FP Journe Vagabondage II Platinum

The Vagabondage story began in casual conversation, not a sketch for once. A Parisian collector asked François-Paul Journe for something "like what A.-L. Breguet might make today," but with wandering hours—and the resulting watch, born for a charity auction, was such a hit that Journe spun a one-off into a trilogy. The 'Tortue' case, however, is widely speculated to have been a bid for Cartier's interest. The Vagabondage II arrived in 2010 as the middle chapter and, for many collectors, the most beautiful of the three. Where the original wandered, the II jumped: Journe swapped the roaming display for fully digital, instantaneously jumping hours and minutes, a feat only a handful of wristwatches manage.

Photography comes courtesy of an example sold prior by A Collected Man. 

In platinum, the watch is at its quietest. The flat tortue (tortoise) case measures 45.2 x 37.6mm, framing a smoked sapphire dial that—unusually—carries no F.P. Journe signature at all. Instead, the faintly tinted crystal reveals the 18k rose gold movement beneath, with digital hours and minutes laid across a silvered "time bridge," small seconds at six, and a power reserve at twelve. The platinum edition pairs white gold display windows with blued hands, a cool, monochromatic palette that suits the metal's restraint.

The engineering is the real drama. Jumping a digital minute disc demands a sharp burst of energy—enough to disturb the balance if drawn straight from the mainspring. Journe's answer was a dedicated barrel and a remontoir d'égalité, a constant-force device that stores energy for a full minute, then releases it in one pulse to flick the disc forward. The jump is crisp, with no penalty to timekeeping, the movement beating steadily at 21,600 vph.

Production was strictly capped: 69 pieces in platinum, 68 in 6N gold, and 10 platinum examples set with baguette diamonds. (Fun fact: the Vagabondage line's famous "69" ceiling traces to a single client who insisted on owning number 69—nothing, Journe has clarified, to do with the name allegedly.) Today the platinum II ranks among the most coveted modern Journes, with recent auction results closing in on 1M, we may see that eclipsed very shortly. 

The example heading to auction, interestingly, belonged to Tom Brady. However, that's the least interesting things about it. The Vagabondage is one of the most unusual Journes made and this result should set the market for some time to come. It comes with the full kit from Sotheby's.