Why This $170,000 F.P. Journe Is the Watch of the Century

I’m standing in the parlor room of the National Arts Club in New York City, and I’m having an almost religious experience as I strap a beautiful F.P. Journe on my wrist. Exquisitely nestled in a single case are two mechanisms that keep extremely accurate time—within a second per day—but the most impressive thing about them is that they tell exactly the same time. All mechanical watches make errors in timekeeping. What distinguishes the Chronomètre à Résonance is that its pair of hour, minute and second hands make exactly the same errors. If one runs fast, then the other runs equally fast, to a fraction of a second. The collector, watching me gasp, smiles: He’s seen this reaction before.

Objects that tell the time, often with astonishing accuracy, are ubiquitous in our culture and available at pretty much any price you desire. If your phone doesn’t suffice, then a $30 Casio will happily do the job. Mechanical watches are worth more, thanks to the painstaking work that goes into their construction; $2,700 will buy you an Oris with a translucent skeleton, allowing you to see the movement, or timekeeping mechanism, at work. For $470,000 you can own an extravaganza of artisanship from Girard-Perregaux, complete with tourbillon (don’t ask) and solid gold, hand-engraved galloping horses.