From Antide Janvier to F.P. Journe's "Chronomètre à Résonance"
In 2002 François-Paul Journe acquired a very rare resonance regulator signed Antide Janvier. It became the 1st piece in the Montres Journe SA collection.
"The acquisition of this regulator was extremely moving for me, since it was made circa 1780 by one of the most brilliant French watchmakers who ever existed: Antide Janvier. It represents the link between my “Chronomètre à Résonance” and the most interesting research of the 18th century. It is one of the world's most beautiful regulators, and along with two other pieces currently on display in the Patek Philippe Museum in Geneva and the Paul Dupuis Museum in Toulouse, it was the first known application of the phenomenon of resonance.It is now part of the Montres Journe SA collection."
Celebration of the emblematic F.P.Journe Timekeeper
2010 commemorates the 10 year Anniversary of the renowned F.P.Journe Chronomètre à Resonance with a new edition now featuring a 24 hour indicator.
An emblematic timepiece that will significantly mark the research on precision made by master watchmaker François-Paul Journe. This unique watch represents one of the wildest challenges ever in the field of the mechanical watch! Utilising the natural resonance phenomenon, first applied by French master watchmaker Antide Janvier, circa 1780, this exceptional mechanism revolutionized the classic standards of watch-making by offering an unequalled precision for a wristwatch.
2010 – F.P.Journe offers a new face to the renowned Chronomètre a Résonance, acclaimed by collectors and professionals of the brand worldwide. In an ultimate quest for precision, the dial at 9h now offers a time indication of 24 hours, defining precisely the hours of day and those of night. The dial at 3h in silver guilloche indicates the local time but can also be used for the same time zone.
The Chronomètre à Résonance. © F.P. Journe
The new Chronomètre a Résonance is featuring the subtle 18K rose gold mechanism with its two perfectly synchronised beating mechanical hearts that are revealed through a sapphire crystal case-back. It is imbued with a profoundly poetic depth, and remains, 10 years later, the most precise mechanical watch of contemporary watch making.
Biography of Antide Janvier
Briva (St Claude-Jura) 1751 – Paris 1835
Antide Janvier is one of the most renowned French watchmakers. He created many horological masterpieces, in particular mechanical spheres and planetariums. Along with F. Berthoud, J.-A. Lepaute and R. Robin, he is among the great Parisian watchmakers who were interested in and constructed tower clocks.
Antide Janvier. DR
Antide Janvier was born on July 1, 1751 in Briva, near Saint-Claude. He was the son of Claude-Etienne Janvier, a farm labourer who had traded the plough for clockmaking. When he became aware of his son’s exceptional talents, he entrusted the boy’s education to the Abbé Tournier, a mathematician and amateur horologer.
Having detected a remarkable early intelligence in the 13 year-old, he instructed him in all the disciplines he excelled in: Latin, Greek, mathematics, and astronomy. At the age of 15, Antide Janvier began the construction of a mechanical sphere that he audaciously presented to the Besançon Académie des sciences et belles lettres on May 24, 1768. That institution, founded by Louis XV in 1752, praised the piece and awarded it a certificate on May 24, 1768, signed by Droz in the Palais Granvelle. Several years later, Janvier became a member of the Académie des sciences and settled in Besançon.
In 1770, A. Janvier constructed a large planetarium representing the inequalities of the planets, their eccentric orbits, their equinoctial points, the revolutions of their satellites, etc. This machine was presented to Louis XV. Janvier then entered into an apprenticeship with M. Devanne, in order to perfect his horological training. A brilliant achievement, the creation of two exceptional planetarium clocks, one geocentric, the other heliocentric, resulted in his being presented to king Louis XV. In 1773 he settled in Verdun, where he married. In 1774 he went to Paris, where, through the intercession of the astronomer Lalande, he entered the service of Louis XVI as clockmaker to the King, and was lodged at the Menus-Plaisirs (in the Louvre).
Around 1780, Antide Janvier turned his attention to the phenomenon of resonance. His idea was to construct two complete movements with precision escapements, and to place them side by side so that the two clocks were contained within the same construction. As he had suspected, each clock retrieved the energy dispersed by the other; the two clocks began beating in unison, thus entering into resonance. He made two resonance precision regulators; one of them is today in the Musée Paul Dupuy in Toulouse, the other is in the private collection of Montres Journe SA in Geneva.
He remained in contact with the King, and in 1792 he presented his Geographic clock (today in Fontainebleau) to the Queen, tactlessly remarking to her Majesty: "You see, you can tell what time it is anywhere; for instance in Metz, it is ... ". He spent many nights with the King, observing the satellites of Jupiter and other celestial bodies through a telescope. After the flight to Varennes, this caused him to fall into disgrace, which allowed him to keep his head during the Revolution.
Antide Janvier’s clocks are all remarkable. They are always beautifully crafted and their extreme complication makes them sometimes difficult to comprehend. This is particularly true of his masterpiece, with indication of the movements of the planets, the phases of the moon, the tides, the solar and lunar eclipses, the equation of time, etc … on four faces with unprecedented gearing principles. One of the most prestigious horological pieces ever! He made clocks indicating the time of tides, several other planetariums, and clocks of extraordinary ingenuity and astronomical complication. The cases of all his clocks were crafted by the best artisans of the period. In September 1835 he died in Paris, aged 84.