F.P. Journe

François-Paul Journe, born in Marseille in 1957 and a graduate of the Paris watchmaking school in 1976, spent two decades restoring and building one-off pieces before founding Montres Journe SA in Geneva in 1999. The first series wristwatch, the Tourbillon Souverain with a remontoir d'égalité, appeared that year, followed in 2000 by the Chronomètre à Résonance, a wristwatch with two independent balances that synchronise through resonance, and in 2001 by the Octa automatic line. Since 2004 the movements of the main collections have been made in 18-carat rose gold, and every dial carries the signature "Invenit et Fecit".

The Geneva manufacture, which has brought case and dial making in house, produces under a thousand watches a year. Chanel took a 20 per cent stake in 2018. The brand has won the Aiguille d'Or at the Grand Prix d'Horlogerie de Genève three times (2004, 2006 and 2008). Current lines include Souveraine, Octa, Élégante and lineSport.