F.P. Journe Sonnerie Souveraine Ref. GS Stainless Steel Grey Dial

The Sonnerie Souveraine took the Aiguille d'Or in 2006, the top award of the year, and carries ten patents. It strikes the hours and quarters in passing, will strike again on demand, and was engineered so that an owner cannot damage it by operating it wrongly, which no chiming watch before it had solved. Journe cased it in steel for the sound rather than for economy, which almost nobody else in the category has been willing to do.

The steel case is 42 mm, on a matching steel bracelet. A white gold dial plate holds whitened guilloché silver registers, with the time off center and the controls for the striking work set into the case. Steel is the reason it can be heard across a room, and the reason it looks like far less than it is. Nothing on the outside marks it out as a grande sonnerie.