FP Journe's Élégante is the result of eight years of development, a sophisticated quartz offering born from first-principles thinking. Many consider the Élégante to bear the most advanced quartz wristwatch movement ever made. In FP Journe's own words, this was intended to be the world's first true luxury quartz watch.
In the early years, the Élégante was designed for women. In 2003, François-Paul made a trip to the Middle East where he found some of his collectors' wives were pining for an FP Journe of their own. Quartz was the obvious choice for the lifestyle requests François-Paul received. The challenge was not taken lightly. The result proved so well-executed that it was later executed in a larger size to meet the many requests from men for a larger take on the watch.
FP Journe refused to simply hide a quartz movement away, but instead sought to create one worth displaying proudly. Development of the quartz calibre 1210 took so long for the sake of a microprocessor, needed for its pièce de résistance: standby mode. After 35 minutes of no motion, the hands shut down. The opening on the dial is for a small gold oscillating mass, a mechanical element which 'wakes up' its calibre upon picking it back up. The hands then move clockwise or counter-clockwise, depending on which path is shorter, to the correct time. This extreme care in engineering means a 10 year battery life with 18 years of standby. The calibre 1210 even uses two separate motors for the hour and minute hands to eliminate frictional losses of energy that come with long gear trains. The base of the calibre is still pink gold, with 132 components and much hand decoration still.
The dial is an entirely luminescent sapphire crystal, with lacquered numerals and blued steel hands. The outer elements are steel screwed in place. The Élégante was made initially in this 40mm model (which wears comparably to a circular 36mm), followed by a 48mm (which wears comparably to a 40 or 41mm). The case design is a modern 'Tortue', with very faceted details and ultra-thin at 7.35mm. Case finishing is at an expected perfect quality, contrasting mirror and brushed finishes. This example is executed in titanium, which makes it disappear on wrist. Interestingly, the Élégante is the only FP Journe with a screw-down crown.
The Élégante has come to be respected widely, despite initial shock from the media. It requires no interaction or fuss and will tell the time reliably for years or autonomy. With the light water resistance inherent to its design, the titanium Élégante is one of the most effortlessly beautiful watches with a feather light wearing experience. True to his word, François-Paul created the first and last luxury quartz watch.
