Kevin O'Leary & Teddy Baldassarre Visit F.P. Journe

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Hey, Kevin O'Leary, aka Mr. Wonderful. Where am I? In Los Angeles. Why? We're shooting Shark Tank in the middle of it. We have a dark day; we have a day off. Where do I want to be when I'm in Los Angeles on a dark day? Inside of the FP Journe Boutique. Why? Because I love this brand. I love this watch, and I happen to be with Teddy because we're doing a bunch of social media and watches. Teddy's never really seen a broad collection of FP Journes like he's going to see today. So I'm his host along with a legend here too, the brother of FP Journe himself. He's looking very LA today, which is fantastic.

What I'd like to do is tell you a little story about this brand. Now, watch collecting is about the love of art; it's also about the love of investing because you want to find pieces of art. You want to find watches that are unique and different, and I'm all about the dial. There's no dial on earth like one made by FP Journe. That's why this brand has rocketed in the last 17 years to practice the top of the echelon of, I call it, micro brands, but really something else now. Collectors all around the world really, really try and find these pieces for themselves in the secondary market but also directly from Journe himself.

They only make about 900 pieces a year. That's it. And that's why it's very hard to get one of these. However, when you talk about investing, my goodness, the appreciation is insane. Let me ask you, Lauren, why has it been the last five years this brand has gone crazy? Why?

I guess people start getting tired of massive production; they want exclusivity, rarity.

Yeah, well, you get that for sure. But also, these pieces are all different. They all have their own personalities. The movements, the calibers are unique; they're kind of pieces of art. That's the way I look at it; that's what they are.

Yeah, because nobody needs a watch today.

Yeah, no one needs a watch. You have two, three cell phones, maybe.

Yeah, why do you want to buy a watch?

I have way more than that and watches.

But because I know I'm talking about the cell phones.

Oh, I see.

Yeah, yeah. But you know, FP Journe, I like to call it a disease because when you buy one, you get infected, and it's very bad economically for you.

That, I don't know for you.

Yeah, but unfortunately, there's no vaccine. It's very unusual that our collectors only buy one FP. They want them all.

Now, at the moment, it's virtually impossible. We try to please as many people as we can, but we disappoint a lot. We have to ask them to be patient.

Yeah, I've been through that journey myself. I have to be patient. But I have to ask a question. I mean, I have the opportunity to speak to somebody so connected to François Paul. I mean, talk about getting into his head and what he creates in these watches. And because I think that's part of the entry. He talked about art; these are all, I think, parts of his own creation, what he's going after. Could you talk about just his general philosophy when he makes a piece? Do you know him personally well?

Well, he wants to create. He wants to be honest with his characters, always. It's difficult to talk about François Paul on a personal level. He's always thinking about something. If you ask him — that's the perfect example that will probably answer your question — if you ask him, "What is your favorite FP Journe watch?" he will tell you the next one. So that's something that I can resume like this; I think he will tell you the next one. That's something he always thinks about: innovation. So for him, doing 10 times the same thing is too boring.

The reason I got into Journe was the people that were the collectors. That is the craziest group of people I've ever met; from every walk of life, every discipline, you name it, with one consistent element to it: their love of joy, and they're passionate about their pieces, and we love to talk about it together.

Now, I have that disease too, and you're right, there's no vaccine, so I'm constantly looking for my next short. You know, I'm waiting patiently; I'm always bugging everybody. But it's a fantastic journey because let me be pragmatic about the perspective. Yes, they're expensive, but they're great value as an investment.

But if you consider what is in any of these pieces that we are here?

Yes, value for money; I would agree with you. I would agree with you. These are extraordinary pieces, and you know the one that I wanted the most when I first met FP in New York and the people at the New York boutique was this piece: Santigraphe Tokyo.

Yeah, beautiful.

It's one of the ten that were made for the New York boutique, correct?

I always said I would like to buy it. They laughed at me. They laughed at me because there were a thousand people trying to buy this piece, and it would only go to a collector who had at least three Journes.

Well, obviously, we want to please our oldest collectors, but we need new blood as well in the company.

Let me tell you what I did to get this watch. Well, I basically, you know, in talking with Pierre, he said, "Look, Kevin, you don't even own a Journe. Why don't you start small? Buy one, and I'll get you." We always ask for this, and I said, "But how can I get this piece?" He said, "You don't even have one; you need at least three." I said, "I’ll buy four," which I've never done before, ever, with any brand.

What I did that day, I actually sat down with him, and I built a collection over a 24-hour period, and I bought them all. That's the most I've ever spent at once in any brand, and I'm so glad I did because every one of these watches has been an incredible investment. And now, when I walk around with this piece, everybody goes nuts, that knows Journe. Absolutely nuts.

So, Teddy, hold that for a second. One of ten, extremely coveted within the Journe society. But, you know, I was on a flight to Geneva from New York to visit my father with this piece on, and the woman beside me in the line getting on the plane said, "How the hell can you even tell the time on that thing?" I said, "I don't."

I've heard that story before.

Yeah, because it's art. She said, "That's crazy! Who made that watch?" That tells you it's a great watch; it starts a conversation. That's what makes it so magic. And, of course, it has elements of red, which for me are very important. All my watches have red bands.

Let's talk a little bit about some of these pieces. You've been kind enough to show us some of yours. What about this? Tell us the history of this chronometer optimum.

That's the watch that François Paul initially wanted to create. I mean, for those who may not know, the first wristwatch that François Paul made was the Tourbillon. Then, he wanted to make the most accurate mechanical wristwatch possible after the tourbillon because the tourbillon doesn't mean that it's an accurate watch. Right?

What's going to make the accuracy of the watch will be the constant force of the motor. The tourbillon is a parasite for the watch; it's heavy to carry. It's nice to look at, but other than that, it's useless. So he wanted to make this, and this watch came only in 2012 because he couldn't make it; he couldn't put all the elements together.

So to reach this accuracy, the optimum is made with four exceptional elements. The first one are the two barrels mounted in parallel, not to increase the power reserve. Remember, we are looking for accuracy. So, because the dual barrel mounted in parallel will deliver a more stable energy to the escapement.

Before the escapement, we got a constant force from Antoine, which is going to deliver the energy to the escapement—the energy from the barrels to the escapement at the moment where the second passes. It generates, like in the tourbillon, a natural deadbeat circle that is shown at the back of the watch if you want to.

There's the deadbeat, yes, and François Paul wanted to show it because it's generated by the constant force of Montour. But by putting it on the dial, then the dial would have been unbalanced, and this is the last thing he wants.

This is gold, is it not?

Yes, this one is gold, yeah.

So he's maximizing the torque of that mainstream with that remnant. The constant force from Montour is a complicated chain of wheels.

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That talks to the escapement. So just to finish with the elements, the third element is the high-performance bi-axial escapement. What is the enemy of accuracy in a mechanical wristwatch?

Friction.

So to limit the friction, what do you need?

Every weekend, yeah. But with the time, lubricant becomes a problem; it gets dry, gets within 10 years, right?

It depends. Now, the oils are synthetic; they are good qualities, but if you can avoid lubricant, it's like in your car; you don't need to change the oil.

Yeah, this watch—not talking about the whole watch, but the escapement of this watch works with no oil at all. So, no Swiss leverage, no lubricant at the escapement. There is oil in other parts, but which is the escapement? It's the biggest consumer of oil in the system.

The reason is; it's bi-axial. So it's simple to understand. Like this: if you press hard with your hand on the surface, well, if you want to move, you need oil. If you divide the friction by two, no more needle oil.

So two escapement wheels on this one; no way. And the last element is the Phillips curve termination on the balance wheel for a better equilibrium, and that makes all that together a masterpiece.

Is this the most accurate of the Journe watches?

They are all accurate, but this one is extreme.

Yeah, fantastic. I'm very proud to own this with a black dial on it, which is amazing.

Beautiful watch, yes. Thank you.

Let's talk about this story. Last night, we had a guest come to the set of Shark Tank; his name is Peter Jones, and he's a legend in England, where he's been on the Dragons' Den show, which is the equivalent in England for 18 years, one of the longest-running shows on the planet.

We were having dinner to get to know each other, and I noticed on his wrist at Derby, an FP Journe tourbillon. He said, "You know what you have there?" He said, "Yeah, I do. My wife bought it for me in Harrods.” It's a very famous department store 17 years ago.

And I told him I was coming to meet you here today, that we would come to the Journe Boutique. We're going to do this with you, Teddy, talking about FP Journe. And he said, "Take it with you; I would love to have them see it because it hasn't been in a Journe boutique for 17 years. It's going home."

And you confirmed this; it's been made in 2004. What's this watch worth today? It was a gift from his wife who bought it because she loved the dial. She probably didn't know a lot about Journe at the time, bought it for him; he loved it when he got it.

This is made of platinum, waste of time, correct?

It's got to be platinum.

So heavy.

Yeah, it's a lot of platinum there, yeah.

Well, it started with the subscription, the tourbillon. That was the first one because François Paul didn't have money enough to produce the watches. So the people who were paying in advance—one watch, when it was sold to the owner, one watch was financing the other one.

I guess in the early days...?

No, this one is not a subscription. This one is a TN that came after the T. The reason— I mean, the difference between the T and the main one, because I don't want to get into too much detail, is that the T didn't have the dead second.

Ah, so it was just this—this is the dead circle like this. Yes, it was just showing the constant force, not the second.

Yeah, and François Paul was looking at the wall. He said, "Well, the constant force hormone," as I mentioned earlier, generates a natural deadbeat circuit. It's stupid not to show it. So that's when he came with the TN; it was the generation after the T with the deadbeat second.

Now, if you want to buy a platinum TN, it's in... well, you can buy it secondhand.

Yeah, we don't know. What do you think it would trade for?

It depends on the condition.

Conditions of the piece, yeah, absolutely. It's in great condition; I would say 300K minimum, 300 thousand dollars.

What a great investment that wife made!

Absolutely! And this combination is pretty rare with the gold dial.

Yeah, normally they come in a... great idea.

How about that?

I'm gonna tell—so actually, it could be a little bit more.

Really? More than 300?

Yeah, he's good. Now, that before that was produced?

Yes.

You know what I love about him? And I only met him yesterday. He wears his watches.

Well, that's the whole idea.

Yeah, he wears his watches; he's wearing this piece, and when it comes to the Shark Tank set, I mean, it gives it a soul; it makes it real.

Even though this thing is so rare, and it's, you know, a beautiful investment, and they are not fragile.

Yeah, it's a beautiful piece. You know, I looked at it and said, "Oh my goodness, that's a piece of legend!"

Now, let's see some behind your back.

Yeah, I've got something rare here. I heard rumor of this piece.

Okay. This is— it was an idea FP had to create 18 complications in a watch, which is impossible, for the first place, and then have them all adjustable from one crown, which is not only impossible, it's insane; it could never be done. But here it is; it was done.

Tell us about this watch.

This is the rarest of the rare, built for individuals, correct? Astronomique, 18 complications, all controlled.

Truly, how is that even possible?

You know, François, I mean, how long did it take to even think this?

Six years.

Eight years. Yep, incredible. And the design of the dial came from a drawing that Charles Sohn, one of his sons, made years ago, and François Paul inspires himself from this drawing to make that—not for the movement, obviously.

So this is the crown jewel of FP for now?

Yes, it is.

Yeah, for now.

So that was the next one, remember?

Yeah, but if a collector wants to buy this watch, how much is it?

I mean, to order one, the collector has to be approved by François Paul. So he needs, first of all, to fill up an application.

Yeah.

From the moment the application is approved, the gentleman will have to pay 50% of the price of the watch, which is, in Swiss Franc, 885,000 Swiss Franc, close to a million dollars U.S.

Close to a million dollars U.S., 960 last time I checked.

Yeah, so you put down 500,000 USD, kind of. And then how long does it take to make the watch?

Well, it depends—to make the watch, it's three and a half to four months, but we got lots of requests already on this as well, and then there is a waiting list for this as well.

As crazy as you can see, how many per year are going to be made?

Three.

Three, right? Yeah.

Drink retreat.

So this is truly a collector's piece; there's no question. Because, you know, but it's a beautiful watch. It has the classic elements, and probably you have to sit down for a couple of hours to figure out how to set it.

It's going to take a while to learn.

It's not that complicated, really.

No, the user manual is one piece of paper; that's it.

But you know, I noticed also the watch is also on the back; it's not just seeing the movement of time; there's information on the background.

There are a lot of information at the back.

A question of time; you can see the tourbillon, you can see the annual calendar with the zodiac or zodiac sign.

What else do you see there?

So on the face, you got... so you have the power reserve.

Okay.

Two time zones here—local time zone on the gold hand and second time zone there, sunrise, sunset.

Here are the seconds; that's the jumping seconds due to the constant force for Montour again.

Several times and minutes, so that's it for it.

I love the sunrise-sunset indicator; that is beautiful, and the window gets narrower.

Such a cool execution of that in the back.

And then the back, you have here the equation of time; you can see the tourbillon here. And as I said, the annual calendar, and if you activate this, this is the... sharing of the cake?

Minute repeater?

Stainless steel, yes.

Yeah, for the sound. We got an option in gold now.

Oh, yeah, really?

Rose gold, yeah, must be beautiful.

It's gorgeous, yeah, different sound, I assume.

No, not really.

And the other complication that doesn't show on the watch itself as indication, so we got the tourbillon, constant force from Antoine, and Durbar all mounted in parallel as well.

Fantastic.

It's truly a piece of art.

Yes, it is. I mean, so we've had a very special day today here, you know, Bjorn, because it's so rare to get all these watches, including one that's 17 years old, all in the same place at the same time. And nothing better than to have FP's brother here, Laurent, explaining this to us.

For collectors now, probably one of the most sought-after brands in the world.

It's going through a transition; you have to remember one thing about this brand. FP Journe's still alive; he's still alive. He is the Picasso of watchmakers, and he still walks the earth. So that in itself is remarkable; a lot of the designers of some of the most famous pieces are no longer with us. He's still here, still designing new ones.

I've had a fantastic journey, Teddy. Thank you very much. Laurent, spectacular.

Kevin, thank you, everybody, so much.

Thank you, pleasure. Hit that like button and listen, subscribe because we're going to have a lot of fun. We're going to do this again somewhere, and I can't wait for my Tourbillon.

I've been waiting; I'm on the waiting list. I'm waiting. FP, please listen to me; get me that watch; I'm dying for it!

Thanks, everybody. Take care.