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F.P. Journe’s All-Aluminium Centigraphe Sport

written by A.Morgan - 23rd Aug 2011

Aluminium is an excellent material and the most abundant metal in the Earth’s crust. Used heavily by the auto and aviation industries, it is strong, light and corrosion resistant, theoretically making it an excellent material for making watches with, but, for some reason, that just doesn’t seem to be the case. Perhaps the light weight puts people off, or maybe the bright silver colouring – who knows? Either way, ultra high-end brand F. P. Journe have taken it upon themselves to create a new sports chronograph made of the stuff.

Weighing in at a paltry fifty-five grams, the Centigraphe Sport is a whole eighty grams lighter than a stainless steel Rolex Daytona, thanks to the lower density of the aluminium alloy. This is especially impressive because the Centigraphe Sport also has completely separate drivetrains direct from the mainspring for both the chronograph and timekeeping functions, meaning that the accuracy of the timekeeping won’t be affected whilst the chronograph is running. To add to that, the chronograph has a sub dial that completes a full revolution every second, measuring right down to a hundredth of a second.

Piece number one was auctioned off to raise money for the victims of the earthquake and tsunami in Japan, and raised an incredible $465,170. Perhaps aluminium watches are more popular than I thought!