News · F.P. Journe

F.P. Journe makes its first classical chronograph

The unique platinum-and-gold chronograph brings a new calibre, burgundy lacquer dial and November charity auction to a familiar layout.

Hen & Mills Editorial · 4 min read · 13 September 2026

• The unique F.P. Journe Chronographe Fondation Prince Albert II de Monaco is the manufacture's first classical chronograph and supports the Foundation.
• Its 42 mm platinum-and-gold case houses a hand-wound rose-gold calibre, while burgundy lacquer and sapphire counters shape the dial.
• Phillips will auction the one-off watch in Singapore on 25 November, with all proceeds donated and no estimate announced.

Charity watches are often familiar references distinguished by a dial colour and a worthy destination. F.P. Journe has done something more consequential for the Prince Albert II of Monaco Foundation, developing the first conventional chronograph in its catalogue after years of split-seconds, flyback and high-frequency interpretations. Unveiled in Monaco on 7 September and destined for a Phillips auction in November, the result is the one-off F.P. Journe Chronographe Fondation Prince Albert II de Monaco.

Platinum and gold share a 42 mm case

The case measures 42 mm across and 10.4 mm thick, so it is broad enough to give the chronograph display room without becoming particularly tall. F.P. Journe combines platinum with 18-carat 6N gold, using the warm gold for the caseband, crown and pushers while platinum forms the cool outer frame. The start and stop pusher sits at two o'clock, reset is at four, and the case back carries a Fondation Albert II 2026 engraving that makes the watch's purpose permanent.

That metal pairing continues a dial built from materials that would each qualify as the headline elsewhere. Burgundy lacquer supplies the main field, while a whitened-silver tachymeter circles its edge. Grey sapphire counters sit inside titanium surrounds, the large-date aperture uses sandblasted white gold, and the steel hands combine matt rhodium, ivory and red lacquered finishes. The stylised numerals take their shape from oracle-bone script, an early form of Chinese writing, connecting the piece to the Singapore gala where it will be sold.

A classical layout, in unmistakably Journe materials

For all that material complexity, the information is familiar. A central hand records elapsed seconds against the tachymeter, the counter at three measures 30 minutes, running seconds occupy nine and the large date sits at six. There is a satisfying directness to it. F.P. Journe has not tried to make a conventional chronograph exotic by scrambling the display; instead, the brand has let proportion, colour and the exposed centres of the counters carry its identity.

Behind the dial is the hand-wound calibre 1518.3, made in 18-carat rose gold and measuring 33.6 mm across by 5.9 mm high. It runs at 21,600 vibrations per hour, has 26 jewels and stores 80 hours of power with a tolerance of two hours either way. The movement contains 246 components before the dial and case are counted, an unusually high parts tally for a watch whose indications remain legible at a glance. Complexity is present, but it is not made the reader's problem.

Winding the movement from empty takes 35 turns of the crown, according to F.P. Journe's technical sheet, and the regulator is a free-sprung balance with four inertia weights. A flat Anachron hairspring, mobile stud holder and laser-welded Nivatronic collet sit among the less visible details, while a Swiss lever escapement with a 15-tooth escape wheel sets the basic architecture. None of this changes how the chronograph is read, but it explains why the calibre can be technically serious without adding another indication to an already balanced dial.

The movement earns the view from behind

Turn the watch over and the calibre fills the window with rose-gold plates and bridges beneath the chronograph works. F.P. Journe applies partial perlage to the mainplate, circular Côtes de Genève to the bridges, polished screw heads with chamfered slots, polished and rounded peg ends, and straight graining with polished angles on the steel components. The three-position crown handles winding, date adjustment and time setting, while a free-sprung balance with four inertia weights governs the 3 Hz rate.

F.P. Journe counts 303 components once the movement, dial and leather-strapped case are assembled, compared with 246 in the movement alone. That difference makes the case hardware and layered dial more than an ornamental shell around the mechanism. Even the two recessed counters contribute mechanically visible depth, opening onto parts of the rose-gold calibre instead of hiding everything beneath printed registers.

The watch is fitted to a leather strap with an 18-carat 6N gold folding clasp, keeping the warm metal visible once the case turns away. I keep coming back to the restraint of the basic architecture. A one-off auction piece gives a maker permission to pile complication upon complication, yet this one spends its extravagance on construction and surfaces around a useful, conventional chronograph. That choice is more revealing than another record-setting function would have been.

F.P. Journe Chronographe Fondation Prince Albert II de Monaco pricing and availability

Only one example has been made, and F.P. Journe has not announced an estimate or retail price. Phillips will auction the watch on 25 November 2026 during the Voyage Extraordinaire gala dinner at Raffles Sentosa Singapore, marking the Prince Albert II of Monaco Foundation's 20th anniversary. The full proceeds will go to the Foundation, which works across climate, biodiversity and water issues. F.P. Journe boutiques will not sell it; this watch exists solely as an auction lot.