Dear IWS friends, welcome back to our magazine!!!
For those of you who have been following us for a long time, you will by now have understood my insane penchant for all the creations of so-called independent watchmakers.
I still remember when, now four years ago, I first came into contact with this whole “new” part of the watchmaking world, dominated by timepieces with stunningly finished mechanisms enclosed in breathtakingly designed cassie cases.
My first approach to this world of “independents” was with the creations of one whom I consider to be one of the greatest watchmakers of our time, namely F.P. Journe.
This skilled master, admired by the entire watchmaking world for his creations, i.e., true works of art on the wrist, has been able to bring a vision of tradition combined with innovation to the watchmaking world since the late 1990s.
What represents Journe’s strength has always been his ability to know how to create movements with unique technical solutions, combined with the beauty of the finishing touches that only he can execute.
Having grown up since childhood in close contact with watches, F.P. Journe first started out as a watchmaker and, only after contributing his savoir-faire to the work of several world-renowned haute horlogerie maisons, decided to establish his own brand.
And it is thanks to his skillful knowledge, able to bring unique timepieces to life, combined with his great ability to introduce innovative solutions that, Journe, a few years before he founded his own maison, created, together with Piaget, the watch I will tell you about today.
Without further ado, let’s then go together to discover all the details of the Piaget Gouverneur Grande Sonnerie, the result of the synergy between the ancient Swiss maison founded in 1874 together with the skilled French watchmaker
Piaget Gouverneur Grande Sonnerie
Founded by Georges Edouard Piaget, the Swiss maison, from 1950 to the present, has always distinguished itself by making ultra-flat movements for its watches.
Indeed, 1957 saw the birth of the first extra-flat mechanical hand-wound movement with a thickness of only 2 mm, followed later in 1960 by the world’s first flatter automatic movement with a thickness of 2.3 mm.
Also around the late 1950s, the Swiss fashion house also presented a flagship collection for the brand, namely the Emperador.
From there on, the success of the fashion house was not long in coming along with the presentation of new collections including the Gouverneur.
Named after a French term that literally means “Governor,” this collection was all along intended by the house with the aim of introducing to the market a series of high-end models made exclusively with a case in 18-karat yielded or white gold.
Starting with the “simple” three-hand version, Piaget’s Gouverneur was also made in a chronograph variant and one with a tourbillon.
In the late 1990s, two new versions of the Gouverneur were added, one equipped with a split-seconds chronograph and, the other, a perpetual calendar.
To complement the complications in this collection, Piaget decided to add the icing on the cake by going on to create a Gouverneur family watch together what I believe to be one of the most fascinating complications ever.
Indeed, in 1995, company executives commissioned François-Paul Journe to design and build a working prototype Gouverneur equipped with the incredible nunziome of minute repeater and chime.
And so, in the following years, thanks to Journe’s skill, the Piaget Gouverneur Grande Sonnerie saw the light of day.
Enclosed inside the 37mm-diameter case is Piaget’s hand-wound 1996P caliber, equipped with grande sonnerie, petite sonnerie and minute repeater.
A watch that, for the period in which it was conceived and made, constituted for all intents and purposes an early example of a highly complicated wristwatch of the mechanical renaissance that had just begun.
Made in both yellow and rose gold, given the complexity and, arguably the exclusivity that the maison wanted to bestow on the model, only 10 examples of Piaget Gouverneur Grande Sonnerie were made in the world.
Looking at the dial of the watch, made in both a black and white version, what has become a real signature of F.P. Journe’s on his minute repeater creations nowadays immediately stands out.
At 10 o’clock, in fact, the stamps of the watch’s sound function stand out, which are usually only visible on the back of watches equipped with such a compilation.
Trademark that also appears later on the subsequent Sonnerie Souveraine, which bears the signature of F.P. Journe.
At 13 o’clock, however, the 36-hour power reserve indicator of the Piaget manufacture movement can be seen.
Also located at 6 o’clock is the small seconds counter with the day and night indicator next to it at 5 o’clock.
On the right side of the case, at 13 and 16 o’clock, are buttons dedicated to the minute repeater function, as well as the function selector that Journe later used on his own brand’s Sonnerie Souveraine.
Looking at the back of the watch, thanks to the presence of the sapphire crystal stove, you can admire the 1996P caliber that gives life to this incredible watch.
It is a movement only 6.7 mm thick consisting of 350 components, two barrels, and, according to a note in a 2006 catalog from the auction house Antiquorum, in which there was a specimen of such a watch, the smallest grand sonnerie movement ever made.
The result of the synergy between one of the most important maisons in all of Swiss watchmaking, and one of the greatest watchmakers of all time, this is a highly complex and, at the same time, incredibly fascinating caliber capable of mesmerizing anyone who pauses to admire it.
Sought after by many fans of the house and, above all, by collectors of Journe’s creations, this fantastic watch represents a true Holy Grail among complicated watches given also its very limited edition.
As extremely rare as these watches are, a few have also appeared on the market over the years.
Indeed, in 2011, the international auction house Christie’s, sold a Piaget Gouverneur Grande Sonnerie for EUR 110,000.
In 2022, however, Sotheby’s auction house sold a specimen with a rose gold case and black dial for EUR 213,000.
Final Thoughts
Dear friends of IWS, what can I say.
I could go on and on in so many words, but I guarantee that when you have such a watch in your hands, it is impossible for me to find the words to describe its beauty and the emotion it evokes.
What I appreciate about this watch, and what I think makes it uniquely appealing, is the fact that behind what on the surface appears to be a simple timepiece lies all the craftsmanship that one of the greatest watchmakers of our time has managed to encapsulate within it.
Mastery that we find in one of the finest complications in watchmaking history, combined with a truly unique beauty of dial and movement.
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