ChristianDK[F.P. Journe Moderator]
14924
I don’t own one
But I tried this. I own an Reserve de Marche so it’s similar but the most basic of the Octas. It has the Otca movement which is, by now an tried and tested movement with excellent performance and a long power reserve. It is designed in a way that different complications could be integrated without putting a module on top of the movement. (Hence the asymmetrical design.)
The CS was designed with optimal Chronometre performance in mind, with two oversized power barrels and a simple power train without any disturbances from complications. It is manual wind as you know.
I think these two watches are extremely different to wear. I have often said that my CS is in my all time top 3 of watches. I adore it. However, my RDM certainly has its place, with the comfort of an automatic movement and the nice date. I don’t wear it as often as my CS though.
It’s all to do with personal preferences of aesthetics and also if you have preferences for manual or automatic. They are both very FPJ even if the CS is probably more iconic, I’m not telling you to get both but they could be seen as a very nice complimentary set of FP a Journe watches, should your interest in the brand grow with the experience.