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Two Decades of F.P. Journe & De Bethune – A Retrospective Exhibition

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More than 100 important watches from F.P. Journe & De Bethune – two successful, niche, contemporary fine watch brands – are on a world tour in Asia and the Middle East in early 2023. 

WatchBox, the world’s leading platform for collectible luxury watches announced the next stops of its global event series, the ‘Two Decades of F.P. Journe & De Bethune – A Retrospective Exhibition’: the showcase is heading to Singapore, Shanghai, Hong Kong and Dubai. 

The exceptional collection already visited Switzerland last year – namely Zurich and Geneva. We were lucky to see the exhibition during the ReLuxury event, accompanied by an interesting discussion about ‘Collecting Independents vs long established houses of Horology’ with WatchBox’s experts Tim Mosso (Director of Media) and Jack Forster (Global Editorial Director). 

The exhibition honours F.P. Journe founder François-Paul Journe and De Bethune co-founder Denis Flageollet’s contributions to watchmaking with a collection of more than 100 timepieces on display and available for purchase. Each event is also a forum for private appointments, panels, educational talks, and of course a celebration of contemporary ‘haute horlogerie’. 

Both watchmakers create only a quite limited number of watches per annum anyway, but to see even rarer, special editions or some ‘foundation’ pieces from De Bethune and F.P. Journe in one exhibition is an unprecedented opportunity for watch lovers and collectors alike.  

Timepieces like the F.P. Journe Chronomètre à Résonance (please see more about this model here), the F.P. Journe Brass collection (it’s estimated that only about 2,000 brass-movement examples were ever produced across all of the brand’s lines, having been manufactured exclusively between 2001 and 2004), De Bethune’s classical DB25 Tourbillon with a stunning Milky Way decoration or great DB28 models, like the ‘DB28 Kind of Gold’ are all important horology milestones of our times. 

Josh Srolovitz, Director of Sales for WatchBox Hong Kong, remarks, ‘This retrospective collection represents the best of our generation’s two greatest watchmakers – a profound gathering of François-Paul Journe and Denis Flageollet’s most consequential creations – and the largest collection to be all together in one place. We’re excited to share this celebration of independent watchmaking with the WatchBox community.’

WatchBox opens its Collector’s Lounges for the exhibitions:

Singapore: January 11-13, 541 Orchard Road, #21-03/04 Liat Towers

Shanghai: January 12-15, 6F JinYan Tower, No. 8 East Zhong Shan 2nd Road, The Bund 

Hong Kong: January 18-20, 1 Duddell Street, Suite 1402, Central

Dubai: February 15-17, DIFC – Gate Avenue, Dubai, United Arab Emirates 

Source: press release. Photo credits: WatchBox
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