F.P. Journe presents the book of the Grande Sonnerie watch. It revisits the centuries-long history of striking watches as well as that of the Sonnerie Souveraine, of which only 4 examples are produced by the manufacture each year.

This magnificent 90-page book, in three parts, is illustrated with many original photographs. It tells the history of the striking watch from the time of medieval bell-ringers to the conception and production of F.P. Journe’s Sonnerie Souveraine.

• The historical section was written by historian and horological expert Jean-Claude Sabrier.
• The second section, on the Sonnerie Souveraine, was written by historian, watchmaker and journalist Vincent Daveau.
• The final section describes the watch’s 10 patents, the details of its functions, its exclusive security systems, and the art of sublimating mechanism in music.

In addition, the book features an audio system that makes it possible to hear this extraordinary watch strike the hours, the quarters and the minutes.

The Grande Sonnerie and Répétition Minutes wristwatch is one of the most complex horological creations. For the first time in history, this kind of watch offers true comfort and total security. The F.P. Journe Sonnerie Souveraine features patented security systems that keep the watch from striking when the winding crown is pulled out, and that ensure that the winding crown may not be pulled out during striking. This results in total security, and ensures for the first time that the mechanism cannot be damaged by incorrect manipulation.

Each year, time is audibly measured out by 35 040 automatic chimes and 332 880 hammer strikes. A single mainspring ensures 27 hours of striking, while the going train features 30 additional hours. This watch is protected by ten patents attesting to the “Invenit*”, and required six years of research and development for the “Fecit*” in the Manufacture’s motto.

Each Sonnerie Souveraine is “baptised”; that is, instead of a number it bears the name of its owner. By giving his name to the watch, the owner also gives it a raison d’être, an identity and a unique personality for all time.

The Sonnerie Souveraine sets a clear precedent, embodying its creator’s mechanical vision in its musical expression of time. It ensures that his name will go down in history as having enriched horology and given life to new ideas that enhance the science of time measurement.

This watch received the Aiguille d’or at the Geneva Grand Prix d’Horlogerie in 2006; in 2007 it was designated Watch of the Year in Japan.

* Invenit et Fecit (Latin formula): I invented it and I made it.