The PHILLIPS New York Watch Auction: XIII takes place on 6-7 December 2025, at our Park Avenue headquarters. The auction includes more than 140 of the world's finest watches – and though we are loath to boast, we truly think it's one of the best catalogues we've ever put together. We'll be highlighting several of the most interesting lots and stories featured in the sale right here, including the three F.P. Journe "Souscription" watches seen below.
– By Logan Baker
The story of F.P. Journe's Souscription series of watches is also the story of how François-Paul Journe built a modern watchmaking house from scratch.
Long before the boutiques in international hotspots, the GPHG awards, and the global following, Journe relied on a simple idea borrowed from Abraham-Louis Breguet. He asked a small group of collectors in his network to pay in advance for a watch that he had yet to produce. Their trust funded his fledgling workshop, laying the foundation for everything that followed.
The first Souscription watch was the Tourbillon Souverain à Remontoir d'Egalité, delivered in 1999. Journe produced 20 pieces and individually numbered each dial. These watches were both early examples of a future icon and the financial oxygen that allowed Journe to establish his manufacture. When Journe introduced the Chronomètre à Résonance one year later, the same 20 clients were invited to continue their Souscription journey; they were offered the opportunity to order Résonance watches bearing the same numbers as their tourbillons.
When the Octa collection debuted soon after, Journe kept the pattern. The first 20 examples of the Octa Réserve de Marche, the Octa Chronographe, and the Octa Calendrier were all offered to the very same supporters, again with matching numbers. Journe was not only building continuity but also honoring the client loyalty that made his brand possible in the first place. Today, the Souscription watches sit at the center of the modern independent watchmaking world. They represent a moment when one of the most influential watchmakers of our time was still fighting to bring his ideas to life.
Three Souscription watches appear in the upcoming Phillips New York Watch Auction: XIII. All are from the original first 20 examples produced of each respective model, and all tell the same story from different angles, with varying features and complications.
The Octa Réserve de Marche Souscription No. 17 (lot 19) dates to 2003, although its roots extend much further back. Journe had conceived the Octa concept in the mid-1990s, sketching a vision for a long-running self-winding calibre that could house multiple complications without increasing in dimensions. It was a bold plan, but it proved essential. The Octa collection has now been the backbone of Journe's automatic production for more than 20 years, and the Souscription examples reveal the concept at its purest.
The present example mirrors the configuration of the Octa Réserve de Marche Souscription No. 1, which Phillips sold at the Geneva Watch Auction: XIV, in November 2021, for CHF 554,400. Like its sibling, No. 17 features a platinum 38mm case, a white-gold dial, an oversized date aperture, and the balanced asymmetry that makes the early Octa aesthetic so compelling. It comes with its guarantee card, its early three-piece box, and a certificate confirming its Souscription status.
Next in the catalogue is the Chronomètre à Résonance Souscription No. 17 (lot 20). The Résonance remains one of Journe’s defining achievements. By miniaturizing the natural phenomenon first explored by Antide Janvier in the 18th century and later studied by Abraham-Louis Breguet, Journe brought resonance into a wristwatch format for the very first time and proved that it offered real chronometric benefits. The Souscription examples of the Chronomètre à Résonance have a distinctive character. Their deep laser-etched caseback engravings and the /00R suffix (indicating a production year of 2000) confirm their Souscription bona fides.
The present example, No. 17, is the latest example of the Chronomètre à Résonance Souscription to appear at auction, joining a recent lineage that has produced some of the strongest results in Journe collecting history. Phillips sold Résonance Souscription No. 1 for CHF 3,902,000 at the Geneva Watch Auction: XIV, in November 2021; No. 2 for CHF 3,327,000 at the Decade One (2015-2025) thematic auction in Geneva, in November 2025; and No. 14 for CHF 1,040,000 at the Geneva Watch Auction: XI, in June 2020.
Those results all demonstrated how central the Souscription examples of the Chronomètre à Résonance have become for serious collectors of independent watchmaking. The 38mm platinum example soon to be offered in New York, No. 17, is in excellent condition and includes a certificate of authenticity signed by Journe.
The third F.P. Journe Souscription watch in the New York Watch Auction: XIII is the Octa Chronographe Souscription No. 19 (lot 96). Where the Résonance pursued theoretical purity, the Octa Chronographe sought technical efficiency and modularity. Journe developed the Octa calibre to accommodate additional complications without changing its overall footprint – and the chronograph was an ideal showcase for this ambition.
The result was the first self-winding flyback chronograph wristwatch with an oversized date. The fully integrated movement measured just 5.7mm thick, with the chronograph and large-date complications cleverly accommodated within just a single additional millimeter of space. Journe accomplished this by replacing the traditional column wheel with a cam wheel and designing a single sliding lever that resets both the seconds and minutes.
The Octa Chronographe Souscription No. 19 features a 38mm platinum case, a shimmering "shiny" pink gold dial, and the brass-movement construction that defines Journe's early years of production. Phillips previously sold Octa Chronographe Souscription No. 1 for CHF 961,700 at the Geneva Watch Auction: XIV, in November 2021. Early Chronographe examples have become some of the most sought-after pieces in the history of the Octa collection, and the Souscription examples remain the most difficult to source.
These three watches show why the Souscription series occupies such an important place in the modern collecting landscape. They come from a moment before F.P. Journe had a global network or widespread recognition. They carry the fingerprints of a watchmaker betting everything on himself.
Journe’s career has since taken him far beyond those early years, but the Souscription watches still feel different. Their appeal goes beyond simple scarcity. The Souscription series represents the birth of an idea: that independent watchmaking could stand on equal footing with the great houses of the past.
You can view the complete Phillips New York Watch Auction: XIII auction catalogue here.