We recently discussed the history of watchmaker extraordinaire François-Paul Journe and the watches that helped make him a modern independent icon. One of the watches mentioned in that article was the Chronomètre à Résonance released in 2000, but what if I told you that you could own a Chronomètre à Résonance from 1999 – one year before the watch was officially offered for sale. That’s exactly what’s coming up for sale at the Phillips In Association with Bacs and Russo Geneva Watch Auction XXIV, the Chronomètre à Résonance 022/99R with an estimate of CHF 500,000 – CHF 1,000,000.
How is that possible? Well in 1999 a pre-production Chronomètre à Résonance was sold in person to a private collector who has kept the watch ever since – meaning this is the first time it’s arriving on the market. As Phillips notes, the story of it being a pre-production model is verifiable because the watch carries the serial number 022/99R – 022 was the first commercially available Chronomètre à Résonance and following F.P. Journe convention, 99R denotes a production year of 1999.
Currently it is estimated that only 10 pre-production models exist, making this more exclusive than the already highly sought-after Souscription and even pre-Souscription models that already achieve amazing values at auction. Earlier this year at the New York Watch Auction: XIV (also by Phillips) a particularly exceptional Souscription model from an edition of 20 pieces achieved a price of $13,922,000 with other examples frequently achieving anywhere from CHF 300,000 – CHF 5 million.
Due to being a pre-production model, it features the classic elements that collectors look for in early Chronomètre à Résonance watches, including shallow caseback engravings, a brass movement and a rare pink gold dial with silver-tone subdials. It features dual independent time displays that each consist of hours, minutes and small seconds as well as a power reserve indicator at 12 o’clock. It’s a 38mm platinum cased model too.
The Chronomètre à Résonance 022/99R is being sold at the Phillips In Association with Bacs and Russo Geneva Watch Auction: XXIV, which takes place on 7-8 November 2026. It has an estimate of CHF 500,000 – CHF 1,000,000 but given the combination of factors surrounding its sale such as the fact it’s new to market after having a single owner for the past 27 years and is exceedingly rare, I wouldn’t be surprised to see it pull in the big numbers.
More details at Phillips.
