F.P. Journe

Dear forum members,

 

Accuracy is one of the reasons for virtually every component and feature of a mechanical watch. And we are lucky enough that watchmakers at Journe and A. Lange have worked hard to develop timepieces with accuracy standards that are more stringent than the variance of -4 / +6 seconds per day required by the marketing oriented COSC.

 

No doubt CS and RL are modern simple timepieces yet belie the complexity of inner mechanism created to achieve one common goal: Accuracy. But the question remains which one is (or should be) a better performer in term of precision accuracy / rate stability?

 

Any thoughts or owner experience appreciated.

 

Cheers,

Teetann

In rough translation: Never multiply entities beyond necessity. The CS (I own one) produces tremendous accuracy at approximately 140 parts. The Lange requires at least 50 parts more to achieve the same approximate result. I personally think that the answer is obvious.

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…simple biological systems. In nature the simplest solution is often the most efficient (although in disease, redundancy can be useful). The CS is therefore the essence of a chronometer and it’s a darn good looking watch as well!

 

I find your logic emotionally appealing, Marcel.

 

Thanks.

 

Andrew

Thanks Marcel and Andrew for your thoughts. Anyone here owns both CS and RL? If I remember correctly Brad owns both pieces and I would love to hear his ownership experiece.

FYI-- I posted same topic on another FPJ forum. Some interesting inputs / thoughts there worth reading. Cheers / Teetann

A competition in accuracy between the CS and RL would be very close and hard for me to differentiate. I appreciate Marcel's observation on number of pieces used. What I find interesting here is the two different approaches taken. The Richard Lange IMHO is all about the movement (the dial remains classic and understated). With the CS the design of the dial came first which added another level of complexity to a watch focused primarily on precision timekeeping. In comparison I prefer the CS for this reason. The RL while a wonderful piece comes in second place to my CS which combines accuracy and design.

a power reserve  (where its hardest to place it) and still has a far lower parts  count. To me that shows outstanding design while maintaining the highest aesthetics.

P.S. I really like the RL anyway, but as Brad concludes it simply comes in 2nd place to the CS. (In our view).

...also has a power reserve at 3 o'clock...

Yes it's true the power reserve markers are at 3 o'clock on the Lange 1, the actual indicator pivots closer to the center of the dial rather then near the winding crown. The CS on the other hand has the power reserve indicator pivot on top of 3 o'clock and in my understanding a much more complicated location.

th sample of One is king.

I only owned one of each FPJ CS and ALS Richard Lange. if a sample size of 1 piece of each but 1 user with identical usage will count:

FPJ CS averaged +21 sec/day..... BAD

ALS Richard Lange averaged +4 sec/day..... GOOD

Have sold most of my FPJ watches since.............

Regards,

MTF

 

This message has been edited by MTF on 2008-08-05 05:13:24

If I knew you were selling I would have bought them

In the land of the blind, the one-eyed man is king.
Desiderius Erasmus (1466 - 1536), Adagia (III, IV, 96)

 

Hi Melvyn,

 

Erasmus seems to have beaten you to it, but I am enjoying your variations on this proverb. Do you have more?

 

Andrew

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why am I in the pits?

MTF

Thanks Melvyn,

For some reason I always credited that quote to Charlie Brown, but I can't seem to locate the original version.

Perhaps it was you after all!

From now on I will reference MTF.

A

...of the FPJ CS is limited to the first 24 hours of being fully wound.

After that, it ceases to be a chronometer.

This was confirmed by the factory and M. Journe himself in emails to me after I wrote in to enquire about the radical rate differences I was seeing as leaving the watch for up to over 42 hours before winding.

Maybe your watch was a lemon that needed regulation.

nt