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8/21/2017 3:17:16 AM
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I love watches. I could talk all day about them. Since we're taking about gadgets, I think it's only deserving to bring up F.P. Journe's Sonneire Souveraine.
For about $650,000, you can get yourself one of the most insanely complicated watches on the market.
Aside from telling time, inside this watch you have a minute repeater, a grand Sonneire, and a petit sonneire. Basically what these complications do is tell the time by chiming, which may sound simple since your Casio can do it, but this watch is entirely mechanical. No batteries.
The sonneire is like a continuous alarm, the grand sonneire chimes every quarter hour telling you the hour and the quarters into the hour, and the petit sonneire just chimes every quarter hour telling you only the quarters, not the hours. These can be turned off and on. The minute repeater uses these chimes to tell you the exact time when activated.
In particular, these complications are so difficult to achieve because it takes a lot of energy to continuously reposition the gongs that strike to make a chime noise. As this is a completely mechanical movement, this sort of energy displacement is no easy feat. Off the top of my head, I can only think of 4 other watchmakers that have made a watch with a sonneire.
It's an engineering marvel, of high horological significance and elegance. A grail watch for sure.
English
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Edited by FoodMonger52: 8/21/2017 1:18:12 PMThat is actually pretty impressive. You typically don't see that in wrist watches. Very common for much larger clocks. I believe pocket watches had a similar build once upon a time as well. Do these ever actually lose timing sequence and need adjustment?
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Edited by The Cellar Door: 8/21/2017 2:55:37 PMIf you mean for keeping time, it's manually wound. Because of the great amount of energy the grand sonneire takes, when have it on, the watch will run and chime on for a day. Without it on, the watch will run for 5 days without needing a winding. Besides this, all watches need adjustments. It's simply inescapable. Even quartz watches need adjustment besides changing their battery. My guess, for this watch in particular, you'll probably want to service it at least every 5 years. F.P. Journe is known to make particularly robust movements, so I'd imagine the watch is a little more resistant to typical damage than other Sonneire's may be.
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Edited by Iron: 8/21/2017 11:39:56 AMWhy is there a watch that expensive? That watch is more expensive than the house I live in
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[quote]Why is there a watch that expensive? That watch is more expensive than the house I live in[/quote] You know, actually, for what you're getting, it's pretty reasonably priced. There are far more expensive watches that don't offer such a technical marvel. I just explained why it's so expensive. The price does not come from the brand. Obviously, as you've probably never even heard of FP Journe. He's an independent watchmaker who is well regarded by watch enthusiasts because his watches really do offer the most bang for your buck. You have to realize that FP Journe spent 6 years creating this watch and had to take out 10 patents just in its creation. It has over 500 parts that are all made, finished, and assembled in-house. They're not sending their blueprints out to Singapore and having children getting paid ¢2 a day assemble it. Everything is done in their workshop. Only 4 are made a year because it literally takes that long to assemble even with a team of trained watchmakers. Each little piece is individually polished. They're beveled by hand. This isn't the shitty Chinese movement you get in your Casio. There is no such thing as a Chinese-made sonneire. The sheer complexity of the watch makes it something that cannot be duplicated for a lower price. It's the highest level of horological excellence. It's like, you can have a shitty house in a shitty neighborhood or you can have a mansion in a gated community. You can absolutely live in both, they both accomplish the same purpose. Which one do you want? The mansion of course. Also, you have to understand that because there are so few of these watches made, and because the movement is so hard to make, you will almost certainly never lose a dime on the watch. You'll probably actually make money off of it. It's not like your $650,000 is just disappearing once you buy the watch. The only difference is now you have that value in something tangible that won't fluctuate as much as the dollar will. It's literally an investment in a safer allocation of wealth. All of these things considered, we also have to recognize that this is not a watch for the casual person. This is for collectors who value the horological significance of it. F.P. Journe's entry level watch, the Chronometre Bleu is only $23,000, which is on par with your VC's, Audemars, and Patek's, despite having an entirely solid gold movement, a titanium case, and a beautiful dial mirror polished (very difficult to do) with blue lacquer.
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You realize that this is a $650,000 watch right. I can buy my house and car for that money
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[quote]You realize that this is a $650,000 watch right. I can buy my house and car for that money[/quote] Then maybe you should make that kind of money and do what you want with it. Big surprise here: the people who can afford this for their personal collection already have a nicer car and house than you. You asked why it was the price it is, and I told you. It is entirely worth that price. Just because that is out of your range of affordability, doesn't mean it isn't worth what it's valued at. Again, this is not the watch for someone who just wants a time-telling accessory. This is a horological art piece, showcasing grand mechanical achievement.
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Edited by SwiftTheWolf597: 8/21/2017 11:43:52 AMThere is a watch that costs $500k but only because it has moon dust in it
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Oh because $500,000 is a reasonable price when you take out the moon dust
