F.P. Journe Noob Comparison Question

[christianj]

I've been thinking about a white dialed dress watch recently and based on my current collection and the desire to go with a brand I don't currently own, I have been drawn (like so many others) to the Journe options. Based on what I have seen up until now, it appears that the two options that fit the bill are the Chronometre Souverain 40mm in Platinum and the Octa Automatique Reserve 40mm in Platinum.

Obvious differences between the two are:

Manual movement on the CS vs Automatic on the Octa
No date on the CS vs Date on the Octa
Dial layout

Can someone else help me out with other differences that I am not really noticing between the two watches. In addition to the differences, I would really appreciate comments on which of the two people prefer and why. Pre-owned prices for the two models are in the same ballpark so price should not play a real role in the decision making process.

Thanks in advance for the help!

[kunlun]

FPJ is great, just go with the one you like. You're obviously overthinking it.

[_speedmaster_]

Out of those two options, the CS. Not a fan of the date on the Octa

[uscmatt99]

I preferred the CS and ended up going with that for a few reasons. I wanted a manual wind movement. I preferred the logo at 12:00. I like the location of the power reserve. Apparently it's difficult to place so close to the crown, but it was done that way for aesthetic reasons. I appreciate watchmakers who design the movement to fit their conception of the dial layout. I really don't like watches that rehash undersized movements after changing case sizes and dial layouts as well (some Calatravas, the AP 15400, etc). Journe kind of cheated going from 38mm to 40mm, but it was pretty graceful at least! Lastly, it's not an everyday piece for me and I'm used to not having a date complication after many years of wearing my Explorer for so long.

In the Octa line I like the Lune Automatique better than the date-only. Particularly the platinum version with gold dial and mirror polished hour indices. That sucker is gorgeous. I know it's pretty much the Automatique with a moonphase, but the moon tidies up the whole layout to my eye and adds just the right amout of color.

TLDR, you can't lose either way

[Jolly55]

I have a new CS. Just a stunning movement, and the case is only 8.6 mm thick. I am not a date fan (see my 14060M); the small seconds and power reserve are enough for the dial.

I looked at the platinum, but went with the RG on RG. Besides the harmoniues RG movement on case, preferred the blued hands on dark numerals.

Agree that you can't go wrong ...