How does the FP Journe Elegante know what time is it after standby mode?

[buddenfan]

If say I take the watch off at 11:03pm and put it in a watchbox the next a week later I decide to wear it again and when I take it out of the watchbox it happens to be 4:51pm, how does the watch know that its 4:51pm to go to that time?

[llngoc]

The motor stopped but the microprocessor is still ticking and keeping track of time. The interesting bit to me is that it knows where to go to when it wakes up.

[buddenfan]

Originally Posted by llngoc

The motor stopped but the microprocessor is still ticking and keeping track of time. The interesting bit to me is that it knows where to go to when it wakes up.

Man thats just insane. Wish I had a time machine to go back to 2016 when you could get one for $10k in stores the minute you walk in.

But heck if I had that time machine Id prob put all my money in Tsla stocks, sell when it was $1500 and not care about a $40k Elegante on the grey market

[CFR]

It didn't used to know!

This was a big problem when the Elegante was first introduced, until Journe apparently fixed it.

Back before the hype, when most FPJ pieces were readily available for walk-in purchase, the Elegante was quite unpopular. They sat unpurchased in the display cases. It took people a while to warm up to it. I thought it looked really cool from the start, and I was into quartz, so I wanted to get one.

But I didn't pull the trigger for two reasons. First, the size. The men's version seemed way too big on my wrist, and the women's version was slightly too small. Second, there was this known bug (mentioned by the few people who bought them and posted) about the time not resetting correctly when the watch woke up from hibernation.

There was a guy who posted on one of the forums that he had bought an Elegante, and then he went silent, so I emailed him several months later to see what his experience was like. He told me that he actually bought TWO of them and ended up giving both of them away(!) because neither worked right, re resetting to the correct time.

Again, though, FPJ must've fixed this issue because I haven't heard anyone mention this in many years. And I still sometimes wonder if I should've gotten one!

[tigerpac]

My wife's from 2015 has worked perfectly since purchase so I guess she lucked out.

[kunlun]

I heard they actually have bluetooth connectivity for a specific French satellite. The satellite has a store of fine French red wine (which varietal is a state secret). Anyway, at precisely 5pm, Paris time, the satellite has a glass of this wine, leading to a signal that can be detected by the watches and used to calibrate their time ever when in hibernation mode.

I hope this helps.

[buddenfan]

Originally Posted by CFR

It didn't used to know!

This was a big problem when the Elegante was first introduced, until Journe apparently fixed it.

Back before the hype, when most FPJ pieces were readily available for walk-in purchase, the Elegante was quite unpopular. They sat unpurchased in the display cases. It took people a while to warm up to it. I thought it looked really cool from the start, and I was into quartz, so I wanted to get one.

But I didn't pull the trigger for two reasons. First, the size. The men's version seemed way too big on my wrist, and the women's version was slightly too small. Second, there was this known bug (mentioned by the few people who bought them and posted) about the time not resetting correctly when the watch woke up from hibernation.

There was a guy who posted on one of the forums that he had bought an Elegante, and then he went silent, so I emailed him several months later to see what his experience was like. He told me that he actually bought TWO of them and ended up giving both of them away(!) because neither worked right, re resetting to the correct time.

Again, though, FPJ must've fixed this issue because I haven't heard anyone mention this in many years. And I still sometimes wonder if I should've gotten one!

If you got one back then and had an issue couldnt you have just given it to them for service to fix this issue?

[buddenfan]

Originally Posted by kunlun

I heard they actually have bluetooth connectivity for a specific French satellite. The satellite has a store of fine French red wine (which varietal is a state secret). Anyway, at precisely 5pm, Paris time, the satellite has a glass of this wine, leading to a signal that can be detected by the watches and used to calibrate their time ever when in hibernation mode.

I hope this helps.

I actually read that on a Snapple cap this afternoon

[llngoc]

Originally Posted by CFR

It didn't used to know!

This was a big problem when the Elegante was first introduced, until Journe apparently fixed it.

Back before the hype, when most FPJ pieces were readily available for walk-in purchase, the Elegante was quite unpopular. They sat unpurchased in the display cases. It took people a while to warm up to it. I thought it looked really cool from the start, and I was into quartz, so I wanted to get one.

But I didn't pull the trigger for two reasons. First, the size. The men's version seemed way too big on my wrist, and the women's version was slightly too small. Second, there was this known bug (mentioned by the few people who bought them and posted) about the time not resetting correctly when the watch woke up from hibernation.

There was a guy who posted on one of the forums that he had bought an Elegante, and then he went silent, so I emailed him several months later to see what his experience was like. He told me that he actually bought TWO of them and ended up giving both of them away(!) because neither worked right, re resetting to the correct time.

Again, though, FPJ must've fixed this issue because I haven't heard anyone mention this in many years. And I still sometimes wonder if I should've gotten one!

We have two and both worked perfectly. But a friend did have one that needs the fix. Ours were purchased within the past 18 months so the bug may have been fixed on ours.

[CFR]

Originally Posted by buddenfan

If you got one back then and had an issue couldnt you have just given it to them for service to fix this issue?

In theory, yes. But in reality, a reliable fix first needs to exist in order to be implemented. That eventually happened but not at first.

For example, I have a different (non-quartz) FPJ that I sent back 7 times in 18 months for the same issue. I eventually accepted the fact that no reliable fix exists and that I'd just have to either sell this watch or live with the fact that the calendar function was unreliable. I chose the latter, so now when the calendar doesn't work right, I just have to fiddle with it until it does and hope it doesn't permanently get hung up in some intermediate state requiring me to send it in again.

That happens sometimes. It's a function of design. Things can't always be fixed reliably. With a relatively small manufacture like FPJ, watches with innovative designs can't be as robustly field-tested before launch as they can at a larger company. As a result, sometimes products get released that aren't ready for prime time. Goes with the territory. But again, with the Elegante, those initial issues appear to have been fixed years ago.

Originally Posted by llngoc

We have two and both worked perfectly. But a friend did have one that needs the fix. Ours were purchased within the past 18 months so the bug may have been fixed on ours.

Congrats! They're so nice looking. I was going to get one with a sort of pale green "bezel" (maybe rubber if I remember correctly) years ago, if I had pulled the trigger. It would've been the women's size but it was just slightly too small.

[Devildog]

Casio has been doing this for years with some of its analogue watches. I've got a g shock that "sleeps" when unworn and then the hands move to the exact time when woken up.

It also has a hand shift function which moves the hour and minute hand away from the subdials and uses the seconds hand as an indicator and for stopwatch and countdown timer, resetting to the exact seconds when returning to time mode.

Its pretty cool to watch in operation. Each hand has its own motor (hour and minute hands move independently of each other) and the microprocessor knows exactly where each of the hands are at all times.

Makes the FPJ system look a bit basic - and it operates faultlessly.

[salnuaimi]

I have mine for the past 1.5 years and it works perfectly

[F131F]

Originally Posted by Devildog

Casio has been doing this for years with some of its analogue watches. I've got a g shock that "sleeps" when unworn and then the hands move to the exact time when woken up.

Interesting! What model Casio is this?

[INC]

Originally Posted by F131F

Interesting! What model Casio is this?

There are many such as:



Casio T5000

[F131F]

Originally Posted by INC

There are many such as: Casio T5000

Thanks! Apparently these are Japan only models? My Casio AD tells me he can't get them in the US.

[Devildog]

Originally Posted by F131F

Interesting! What model Casio is this?

All the analogue MRGs, all the G shock Mudmasters, all the G Shock MTGs, and the analogue frogmans plus a lot of the oceanus models

[joli160]

My G-shock MTG does indeed the same. Looks cool.

I think Seiko was actually the first with this fun trick

[rlxero]

It is still counting, but not turning until you pick it up. Different commands being sent out, or not sent out. The little IC is smart enough to do that.

[rlxero]

Originally Posted by Devildog

Casio has been doing this for years with some of its analogue watches. I've got a g shock that "sleeps" when unworn and then the hands move to the exact time when woken up.

It also has a hand shift function which moves the hour and minute hand away from the subdials and uses the seconds hand as an indicator and for stopwatch and countdown timer, resetting to the exact seconds when returning to time mode.

Its pretty cool to watch in operation. Each hand has its own motor (hour and minute hands move independently of each other) and the microprocessor knows exactly where each of the hands are at all times.

Makes the FPJ system look a bit basic - and it operates faultlessly.

Also uses up your battery