The present Octa Chronograph is fresh to the market, from the original owner and number 84 of a limited edition of 99 pieces. One of five watches part of the F.P. Journe “Ruthenium Collection” .

Made between 2001 and 2005 the watches in the Ruthenium collection bookend the brass movement production and the move to 18K pink gold movements now in use throughout Journe’s watches. The Ruthenium Collection comprises five models: the Octa Jour/Nuit (Night/Day), the Octa Calendrier, the Octa Chronograph (the present watch), the Chronomètre à Résonance, and the Tourbillon Souverain.

Each model was released in only 99 examples and are some of the most highly coveted, early Journe timepieces. Stylistically, the Ruthenium Collection, with their larger 40 mm case diameter, close the door on the early brass movement pieces, and ushered in the more modern iterations that have drawn admirers of Journe’s craft year after year. The models featured brass movements but coated in light-absorbing ruthenium. Similarly, the white gold dials are specially coated with the same ruthenium, yet the remarkable sheen and luster found in Journe’s earliest dials is preserved.

The Octa Chronograph was the world’s first automatic flyback chronograph with 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, meaning it is a profile rim instead of a column that actions the chronograph levers. A single sliding lever returns the chronograph seconds and minutes to zero by disengaging the brakes at the precise moment when it hits the specially profiled reset elements.