The Manufacture achieves this fascinating effect by applying 7 layers of lacquer. The first thing you will notice about the mirrored dial is the different shade of blue it produces at every angle. A friend of mine actually cut himself while fiddling with his. While the angular look suits the timepiece, sharp tantalum is no laughing matter. A minor caveat about the buckle – its edges are not rounded. It sits on the wrist comfortably, thanks to the 39mm case diameter and curved lugs. The Chronometre Bleu comes with a dark blue alligator strap that goes perfectly with the dial, case and buckle. Hence my timepiece had one of the first cases from the new machine, which is… a useless but interesting fact.
My timepiece was delayed because (according to my authorised dealer and other collectors) the Manufacture was in the midst of developing a new case-making machine after I placed my order. The high melting point of tantalum makes it very difficult to work with but FP Journe went one better – the Chronometre Bleu’s tantalum is polished! Imagine the effort which goes into producing that shine. It has the heft of platinum and the scratch resistance of titanium, so you get the best of both worlds. What makes tantalum so special? It is a dense greyish-blue metal with an extremely high melting point (higher than platinum, which is already not easy to handle). I believe this is the only serially-produced watch with the above-mentioned parts made of this material. The case, crown, buckle, and even the tongue of the buckle are all made of tantalum.
Any doubts I might have had flew out the window. To which he enthusiastically replied, “I think the Chronometre Bleu is one of his three best watches… he’s crazy… the most affordable watch is one of his best three.”
Thereafter, I mentioned that I was contemplating adding a Chronometre Bleu to my collection. “I knew that if I didn’t get him back then, I’d never be able to get him.” “It had to be FP Journe”, said Max, when I remarked that I liked how he kick-started the Harry Winston Opus collection by collaborating with Journe. A truly warm and unassuming person, he was quite happy to chat with me about Francois-Paul Journe. I met Max Busser (yes, the MB of MB&F) at an event in April 2015.
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