The F.P Journe Octa Sport

The F.P Journe Octa Sport meshes a minimalist style with materials and functionality for the outdoors. The Octa Sport comes out of the lineSport collection, which actually sounds odd when you say it out loud. On the plus side though, the watch itself is anything but odd. Crafted from aluminum, the Octa Sport is offered on your choice of a black rubber strap or an all-aluminum bracelet.

Some critics argue that though aluminum is very light (53 grams in this instance for the case), it is also soft and is in constant risk of denting from sharp impacts. The truth, however, is that this model is a high-end luxury sports watch and the most outdoor action it’s probably going to get is a grueling day of golf on the greens.

Albeit, titanium is a just as light and a lot stronger, and might have made this watch practical for all conditions.  Aluminum is an underused metal in watchmaking and it is clear to me that F.P Journe wanted to do something off of the beaten path with the Octa Sport. Journe does recognize that this timepiece is cased in a soft metal and lines the sides with a rubber bumper each. The case of the F.P Journe is 42mm for the case diameter and 11.6mm for the case height. The textured main crown is located at the 4 position, which adds to the overall symmetry of this model, while keeping that part of the watch out of harm’s way.

The matte black dial features silver toned hands and applied Arabic numeral hour markers. A small seconds counter occupies the 6 position, while the 10 position carries a power reserve indicator in retrograde format. Just opposite the power reserve indicator is a large double date window. The hands and hour markers are coated with lume for readability of the time at night. Completing the dial is a day/night indicator at 9.

Driving this model is a self-winding mechanical movement caliber FPJ 1300-3. To complement the case, the movement is constructed in an aluminum alloy. The F.P Journe Octa Sport carries an autonomy of 120 hours.