F.P. Journe Controversy: Behind the Cancellation and Financial Scrutiny

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The Only Watch Auction is a dream for people who love high-end watches because it has the most uniquely made collection ever. The auction, which happens every other year, is a highly awaited event for the elite. It’s where the best watchmakers make watches that have never been seen before. But there’s a lot more to the sale than just the fancy watches.

The auction money is used to encourage study into Duchenne muscular dystrophy, which is a rare genetic disease. But the good cause seems to be having trouble with their money, which is almost the same as fraud.

The organizers, the Association Monégasque contre les Myopathies (AMM), said on October 23, 2023, that the 10th version of the Only Watch, which was supposed to happen in Geneva on November 5, 2023, has been canceled. The AMM was suspected of not accounting for the distribution of sales worth about €100 million, which led to this ruling. According to some accounts, only €50 million of the money has been given to the charity. While most high-end houses pulled their support from the auction, F.P. Journe gave the organizers their full backing. But the debate has led to a strong response.

Why Was the Only Watch Auction Postponed?

fp journe controversy

The trouble began on October 4, 2023, when Santa Laura, an expert on watches, shared a story on Instagram. These are the most important things I learned from putting together his Instagram stories and comments under Only Watch’s posts:

  1. First, Santa Laura asked to see a copy of Only Watch’s yearly financial report.
  2. But the organizers said they had already turned it into the government of Monaco, so there was no need to show it to the public.
  3. This didn’t sit well with Laura, so she looked into it more. He left a message under one of Only Watch’s posts asking for information on how much of his donation goes to the cause and where he can find statements that have been checked.
  4. Someone else, “@Zug_gal,” replied to Laura’s comment by saying that AMM had already said that 99% of the profits go to charity. But they took down that post since then.

When AMM didn’t meet the basic standards, this led to rumors of wrongdoing and questions about how open charities are. Because of this, an investigation was started, and it turned out that the study programs only got 50% of the money from the sale. These reports have not been proven yet because the investigation is still going on.

The organizers of the Only Watch auction chose to move it to 2024 because the accusations were so serious.

AMM, the company that puts together and distributes Only Watch, has since made a full statement responding to the controversy.

AMM, which was formed in 2001, has included all of its financial statements and changed some parts of the agreement to make things clearer. In 2005, the first Only Watch sale took place. The F.P. Journal controversy is broken down.

 F.P. Journe Controversy Explained

Audemars Piquet, a high-end watch brand, suddenly pulled out of the auction on October 18 without making any public statements. That made things even stranger and more doubts were shown.

A trade magazine called Watch has been regularly reporting on how the case is progressing.

At the same time, Patek Philippe, the most famous watch brand in the sale, seemed to be pulling out in a roundabout way because they hadn’t shown off their exclusive collection yet.

As the auction continued to cause controversy by having high-end names pull out, Francois Paul Journe, founder of the F.P. Journe watch brand, wrote on Instagram that he fully supported AMM chairman Luc Pettavino.

A well-known independent watchmaker also called Pettavino a “remarkable man” and supported the good cause of giving to “medical charity that is necessary to save children.”

A spokesperson for AMM said, “The time for certification, changes in governance, and the upcoming auction do not all happen at the same time.” We just can’t let ourselves question that everyone involved in this project is really committed, and we can’t let this great story be rewritten.

But most watch fans have said that the trend might be a scam.

What do you think about this case? Do you think the people who are putting together the charity event are up to no good? What do you think about organizations being open and honest?

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