François-Paul Journe discovered his vocation at an early age.  At fourteen, he started his watchmaking studies, first in Marseille, then in Paris where he graduated from the Paris School of Watchmaking at the age of twenty five.  

His graduation piece was the most difficult of watchmaking feats, a tourbillon pocket-watch, commissioned by a collector. 

Journe went to work with his uncle in Paris where he became a specialist in the restoration of antique timepieces. 

Through the young watchmaker’s hands passed masterpieces by the great horological creators and inventors, whose work taught him the intimate secrets of the golden age of watchmaking. 

By the mid 1980’s Journe had become fully independent, and was creating complex, innovative pieces for private collectors. 

In the late 1990’s, Journe realized his ultimate goal: to launch his own collection of exceptional timepieces. 

In 2000, he presented his unique creation “Sonnerie Souveraine” wristwatch with grand and small strike and minute-repeater and introduced the “Octa caliber.” 

In 2002, the “Octa Calendrier” was awarded the Grand Prix d’Horlogerie de Genève Special Jury prize. 

Indeed, this major recognition was swiftly followed by the outright Best Men’s Watch award for the “Octa Lunar” in 2003, and in 2004 the “Souveraine Tourbillon” gave Journe the ultimate accolade with the Grand Prix d’Horlogerie de Genève Aiguille d’Or (Golden Hand) award, the highest honour in the industry. 

In 2006, Journe collected his second Aiguille d’Or award to see his “Sonnerie Souveraine” honoured. 

The “Centigraphe Souveraine” would join its two esteemed predecessors by winning the Aiguille D’Or award in 2008.