I Wish I Had a Time Machine, Part V
- Nicolas Zalles
- 1 day ago
- 4 min read
By Nicolas Zalles
After a brief hiatus, we’re back and dusting off the Time Machine. This is a topic I’ve been wanting to write about for a while because it ties into my own experience in collecting. It’s something I lived through and saw with my own eyes, and that is the rise of FP Journe. When I first got into watches, Journe was still just an independent with a small cult following.
One of the very first watch events I ever attended was the launch of the Élégante in Bal Harbour in 2015. During that time, I became friendly with a few big-time Journe collectors, and I remember clearly how things used to be. Back then, almost everything traded deeply under retail. The Chronomètre Blue was already the most recognized piece, but even with that stunning dial it would trade under or close to $20K. Octas, Resonances, and the rest followed the same pattern. I remember seeing a few Regence dials and early brass-movement Resonances, but unless you were deep into Journe, nobody paid much attention to them.
Collectors back then were buying out of pure conviction and true love for the watches. And even though prices were low compared to today, they were still tens of thousands, which made the commitment even more meaningful, I think. It felt very cult-like, but I can tell you most of that crazy bunch was a lot of fun to hang out with.
So we will start our Time Machine to around that era, and instead of sticking to one specific auction or year, we are going to jump around the years around that period.
Before we start, one interesting dynamic is that Journes hardly hit the auction block back then. If you browse auction catalogs from the mid-2010s and earlier, they were few and far between. To me, that’s just another reflection that they weren’t good candidates for the auction houses. The market wasn’t very deep, and sellers were bound to take a loss, more so once you factored in all the fees.
Let’s get right into it.
As mentioned, the CB was, and probably still is, one of Journe’s most recognizable pieces. The one you see here was put up for auction in September 2013 with an estimate of USD 15,000 to 20,000, box and papers included. And it didn’t sell. It was passed.
To put that moment in context, Matt and the team shared this story with me:
“I remember buying a Chronomètre Blue for around $14,000, holding it for a couple of years, and selling it for $22,000 thinking I was a hero. Little did I know it would eventually be worth over $100,000.”
Fast forward a few years, and during the Covid boom, the CB became one of the most coveted watches out there. In 2021, for example, a couple of them sold at auction in the USD 70 to 75K range.
Next up, let’s jump a few years to 2017. These results might give you a better sense of what I was referring to above. Early brass-movement Resonances were largely overlooked by the market, except for the real Journe guys. This one sold for CHF 42,500, a little more in USD, landing close to the higher end of its estimate.
Jumping to 2021, these two sold for USD 327,600 and USD 428,400, respectively. Just this past week, Phillips sold another one from the Francis Coppola collection for $584,200. Probably peak Journe-mania—or maybe not. The market never ceases to amaze me.
Photo credit @ Phillips
If we now rewind back to 2010, we’ll find something even crazier.
This set of six early platinum Journes, each numbered 1000, sold for USD 200,000, right at its low estimate. Surely a lot of money, but it comes out to just over $33K per watch, and that includes a tourbillon. Without a doubt, a brave purchase back then, and one a lot of us wish we had made.
To put things into perspective, look at the Octa Chronographe from the Phillips sale this past Sunday, December 7th. It hammered for a staggering $1,572,000.
To wrap up, here is one of the rarer Journes out there, with the highly regarded régence dial. The one you see here sold for CHF 58,570 in 2015, which was roughly USD 65,000 at the time. No idea what it would be worth today, but for some context, a régence dial tourbillon sold for almost CHF 1.7 million this past November. Yes, different metals and complication, but you get the point.
But before we close, one last and important honorable mention we just couldn’t leave out. The FFC Prototype in platinum, also known as the “Hand,” made for Francis Ford Coppola, sold for CHF 10,755,000, breaking the record for the most expensive Journe ever sold at auction. If you recall the 2021 Only Watch auction, the FFC Blue, this time in tantalum, sold for CHF 4,500,000, a nice little premium there as well.
Photo credit @ Phillips
So that’s that. The crazy rise of FP Journe. See you next time.