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 showing what he could do, intentionally attempting to one up the historic watch house. This was the first time the world had seen this complication in a wristwatch, one which Patek Philippe themselves, the master of complicated watchmaking at the time, had never put 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 retrospective complication specialist Agenhor) for Harry Winston, who would later announce their own version of a biretrograde perpetual calendar at Baselworld in 1989. This is when he started to develop his own modules and movements. In the 1980s, he left Patek Philippe to carry on this work and set up his own workshop, extending his client list to include auction houses and watch brands. 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 who didn’t possess the expertise that Dubuis had, quite literally, at his fingertips. Building a reputation as one of the finest watchmakers in Geneva, if not the world. Constructing the maison’s finest and most complex watch movements, specialising in the construction of gongs, minute repeaters and perpetual calendars. Then moving 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. Having spent nine years at Longines starting in the late 1950s, he worked in the after-sales department where he repaired and cared for their deeply respected chronographs. Roger Dubuis was, first and foremost, a watchmaker. So without further ado let’s get into this story! Roger Dubuis, From Watchmaker To Brand

For those with an eye toward collecting these watches, it should be noted that the Breguet Numeral dials only appear in the reference H40, which is a pity because a 37 mm case with a Breguet dial would be a dream come true.įor me A Collected Man has become the place to source one of these amazing watches and I would also like to applaud them for the wonderful work in documenting the history of these wonderful timepieces. The thick case with integrated lugs and concave bezel, and of course the screw down caseback are all also extremely reminiscent of the Tasti Tondi. Says Montanari, “Indeed, the Hommage chronographs feature pushers that are almost identical to those found on the Tasti Tondi right down to their fluted decoration and priapically domed shape. It was as if Patek had introduced you to a charismatic sexy cousin, which was clearly Dubuis’ intent. Says Montanari, ‘Also look at the fonts that he chose for the tachymeter and the subdials, the twisting guilloché and other patterns as well as the highly stylised leaf hands everything had a slightly more Latin, expressive charm but very importantly without being Baroque.” But Dubuis didn’t just copy them he elevated the design language of the dials with beautiful touches such as applied dots for the minutes.” Also unique is Dubuis combination of applied Breguet 12, 5, 6 and 7 indexes with thick applied pointed stick indexes. Says Montanari, “Sure the inspiration is clear. Says Auro Montanari aka John Goldberger author of Patek Philippe Steel Watches, “For modern chronograph design the Roger Dubuis with Breguet numerals is one of the best.” These dials are strongly inspired by the highly coveted Breguet numerals dials found in the reference 1.

Because it is specifically in the 40 mm H40 reference that you find Roger Dubuis’ Breguet numeral dials which are possibly the most beautiful modern chronograph dials in recent memory. But it is the reference H40 that I consider to be Roger Dubuis’ true master work of design. You can turn to page 66 to see how closely the Roger Dubuis watches resemble these. The H34 and H37 took considerable inspiration from the Sector of Scientific dial Patek Reference 130s. The Hommage was made in three different sizes: the 34mm H34, the 37mm H37 and the 40mm H40.

Roger dubuis h37