![]() We also believe that they demonstrate Dubuis’ style and masterful technique to the fullest, as some of the early pieces would have been made and regulated by the man himself.īased on the legendary Lemania 2310, the Roger Dubuis chronograph calibres built on a very strong foundation, as this is the ébauche famously used in many notable Patek Philippe calibres of the past. In particular, his two-register chronographs have become highly sought-after in recent years. It’s these early models that we’re choosing to focus on in this article, as they have garnered the most interest from the collecting community to date. As many collectors know, when the company first started producing watches in 1995, they were executed with aesthetic cues and techniques that Dubuis had mastered over his years at Patek Philippe.įirst producing two lines, the Hommage and Sympathie series, each housing Roger Dubuis’ in-house calibres with time-only, chronograph and perpetual calendars on display. Shortly after, a chance encounter would take place that would change Dubuis’ life forever - he met Carlos Dias, the enigmatic businessman and watch designer who would team up with him to help form his eponymous brand. A notable example is, of course, Francois-Paul Journe, who worked as a freelance movement designer before setting up his own manufacture. The parallels with other notable independent watchmakers, who started their careers in restoration, then complex movement design, is not lost on us. Perhaps Dubuis was now properly manifesting his abilities, intentionally attempting to one-up the historic watch house. This was a world first as this complication had never been in a wristwatch before, even Patek Philippe themselves, the master of complicated watchmaking at the time, had never put in on the wrist. The first of which was a retrograde perpetual calendar module that could sit atop a Lemania movement, like so many Patek Philippe watches he had helped construct and maintain over the past two decades.ĭubuis developed this module with Jean-Marc Wiederrecht (founder of the complication specialist Agenhor) for Harry Winston, who would later announce their own version of a bi-retrograde perpetual calendar at Baselworld, in 1989. This is when he started to develop his own modules and movements. ![]() In the 1980s, he left the prestigious brand to set-up his own workshop, extending his client list to include auction houses and watch brands. They lacked the expertise that Dubuis had, quite literally, at his fingertips. To situate yourself, his time at Patek Philippe coincides almost perfectly with the production of the Fourth Series, Patek Philippe reference 2499, the legendary perpetual calendar chronograph, which was made from 1978 to 1985. He had such a passion for his job, that when he had finished working a full day at the atelier, he would go home and work on fixing watches for private clients and some of the shops around Geneva. Constructing the Maison's finest and most complex watch movements, specialising in the construction of gongs, minute repeaters and perpetual calendars. There he built a reputation as one of the finest watchmakers in Geneva, if not the world. It was clear to anyone who knew him, that Roger Dubuis was first and foremost, a watchmaker. He spent nine years at Longines, starting in the late 1950s, where he worked in the after-sales department, repairing and caring for their deeply respected chronographs.įrom there, he moved on to Patek Philippe, where he stayed for the best part of two decades, working alongside the likes of Svend Andersen in the complications department. And whilst some may feel that this is true of their current models, we believe that you only have to look at their early pieces, to see a genuine reflection of the man himself. It has been said that Roger Dubuis the brand, has very little to do with the man.
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