2012 F.P. Journe Résonance "Parking Meter" 18K RG (Ref. RT) Grey Dial W/ Box & Card

So few new watchmakers have captivated the entirety of the watch industry in the way F.P. Journe has, though most new watch brands lack the pedigree that warrants the popularity, in other words, F.P. Journe is not like most modern watch brands. 

François-Paul Journe, the founder of F.P. Journe, was only 14 years of age when he enrolled in technical college and graduated from the Paris Watchmaking School just 2-years later, this was in 1976. Shortly after his graduation, Journe began constructing his first Tourbillion pocket watch, from the ground up, and was brought under the wing of George Daniels, one of the most celebrated independent watchmakers of the last 100 years. In 1985, at the age of 28, Journe opened his own watchmaking workshop to create collector-commissioned bespoke timepieces, one of his most notable commissioned pieces was a planetary pocket watch. By 1989, Journe opened a movement manufacturer in Switzerland, and shortly after, he created his first wristwatch with a movement made entirely of 18K gold. In 1999, the company Montres Journe SA was formed, also known as F.P. Journe, with the launch of the Tourbillon Souverain, the brand's very first Model.

Along with the success and numerous innovations introduced by F.P. Journe, many prestigious awards have followed, Including the prize by the Fondation Marcel Bleustein-Blanchet pour la Vocation, the Gaia Award of the Best Watchmaker from the Institut l’Homme et le Temps, the Balancier d’Or Prize at the Watchmakers Convention in Madrid, and the Prix Spécial du Jury.

The second design to come from F.P. Journe was the Résonance. The concept of the Résonance dates back to the 1800s, with Abraham-Louis Breguet, who experimented with the idea of creating three pocket watches with two movements in a single mainplate and housing, which would also feature synchronized balance wheels. If that sounds complicated, that’s because it is. Inspired by Breguet’s early design, F.P. Journe conceptualized a way to scale this design into a wristwatch and was the first to ever do so. The caliber François-Paul created features two unregulated balances oscillating closely together. The idea is that one balance's inertia resonates through the shared mainplate, synchronizing the pair. However, to achieve this synchronization, the balances must stay within five seconds of each other.

For the 10th anniversary of the Résonance, F.P. Journe updated his masterful design with the reference RT, also commonly referred to as the “Parking Meter”. As opposed to the symmetrical dual-time design of previous models, the ref. RT incorporates a new orbital 24-hour timing scale in the left “sub-dial”, which is where the “Parking Meter” nickname is derived. This new interpretation of the Résonance posed new challenges as well, as a new drive system was required to account for the different power required to run each of the two movements.