Genevan watchmaker F.P. Journe recently announced a new sports watch within their Linesport collection called the Chronographe Monopoussoir Rattrapante which consists of a 44 mm x 12 mm case with a fixed bezel, metal bracelet, and black protective rubber inserts.
Inspired by the chronograph made for Only Watch, caliber 1518 features a direct chronograph gearing with a rocking pinion avoiding the jump of the hand at the start.
There are three different case options: 18K red gold, grade 5 titanium, and platinum (not shown).
To improve comfort and fit, the links attached to the case have been designed to articulate and adapt to the different wrist sizes along with an adjustable folding clasp (approximately 5 mm of adjustment).
The new 3Hz manually wound movement has 285 total components, 29 jewels, and requires 38 turns of the crown to achieve the maximum 80-hour power reserve. The dimensions are 33.60 mm x 6.80 mm and the main components are machined from 18K rose gold for the platinum and the red gold versions and in aluminum alloy for the titanium version.
Each of the bridges has been hand chamfered and polished, and all components are decorated with either a black polish, circular Geneva stripes, or straight graining. Needless to say, the backside is a visual treat, as with all Journe movements.
The dials of the two precious metal versions have guilloche work in the center, snailing for the subdials, and matte outer rings with applied gold Arabic hour numerals (except at 3, 6, 9) with white printed minute/second tracks. Two large gold Journe-style hands indicate the hours and minutes, and two long baton-shaped chronograph seconds hands with open circle counterweights track elapsed time. The subdials have blued baton-shaped hands with open circle counterweights.
For the titanium model, the dial is much sportier, with no guilloche work in the center of the dial, and a mixture of red and white accents, along with luminescent paint on the hands and hour markers. One interesting design choice for the sportier model was to cut-away the center of the subdials, which is a bit peculiar as it takes away from the more casual look of the watch. The cutouts reveal the circular graining used on the backside of the mainplate, which shows off how every component is completely finished, but the view is uninspiring in the context of openwork designs, especially considering how gorgeous this movement is as a whole.
All versions have a wide date (5.20 mm x 2.80 mm) at 6 o’clock designed for enhanced legibility.
This is split-seconds watch and accordingly two flat pushers control the chronograph differently than a regular chronograph. The pusher at 2 o’clock is used to start, stop, and reset. While the pusher at 4 o’clock controls the rattrapante hand and allows timing of more than one event at once. A flat Journe-style crown controls the time adjustment and manual winding.
Overall, the movement is excellent, whether it’s the gold or aluminum caliber. However, the ultra-tapered bracelet appears out of proportion for a 44 mm case and some of the design decisions, such as the cut-outs for the subdials on the titanium model, seem to have no purpose aesthetically. And as far as the name “Monopoussoir” this is clearly not a mono-pusher chronograph so the use of that particular moniker makes no sense.
The retail prices are CHF 58,000 (titanium), CHF 78,000 (red gold), CHF 106,000 (platinum).
