Launched in 2002, the F.P. Journe Ruthenium Collection is comprised of five of the watchmaker’s early brass movement pieces, including the Tourbillon Souverain, the Octa Calendrier, the Octa Réserve de Marche Jour et Nuit, the Chronomètre à Resonance, and most notably, the Octa Chronographe like the present example. Each model was released as a 99-piece limited edition and stylistically, their larger 40mm case diameter closed the door on their predecessors that measured at a traditional 38mm, ushering in the more modern iterations that have drawn admirers of Journe’s craft year after year.

Though seldom used in watches, ruthenium is rare inert metal that is closely related to the platinum family and is often found in aerospace engineering for its natural resistance to oxidation and impeccable hardness. Each of the pieces in Journe’s Ruthenium collection have their brass movements fully coated in a light-absorbing ruthenium coating. Similarly, the white gold dial is specially coated with the same ruthenium, yet the remarkable sheen and lustre found in Journe’s earliest solid gold dials is preserved. Such Journe dials often display beautiful variations of patina, and in this case, the tarnish-free darkness of ruthenium further enhances the glimmer of the underlying gold dial. The circular Côtes de Genève finishing seen on later iterations of brass movements is visible through the ruthenium coating.

Produced from 2002 until 2006, the Octa Chronographe was the world’s premier self-winding fly-back chronometer chronograph, boasting an oversized date window. The Octa caliber 1300 is a mere 5.7mm thick, allowing it to fit into the existing Octa case. To achieve this, the typical column wheel was replaced by a cam wheel.

Numbered 16 of a limited edition of 99, the present Octa Chronographe from the Ruthenium Collection, the watch was first sold in 2003 and acquired by the current owner from the F. P. Journe Patrimoine Service later in 2019. With a production of no more than 45 pieces made per year and a complete service from the manufacture in 2019, the present Octa Chronographe is delivered with its certificate and accessories.