Watch Paparazzi

Entrepreneur Steven Zhang spotted wearing F.P. Journe

Steven Zhang, president of Inter Milan and son of Suning Commerce Group founder Zhang Jindong, was photographed at the club's Coppa Italia trophy presentation ceremony wearing one of the most consequential independent watches ever made: the F.P. Journe Tourbillon Souverain in platinum. The setting — Inter's badge glowing blue and black behind him, gold trophies stacked in the background — provides an inadvertently perfect backdrop for a watch that is itself a monument to patience and discipline.

The Tourbillon Souverain was François-Paul Journe's debut production reference, launched in 1999 after years of bespoke one-off commissions. What made it extraordinary from day one was not merely the tourbillon — it was the integration of a remontoir d'égalité, a constant-force mechanism that delivers a measured, equal impulse to the escapement every second, compensating for variations in mainspring torque across the power reserve. The second-series versions added a dead-seconds (seconde morte) display, giving the watch a complication profile that remains virtually unmatched at this case diameter. The movement is elaborated in rose gold, visible through the asymmetric dial layout that places the tourbillon at nine o'clock and the time display at three, with the dead-seconds subdial centered below.

In platinum, the Tourbillon Souverain takes on a sober, almost architectural gravity. The silvered dial, blued steel hands, and absence of surface decoration force the eye directly to the mechanics — exactly as Journe intended. Platinum references are produced in strictly limited numbers and have always commanded a premium over the yellow or rose gold variants.

For collectors, the F.P. Journe Tourbillon Souverain is not a speculative buy — it is a foundational piece. It predates the brand's current global fame, and examples from the early series carry genuine horological history. The watch has appreciated substantially on the secondary market as independent watchmaking has moved from niche to mainstream collector territory over the past decade.

Zhang's choice is notable precisely because it avoids the obvious. At an event where a flashy sports watch would have been entirely predictable, the Tourbillon Souverain signals a collector's conviction rather than a status reflex. At reported retail in platinum configuration well above $150,000, and with secondary market values climbing accordingly, this is a wrist that clearly takes both football and horology seriously.