Black Mother of Pearl Dial FP Journe RN Resonance

Sincere Singapore have had many incredibly beautiful and unique small runs made for their clients, from guilloché Lange to LF and, yes, FP Journe. While this looks like a black label, it’s actually one of just 10 made with black mother of pearl. Yes, this is actually mother of pearl and you wouldn’t know outside of direct bright light. Interestingly, we saw this exact example at the Geneva season in 2022 and now it’s back. Interestingly, about half of production has traded hands since 2006. In fairness, the state of FP Journe is quite different now.

he Chronomètre à Resonance was born in late 1999, a world first in wristwatches. Shortly thereafter, in 2004, all Journe production began to be made in pink gold movements. This RN (Resonance Nouveau) comes from right after that shift. The RN series was introduced at the dawn of the ‘Gold Era’ late in 2004. RN spanned two calibres, beginning with this 1499.2 and ending with 1499.3, which included an updated power reserve system. The dial remained nearly unchanged from the first series, except the shape of the dial frame around the screws which introduced a more swooping and gentle curve. Yellow Gold was removed as a dial option as it contrasted the pink gold calibre, and by this point all dials were a uniform grained gold which varied little inter-generation. The RN mirrors the charm of the very early Resonances, separated only by the introduction of gold calibres. What followed in the 2010 RT has infamously been dubbed the ‘Parking Meter’, and, while charming, this RN is inarguably the end of the early Resonance aesthetic. 

This is one of the rarest Resonance dials in the production of the Resonance. And yet, we have quite a few data points for auction. I’ll give you the download briefly. The first result was at Sotheby’s in 2020, where one hit 227K. One year later, Phillips in 2021, the second screamed past at 529K USD. Then 2022 at Ineichen, where one hammered at 450K. Also in 2022, this very same example hit Geneva for 550K. It’s now back in NYC, and will likely do even better this time around. Certainly, this will be telling for the state of hyper-desirable FPJ.

This example has been worn but not abused. The case shows a decent amount of wear, but not service abuse. The all-important MoP dial is unmarred, importantly. It comes as part of Phillips NY this winter, full set of course.