Appreciating the Hidden Secrets of the New FP Journe Chronomètre Furtif

I took in a stray kitten in early May. Her fur is pitch black, making her much more difficult to spot than other animals I’ve previously fostered.

She’s a tiny shadow that darts from nook to nook, but when she approaches me, her cloak of darkness accentuates her exquisite features. So, it’s serendipitous that I’m writing about a similarly furtive timepiece that straddles concealment and revelation.

Now 68 years old, the inimitable François-Paul Journe is still dreaming up thought-provoking timepieces. Some electronic devices hide their displays from onlookers, which can only be seen when viewed perpendicularly. This optical sleight-of-hand was the inspiration behind the FP Journe Chronomètre Furtif, which from afar looks like a smartwatch.

When invoking the name François-Paul Journe, one could go on and on. Few, living or departed, can hold a candle to the greatest living watchmaker, whose invaluable contributions to chronometry include advancing constant-force technology and combining it with a tourbillon, developing resonance, and introducing it to the wristwatch.

The crypto boom and heightened spending during the COVID lockdown in 2021 spiked the prices of FP Journe timepieces, which are prized for their impeccable beauty and technical innovation.

The first FP Journe auction result that shook the industry came from the number 1/20 Tourbillon Souverain Souscription, which received a staggering final bid of CHF 3,539,000 at Phillips Geneva Watch Auction: XIV in 2021.

FP Journe and a handful of other brands saw dramatic appreciation during the COVID years, but while the prices of many other brands have since fallen, FP Journe’s appeal endures—and even has mono-brand auctions dedicated to it. Last November, for example, number 15/93 of a different Tourbillon Souverain series fetched a heart-stopping final bid of CHF 7.32 million.

“There are people out there who don’t feel a pinch when forking out several million for a watch they desire,” preeminent auctioneer Aurel Bacs highlighted to me over coffee last year. And these privileged few are still willing to pay over a million for Monsieur Journe’s creations are still going under the hammer for over a million dollars each, as recently as Phillips’ early May auction in Geneva.

In one word, his brand of luxury is contemplative. FP Journe doesn’t shout about the labors of love that go into each of his inventions, yet they often dwarf the final bids of other auction timepieces that might be flooded with diamonds or fitted with several tourbillons and calendars.

It Was a Pièce Unique, Now Made More Widely Available

Whenever FP Journe creates a unique and entirely new timepiece for the Only Watch charity auction and the public responds emphatically, the brand often considers producing a commercially available version. The FP Journe Francis Ford Coppola that uses animated fingers to tell the time, for example, generated a huge buzz when it was presented as an Only Watch auction lot in 2021—and the manufacturer subsequently revealed a publicly available version in 2023.

Similarly, the F.P. Journe Chronomètre Furtif Bleu debuted at Only Watch 2023, and the manufacturer announced in March 2025 that it would retail a blacked-out version.

It’s worth emphasizing that the first F.P. Journe Chronomètre Bleu was created in 2009 as an accessible entry-level FP Journe watch. However, its spellbinding design, minimalism, and rarity would see this $30,000 USD piece yield bids north of $200,000 USD.

While the Chronomètre Furtif Bleu of 2023 is made of tantalum, the 2025 edition introduces an intriguing new material—tungsten carbide.

<subheader> Its Case Is Almost As Hard as Diamond

While everyone and their mother presented watches in tough ceramic cases at Watches and Wonders 2025, FP Journe characteristically went further. The 42mm Chronomètre Furtif arrived in sandblasted tungsten carbide—a material so hard it rates 9 on the Mohs scale, just one shy of diamond.

In pursuit of an indestructible case, Journe turned to this notoriously difficult-to-machine alloy. His own case-making company, Boîtiers de Genève, had to recalibrate its equipment, aware that the hardness of tungsten carbide would wear down its tools far faster than steel or gold.

The new Furtif’s integrated bracelet is also fashioned from tungsten carbide, making it nearly impossible to scratch. Only its caseback, case bumper, bezel ring, and crown are crafted from tantalum.

An Arduous Enameling Process Was Used To Create Its Secretive Dial

Journe’s dial atelier, Les Cadraniers de Genève, spent months perfecting a Grand Feu enameling process for this enigmatic dial.

A time-consuming process with a high failure rate, this experimental type of enameling is applied over a white gold base, then mirror polished. Grand Feu enameling and its captivating visual depth, of course, warrant multiple rounds of enamel powder application and kiln firing.

Les Cadraniers de Genève took a year to achieve a shade of black worthy of the Furtif, but it was time well spent. The dial gorgeously juxtaposes frosted numerals and a matching minute track against rhodium-plated tapered hands, and the brand’s first-ever central seconds hand.

Its Movement Is Hand-Finished and Made of Gold

As with all of FP Journe’s mechanical movements, the Caliber 1522 is made of 18k rose gold. Flip this stealthy watch over to enjoy its shimmer, along with hidden moonphase (at 6 o’clock) and power reserve (at 12 o’clock) indicators.

This movement draws its power from the same twin-barrel configuration that drives the vaunted Chronomètre Souverain, while the balance is mounted on a bridge rather than a cock.

Its plates and bridges are decorated with a myriad of hand-finishing and engine-turning techniques. The circular graining and Grain d’Orge (barleycorn guilloché) decoration on the main plate are simply mesmerizing, as are the hand-beveled bridges that have been circular-grained with Côtes de Genève (Geneva stripes).

While all of us have owned watches with central seconds pointers, it’s amusing that this is Journe’s first watch with a central seconds display. He’s eschewed central seconds hands for decades because they are less efficient, so he added extra gears to the Furtif to ensure its chronometric precision.

For the lucky few who acquire one of the fewer than 100 Chronomètre Furtifs that FP Journe intends to produce, they might wax lyrical about the many herculean endeavors this timepiece comprises. And to the uninitiated onlooker, it’s still a darn handsome sports watch.

Model: FP Journe Chronomètre Furtif
Caliber: Manual-winding 1522
Functions: Hours, minutes, seconds, moonphase, and power reserve indicator
Power Reserve: 56 hours
Case: 42mm, tungsten carbide; caseback, bumper, bezel ring, and crown in tantalum
Dial:  Grand Feu enamel on white gold
Strap: Tungsten Carbide bracelet
Price: CHF 85,000