The Expressivity of Roger Dubuis
There are basically two kinds of watch brands in the world: those whose designs look back to the 20th century’s golden eras of watchmaking and those that look ahead to the design possibilities of the 21st. While most watchmakers endeavour to make use of new materials and new technologies in their products, few take that mission as seriously as Swiss luxury watch brand Roger Dubuis. Creations like the newly unveiled Monovortex Split-Seconds Chronograph, an eye-catching piece stuffed with advanced watchmaking tech, are the result of this commitment, and characteristic of a vision for futuristic watches set out by Roger Dubuis himself.
Unlike many watch brands whose founders set up shop a century ago or more, Roger Dubuis lived to see his namesake atelier flourish in the 21st century. Dubuis himself was a quintessential old-school watchmaker who paid his dues at Longines and Patek Philippe before launching his self-signed brand in the mid-1990s. The watches produced by Dubuis in those early days were classically informed, beautifully crafted, and of exceptionally high-quality throughout, but they don’t look much like the brand’s offerings of today. While this may seem contradictory to some, according to Roger Dubuis CEO Gregory Bruttin this constant evolution is precisely what the Roger Dubuis name has always represented.
“Since the beginning of the brand we like to change the rules of watchmaking,” says Bruttin, fresh off a last-minute trip to meet a VVIP client in Dubai. “It was the vision of the creator, Roger Dubuis, to come up with a new interpretation of watchmaking but also to respect watchmaking tradition. That is the paradox of the brand.”
To Bruttin, the essence of Roger Dubuis comes down to three things: respect for the traditional craft of watchmaking, constant innovation, and unique design language. “For me, it’s a combination of high watchmaking – and by that, I mean things like split-seconds chronographs, tourbillons, and minute repeaters – and expressivity,” he says. With only around 1,000 pieces produced each year and prices mostly in the six-figure range, exclusivity is a big part of the brand’s appeal as well.
True to form, Roger Dubuis’ presence at the recent Watches & Wonders trade show in Geneva was focused on a single watch, the Monovortex Split-Seconds Chronograph. Housed in a 47mm case made of red Mineral Composite Fibre (a material developed by Roger Dubuis that’s 2.5 times lighter than ceramic and 13% lighter than carbon, the brand says) and accented with pink gold and titanium, it’s designed to make a big statement on the wrist. The technology inside, however, is just as unconventional as its exterior.
The development of the watch, Bruttin explains, was a quest to both defy gravity and harness its power more efficiently. The result is a watch that brings two surprising innovations to the table: a Conical Monovortex Tourbillon and a Turborotor Cylindrical Oscillating Weight. The tourbillon, which has become Roger Dubuis’ signature complication, is positioned at nine o’clock and designed with a 360-degree trajectory, allowing it to rotate with the movement of the wrist. The oscillating weight is equally audacious. Unlike most other watches, whose rotors are parallel to the movement, it is positioned vertically at 12 o’clock and rotates like a barrel, which the brand says makes it better suited to capturing the wearer’s natural range of motion.
Roger Dubuis has yet to set a price for the Monovortex Split-Seconds Chronograph or reveal how many they will make, but in typical style, it’s sure to be as astronomically-priced as it is exclusive. Which is as much the hallmark of a Roger Dubuis watch as expressive styling, avant-garde materials, and off-the-wall complications.
Learn more about the Roger Dubuis Monovortex Split-Seconds Chronograph here.
