The wait is over! FPJourne unveils her new  CHRONOMÈTRE À RESONANCE, celebrating the twenty-fifth anniversary of this iconic model from the Geneva-based maison.

The first observations relating to the phenomenon of natural resonance were made by the Dutch scientist of the seventeenth century Christiaan Huygens and later by the 18th century watchmakers Antide Janvier e Abraham-Louis Breguet, who developed watches based on this principle. Since then, however, Francois-Paul Journe is the first and only watchmaker to produce wrist watches that work through resonance.

When he presented his first wristwatch with this complication in 2000, the timepiece was baptized Resonance with the patented trademark Resonance®. The FPJourne Chronomètre à Résonance is the only wristwatch in the world that uses the physical resonance phenomenon without any transmission mechanism, formerly known as double pendulum or double balance. Conceived, developed and built to meet the needs of the wearer and to deliver extreme chronometric performance, this watch represents one of the wildest challenges in the field of mechanical watches!

Each of the two balance wheels serves alternatively as an "exciter" and "resonator" and when the two are in motion, they enter into harmony thanks to the phenomenon of resonance, naturally starting to beat in perfect harmony. The two rockers support each other, giving more inertia to their movement. This result is possible only if the difference in frequency from one to the other does not exceed 5 seconds per day accumulated on six different positions. Their setting is an extremely delicate task. Whereas an external disturbance affects the operation of a traditional mechanical watch, the same disturbance, for the Chronometre à resonance, produces an effect that accelerates one of the two rockers as much as it slows down the other. Gradually, they both return to beating at the same beat, finding their point of harmony, thus eliminating the noise and beating in perfect synchronization.

This emblematic timepiece that distinctly signs the watchmaking research on the precision of Francois-Paul Journe was awarded with the name "Montre à Grande Complication"The Grand Prix d 'Horlogerie de Genève in 2010.

The new Chronometre à resonance it has a single spring barrel to supply energy to the two movements. A differential positioned on the first wheel, visible in the center of the dial, independently transmits its energy towards the two secondary gear trains. Each secondary gear train is equipped with a Remontoir d'Egalité with a frequency of 1 second. Working in this way, the force received by the escapements remains linear and ensures isochronism for 28 hours.

Il Stopwatch à Resonance features a redesigned case with 2 distinct crowns. The first, positioned at 2 o'clock, allows you to wind the watch and, once extracted, to adjust the local time of the first quadrant (on 24 hours) or the second time zone of the second quadrant (on 12 hours) depending on whether rotated clockwise or counterclockwise respectively. The second crown, on the other hand, positioned at 4 o'clock allows you to reset the small seconds of both movements at the same time with a simple extraction.

This model is available with a case in Platinum or in gold 18K 6N with a diameter of 40 or 42 mm. The dial is available in 18K or 6N white gold with 2 sub-sub dials of the hours in guilloche clous de Paris in bleached silver. Leather strap or bracelet in gold or platinum. The price will be around 106.800 EURO for the rose gold version and EURO 110.600 for the one in platinum.

Resonance is a natural acoustic phenomenon. Any animated body transmits a vibration to its environment. When another body starts vibrating at the same frequency as another body, it absorbs its energy. In watchmaking it refers to two independent movements placed side by side that enter into synchronization.


A few examples: a soprano voice sings delicately near a glass until it hears the frequency with which the glass responds by emitting a stentorian sound at the exact same frequency. The glass then vibrates in sympathy. If the energy supplied is sufficient, the glass will not be able to tolerate it and will break. Musicians who play wind and string instruments are also familiar with the phenomenon of resonance, as mentioned by Keith Jarrett in the first catalog of FPJourne. Some strings on lutes and sitar, for example, are not made to be touched but vibrate by resonance when the player plucks the strings near them. All radio communication systems, transmitters and receivers use resonance to "filter" the frequencies of the signals they use. When we are looking for a program on the radio, it pops until the chosen wavelengths meet those of the transmitter: only then do they harmonize to start “ringing” together.
A bridge is subject to vertical and transverse oscillations, or twisting. In 1850, a troop that was crossing a suspension bridge over the Maine River in Angers and, which was marching at the same pace, caused the bridge to break, leading to the deaths of 226 soldiers. Military regulations prohibit crossing a bridge on foot.
MRI uses the resonance of a body's protons to produce images. A car, with its suspension system, is an oscillator! Shock absorbers prevent the vehicle from resonating sharply. Large buildings subjected to earthquakes are protected by installing an oscillator (a large pendulum) suspended above the building, the frequency of which will be similar to that of the building itself. In this way, the pendulum absorbs the energy, preventing the building from collapsing.