As a small, independent watchmaker, how did it feel to have one of the most expensive wristwatches sold at auction?Ī. The idea thus came to my mind, to buy our watches that are no longer in productionĪnd … allow recent clients who would want one of these collectible timepieces to buy them in complete confidence and completely restored, furthermore, with a guarantee. They had asked us to buy those watches for them and restore them. By lack of trust, or knowledge, they did not want to buy a watch in a public sale, nor on the Internet. It was created following the requests of clients who were looking for a specific model that was no longer in production in our collection.

Why is the Patrimoine service so important?Ī. Very soon, the younger generation will replace them with real watches they are our clients for tomorrow. Connected watches are not watches, they are wrist computers. What place do your watches have in a world driven by technology?Ī.

This number does not include the Élégante, which is approximately 300 watches annually. How many watches are produced every year?Ī. “A Watch Should Give Time With Precision, But It Should Also Evoke An Emotion” Today, he brilliantly manages the boutique in Los Angeles and in a very short time developed an exceptional clientele. My brother Laurent joined me three years ago to take over the Miami Boutique we needed a director. I later opened my own horological atelier. As I said, after having completed my watchmaking school, I became totally passionate when I worked in my uncle Michel’s workshop in Paris. Is this a family business? How is your brother involved?Ī. My passion was born, and here I am today - not that the road was easy. I genuinely realized the potential of creativity and satisfaction I could get when I worked in my uncle’s workshop. I was expelled from the school and I went to the watchmaking school in Paris to finish my studies. I really enjoyed working on mechanisms and my only problem was that I would finish the work very quickly, and therefore I was disturbing the class. He advised my mother to register me at the horological school in Marseilles, France, and she did. During the summer, my uncle Michel, eminent restorer of antique horology in Paris, accepted me for an internship and he did communicate his passion to me and thought I had some predisposition. I was a terrible scholar, and my mother was wondering what she was going to do with me. Can you tell us a bit about your childhood? Growing up? How and when did you first become interested in watchmaking?Ī. A watch should give time with precision, but it must also provoke an emotion. Yes, with a quest for precision, innovation and timeless esthetics. Do your watches share common characteristics?Ī. On the face, the guilloche movement is visible with a sub-dial in enamel.

I also tried to preserve the spirit of the first Tourbillon wristwatch I had made in 1991, in adding something modern. For this new Tourbillon, the principle is the same except it is a wristwatch: when you lay it on a table, the Tourbillon also remains vertical, and it will be vertical in all the positions, thus it will keep the same precision.įor the 20th anniversary of the Tourbillon Souverain, I was working on an idea, somewhat different but furthermore an innovation that would bring something to precision. When the wearer put it down, he was putting it on a support in a vertical position. The Tourbillon Souverain Vertical is revolutionary, and no other watchmaker had the audacity to conceive it.Ībraham-Louis Breguet invented the Tourbillon for pocket watches and in the pocket, the Tourbillon was in a vertical position. How did it come to be? How is it different from the Tourbillon Souverain? What are the advantages of a watch such as this?Ī. The Tourbillon Souverain Vertical is revolutionary. Journe takes classic design, innovation and quality craftsmanship to an exclusive new level, creating impressive, beautiful timepieces that are unparalleled in the history of watchmaking.

Los angeles horology school