F.P. Journe Black Label Collection Tourbillon Souverain, Ref. TN

The Black Label Tourbillon Souverain was produced between 2006 and 2015, part of a collection sold exclusively to existing F.P. Journe owners through the brand's boutiques and espaces. The 40mm platinum case houses the manually wound Calibre 1403, built on the mechanism F.P.Journe introduced in 1999 with the original Tourbillon Souverain, the first tourbillon wristwatch fitted with a remontoire (constant force device). In 2004, this movement was updated with an independent dead beat seconds system alongside the remontoire, and only about a hundred pieces of that updated version were produced before the Black Label variant followed. The movement runs at 21,600 vibrations per hour (3Hz), carries 26 jewels, and delivers a 42 ± 2 hour power reserve, viewable through a transparent sapphire case-back.

The dial is lacquered black gold with silver guilloché sub-dials for the hours, minutes, and seconds, following F.P.Journe's signature layout of steel circles screwed onto the face. Hours and minutes sit at 3 o'clock, sub-seconds at 6 o'clock, and the power reserve indicator at 12 o'clock, a deliberate counterbalance to the seconds display. The remontoire works by using a secondary wheel and an auxiliary spring to regulate the flow of energy from the barrel to the escapement in one-second intervals, improving rate stability in a way F.P. Journe has compared to a dam controlling water flow to a turbine. Finishing is to a high standard throughout, with circular striping on the bridges, Geneva waves on the baseplate, and polished, bevelled screw heads. The Tourbillon Souverain mechanism won the Aiguille d'Or at the Grand Prix d'Horlogerie de Genève in 2004.