FP Journe Souscription No. 18 'Two Tone' Resonance

Souscription Resonance is now mentioned in the same way collectors talk about 1526 and 2523. In the latter, tiny differences really matter. Souscriptions are largely a similar production. But this one isn’t, it’s two-tone. And two-tone in pink with platinum is the best sort of two-tone. All of these are within brass Souscription of which five are documented, or 25% of production. In numbers known, we have just No. 001, No. 014 (originally specified and bought by Parisian jeweler Lorenz Bäumer), and this No. 018 (two are not public).

This case combination was not repeated as far as we have seen in any early Tourbillon. And the style of two-tone is rather unusual, where the midcase with crowns are in pink and the bezel and caseback pair are rendered in platinum. The Souscripction years were certainly some of the more experimental configurations we’ve seen. And there’s a particular cosmic grandeur to the fact that this era also featured dials (or subdials, depending on where you fall on that debate) which aged to be two-tone as well: accidental je ne sais quoi.

It’s been said here before but bears repeating that the Souscription Resonances aren’t actually the first Resonances made. There are Pre-Souscription and Pre-Production, which somprise maybe 30 examples in total. The interesting thing is that despite now being the first, these favored few in two-tone have historically always set the record for Resonance when they’ve said hello to the market. There is reason to believe it may again now. How many possible records may we see set in Journe now? This is an interesting season as it’s time to see if the heights are duplicated or an outlier.

This example is heading to Phillips Geneva this year, in good nick. The full kit is included. One to watch for certain.