING TO INSERT VARIOUS COMPLICATIONS INTO THAT SAME MOVEMENT: POWER RESERVE WITH LARGE DATE DISPLAY, FLY-BACK CHRONOGRAPH WITH LARGE DATE DISPLAY, RETROGRADE ANNUAL CALENDAR, ETC… AND OF DOING SO WHILE MAINTAINING AN IDENTICAL SIZE FOR ALL MODELS.

THREE YEARS OF RESEARCH AND DEVELOPMENT WERE REQUIRED BEFORE THIS AUTOMATIC WINDING MOVEMENT THAT IS UNIQUE IN THE WORLD COULD BE PRESENTED TO THE PUBLIC.”

FRANÇOIS-PAUL JOURNE