FP Journe Tourbillon Souverain Vertical Joaillerie Rubis

 FP Journe Tourbillon Souverain Vertical Joaillerie Rubis

 

A maximalist.

Earlier this year, FP Journe unveiled its most daring jewelry luxury fake watches to date—the Vertical Tourbillon Supreme Joaillerie Rubis, set with the largest baguette ruby ​​ever made in watchmaking.

While high jewelry watches are currently popular, the Tourbillon Souverain Vertical Joaillerie (TVJ) Rubis was a bold endeavor, requiring eight years to collect the right gemstones—and 61 carats of gem-quality rubies were destroyed to create the timepiece.

This type of high jewelry watch is not new; demand for gem-set complicated watches was strong in the 1980s and 90s, especially in Asia. But in the last decade, these watches have transformed from a niche product into a significant (and robust) business pillar for many brands.

Colored gemstones have also garnered attention, becoming a trend within a trend, exemplified by Rolex's "Rainbow" Daytona, one of the brand's most popular models. Patek Philippe's three gem-set Grandmaster Chime watches, launched in 2022, are considered milestones in the field, with one of Geneva's top watchmakers adorning its flagship timepieces with diamonds, emeralds, and sapphires.

However, judging from TVJ, FP Journe is clearly not just following industry trends—this swiss replica watches, eight years in the making, belongs to Montres Journe's two-decade tradition of high jewelry tourbillons.

The watch's production is meticulous, requiring repeated cutting of an 86-carat high-grade ruby, ultimately retaining only 25 carats. Creating such a timepiece would be a significant expense for any brand, especially for an independent watchmaker. While the price has not yet been announced, FP Journe seems confident in the watch's value, believing it far exceeds the sum of its individual components, a sentiment I wholeheartedly agree with.

The TVJ watch, based on the Tourbillon Vertical, is a successor to the TJ watch launched in 2005, which in turn is based on the Tourbillon Nouveau (TN). Both the TVJ and TJ watches are set with the same number of gemstones, but the TVJ's gemstones are larger and longer to accommodate its larger case—the TVJ is 4mm taller and wider than the TJ. Therefore, the TJ is set with approximately 13 carats of diamonds, while the TVJ is set with approximately 22.5 carats.

This is not TVJ's first gem-set watch; the first was the TVJ Diamants, which is listed in the catalogue. Rubies have a density approximately 1.14 times that of diamonds, which may explain why the TVJ Rubis (25 carats) weighs slightly more than the TVJ Diamants, although the gemstones on both watches appear to be the same shape and size.

Generally, gemstones used in watchmaking are not particularly expensive because they are usually very small. The tiny "small diamonds" used in replica luxury watches, typically less than 0.02 carats, are mass-produced gemstones at very low prices.

The situation is entirely different. When setting diamonds, the average carat weight of each gemstone is 0.242 carats, while this ruby ​​weighs 0.269 carats, which is enormous by watchmaking industry standards.

For comparison, Patek Philippe's fully diamond-set Grandmaster watch features 30.16 carats of baguette-cut diamonds, averaging 0.077 carats per diamond. For a more direct comparison, the 222 brilliant-cut diamonds set on the brand's 40mm Élégante watch average only 0.007 carats. Considering this, the retail price of this diamond TVJ watch at 726,000 Swiss francs (approximately US$900,000, excluding tax) is truly surprising.

The Many Faces of Gemstone Cutting The cutting of natural gemstones is generally aimed at preserving the shape of the original stone as much as possible and removing flaws, thereby maximizing its value. In other words, the gemstone itself determines its cut. Furthermore, market demand is also a factor to consider; certain shapes are more marketable than others. For example, the round brilliant cut maximizes the final weight of an octahedral rough diamond and is the most versatile and easily marketable shape for diamonds.

In watchmaking, the Graff Diamonds Hallucination is a prime example of this philosophy. At Baselworld 2014, Graff debuted a timepiece set with 110 carats of colored diamonds—diamonds that appeared meticulously cut to maximize the potential value of each. fake Zenith Chronomaster Sport watches

Another approach is to disregard gemstone and market demand and cut entirely according to one's own vision. FP Journe employed this method in creating the TVJ. This meant cutting an 86-carat (total weight) ordinary ruby ​​to 25 carats (net weight) and customizing it to fit the TVJ's case. This would likely require a significantly larger total weight of gemstones than the same cut with white diamonds.

The bezel is set with 40 baguette-cut rubies, and another 16 are set on the lugs. However, the largest gems are among the 37 gems on the side of the case. In fact, according to FP Journe, these are the largest baguette-cut rubies ever used in watchmaking.

Ruby crystals tend to form flat, slightly elongated hexagonal prisms, so gem-quality rubies are typically cut oval or cushion-cut. To set the case with the appropriate baguette rubies, FP Journe spent eight years collecting appropriately sized oval rubies and then recutting them into rectangles.

One reason for this lengthy process is that, in addition to finding gems of the right size and quality, all 93 gems must be indistinguishable in color (at least to the human eye).

Gem setting is an extremely difficult and unforgiving process, as evidenced by countless poorly executed aftermarket gem-setting cases. To achieve the desired effect, cutters and setters must work closely together. It's even better if the case design perfectly complements the gem setting, such as the TVJ's case—which is a full 2 ​​millimeters wider than a standard TV case. Each gemstone must be precisely cut, as irregularly shaped stones will either leave unsightly gaps or be impossible to set in. The risk is extremely high: once a gemstone is cut, it cannot be restored to its original shape.

A (Very) Hard Stone Dial
The dial is also made of ruby, but not gem-quality. FP Journe, along with many other watch brands, refers to it as "cœur de rubis," meaning "heart of the ruby." This name refers to a large red corundum within zoisite (i.e., the "heart of the ruby"). For FP Journe, the ruby ​​material is particularly significant because the last 20 pieces of the brand's most iconic timepiece—the Tourbillon Nouveau—all featured ruby ​​dials.

The challenge of a ruby ​​dial lies not in the rarity or cost of the material (rubies are abundant and not expensive), but in the difficulty of working this hard yet fragile gemstone.fake breitling watches

Vertical Thinking

Like the 1999 Tourbillon Remontoir d'Egalite and later the Tourbillon Nouveau, this TV watch also employs FP Journe's signature titanium blade spring constant-force device. This device was designed in 1983 at the request of Swiss collector Eugene Gschwind, a move intended as a counterpoint to George Daniels. The system is also used in the Chronomètre Optimum and Astronomic Souveraine—two of the brand's greatest creations.

This constant-force device also enables a "natural" jumping seconds hand—meaning it requires no additional mechanical mechanism to control it. A jumping seconds hand is not only aesthetically pleasing (at least in my opinion), but it also displays the seconds more clearly, making it easier to judge the watch's accuracy based on a reference signal.

It's worth noting that the seconds hand only "jumps" when the mainspring provides sufficient torque to fully charge the constant-force device, and the device can only guarantee this state for the first 42 hours.

The difference between a TV watch and a TN watch lies in its 90° rotating tourbillon, which is compensated for by a crown gear (shown in blue in the image below). The vertical balance wheel design makes the dial's vertical position (which is horizontal in almost all other watches) vertical; this reduces the difference between the dial's vertical position and the crown's vertical position.

In other words, vertical placement helps maximize the tourbillon's performance, but ironically, high quality replica watches usually perform best when horizontally positioned. It is in this placement that the balance wheel pivot point is on the top jewel, minimizing friction and typically producing the largest amplitude.