FP Journe Vagabondage II & III Twin Set

It is not every day a twin set of matching serial Vagabondage II & III come to market together. It’s not even every year, or couple of years. These are both first-owner pieces. Before you ask, the missing other model, matching serial Vagabondage exists but was sold to another collector—waiting to resurface still. Yet, these two survive, in platinum, worn frequently until today and ready to be worn frequently by one quite lucky, adequately Journe-obsessed new collector.

Special thanks to @timebyraf for the photography on this Find. 

Vagabondage history is about as insane as the watches. A Parisian client, rumored to be Jean Aube, asked FPJ for a very classic watch, ‘like what AL Breguet might make today’, but with vagabond or wandering hours. After the client agreed to a series, the first Vagabondage was born in just 6 months for a charity Antiquorum auction. So many clients wanted more than a small series of 69 examples was made. 69, because one client wanted number 69, sadly nothing to do with the Bondage name. The Vagabondage II followed shortly after in 2010 with digital hours and minutes on a ‘time bridge’ integrated with petite seconds, powered through a remontoir now. This was the second-ever mechanical digital watch, following the Zeitwerk. Until the FFC, these were the only Journes to not say Journe anywhere on them.

Then we get to the III, where the Vagabondage progress beyond the Zeitwerk in some ways, adding to the party digital running seconds in a world-first. The power demand that required was huge, and so the entire movement was redesigned around a remontoir d’égalité for the seconds. It uses dual wheel trains to separate the constantly jumping seconds from hours and minutes. That degree of complication simply for these running seconds is unbelievable, accomplished through maniacal focus.

The I, II, and III were all limited to 69 initial pieces per metal. There’s nothing else remotely like it in Journe or elsewhere, and the only metaphor that makes sense is a Zeitwerk on cocaine (which the III, constantly jumping, certainly embodies). True twin serials are rare and should be celebrated, this is a level of collecting that the marketplace rarely reproduces.

The pair are worn, certainly. And that's worth noting but also no bad thing. The cases both sport a consistent but pleasing patina consistent with careful frequent wear. The pair have their sets each, coming from a well-regarded German retailer.