The introduction of the Octa in 2001 was a milestone for F. P. Journe. With it, the independent watchmaker introduced a self-winding movement with an impressive 160-hour power reserve. In the past 20 years, only three updates have been made to the movement. The last is to modify the winding mechanism, opting for a unidirectional winding, to improve its efficiency. F. P. Journe celebrates the excellence of this movement with an exhibition in Geneva dedicated to its 20 years on the market, while presenting a limited edition in platinum of 99 pieces FP Journe Octa Automatique 20th Anniversary, a tribute to the 2001 Octa, with a 40mm platinum case, a rhodium-plated brass movement and a yellow gold dial.

in 2001 F. P. Journe, which until then had only hand-wound movements in its collection, decided to add the comfort of automatic winding, with the Octa caliber, giving its name to the new upcoming collection: FP Journe Octa. Housed in a 38mm case, presented with the brand's classic matte gold dial with off-center silver guilloché sub-dials, it was most notable for its extraordinarily powerful movement, with a 160-hour power reserve. One of the first models in this collection was theOcta Réserve de Marche (photo below).

To celebrate its XNUMXth anniversary of the self-winding collection, F. P. Journe presents theOcta Automatic in a limited series of 99 pieces, with a clear nostalgic feel. Visually, this watch is a clear "back to basics", with its polished 950 platinum case, albeit slightly enlarged to 40mm. But the tribute is even more obvious when looking at the dial and movement.

The dial of theFP Journe Octa Automatique 20th Anniversary it is crafted in matte satin yellow gold, with a grainy effect, something that clearly refers to Journe's early watches. Atop this warm plated base is a classic guilloché sub-dial in silver, with off-center hours and minutes and small seconds. All hands are traditionally shaped and made of blued steel. The display, also presented in a classic form, is framed by a steel ring, a characteristic element of the first Journe watches. The hour and minute dial numbers, which still use the brand's distinctive character, have also been retained, but slightly enlarged.

In addition to the three classic indications, this FP Journe Octa Automatique 20th Anniversary features a power reserve indication, it has been moved down slightly to allow more space for the enlarged date, displayed in a window that now measures 4.7mm x 2.6mm for better readability. 

Turning the watch we will see a reworked Octa caliber not made with solid gold plates and bridges, as is the case with all modern F movements.P Journe, but which uses classic brass as a material, later rhodium-plated. This is definitely a nice tribute to the first Octa watches. Even the movement, caliber 1300.3, is making many updates over the existing Octa caliber. If the base is the same, it is now decorated with openwork bridges. Otherwise, it's the same powerful architecture with a 160-hour power reserve, which is limited to 120 hours for stability reasons. This 3 Hz movement is finely equipped, with a unidirectional automatic winding in 22k gold, with a guilloché finish and a free spring balance with four adjustable inertial weights. 

This new twentieth anniversary of FP Journe Octa Automatique it will be a limited edition of 99 pieces, available at the 10 boutiques of the maison. The branding also indicates that the updated Automatique will later join the current collection with a 40mm or 42mm case in platinum or 18k 6N gold and a guilloché gold and silver dial, but without the brass movement. The price of the new FP Journe Octa Automatique 20th Anniversary it will be around 65.000 EURO.