Ornatus-MundiRe-inventing the classic watch - a tedious task. The Manufacture Roger Dubuis had one single collection that was a defining streak fro the brand and an orphan at the same time: the Hommage Collection . Being one of the very first offerings (and one of the few where you could consider the brand and its founder being one and the same ;-)) it was nearly abandoned in the wake of the oversized, crazy and - mmhh - 'out-there' pieces. At SIHH 2013, a bright sign of light was suddenly visible: the RD Hommage Tribute to the Minute Repeater (see my article here ): Its success with the press, the retailers and the customers must have been tremendous...">Story

---- ∞ ----

Ornatus-MundiRoger Dubuis always paid significant attention to its female clients and offered an abundance of tempting feminine timepieces. The new Excalibur collection was joined by some really outstanding ladies' watches earlier this year as the Excalibur 36 Limited edition - Jewellery saw the (stage-)light: Housed in a white gold case of just 36mm diameter, a truly sparkling watch which reveals some fantastic individual jewellery techniques only upon closer inspection The roman numerals masterfully play with the incoming light. In fact, they are produced using a metal coating on a disk made of sapphire crystal, while the latter covers a dial paved with diamonds, including the areas beneath the roman numerals! In total, 560 diamonds adorn this limited edition of 88 timepieces in and outside of this magnificent watch: Aren't the smooth and elegant lines of the diamond inlet just adorable? I cannot take my eaves of the areas where the lugs join the case band... It is driven by a Cal...">Story

---- ∞ ----

Mr.GatsbyGentlemen, first and foremost let me just say that this is my first post on the RD forum here at The Purists. Id have put in more thought on this maiden post if not for time constraint. Still, I am very much compelled to write this post albeit with some help. So about a month or two ago, I visited a very good friend of mine who is a big Roger Dubuis fan ;-) As always, the discussions revolved around the philosophy of watch collecting and the like, and I was - and still am - at the receiving end of this friend's gratuitous advice on watch collecting...">Story

---- ∞ ----

Ornatus-MundiFollowing my recent journey tracking the ancestry of the La Monégasque back from the original Sympathie I would like to hit the road again, this time travelling on the roots of the Excalibur collection, which is the descendant of another foundation collection, the Hommage . 1.) The original Hommage : The original Hommage was a watch that Mr Dubuis liked to refer to as the reference to the Genevan watchmaking tradition. It should embody all the elements that made this particular school of watchmaking to famous ... ...">Story

---- ∞ ----

Ornatus-Mundiwas posted almost four years ago by Purist Jonathan Hang (Z3) here on Purists. He revisited the high level and artistry that went into creating exemplary enamel dials. Some experts even suggest that those belong to the best ever created in the industry: Jonathan writes: "While much attention is focused on high complications,miniature enamel painting remains one of the exclusive yet relatively under-appreciated specialty in the Swiss watch industry. One maker that has a special place in my heart is Roger Dubuis .....">Story

---- ∞ ----

Ornatus-MundiInvestigating the gallery of ancestral portraits is quite revealing if we are speaking about watches. It tells about management decisions, changing tastes & preferences as well as of watchmaking capabilities. I seized the opportunity of a recent trip to the Roger Dubuis Manufacture in Meyrin trying to understand the history of the different complications. Sales of all watches, however, was/is a healthy business and thus there are only few 'historic' pieces available for comparison...">Story

---- ∞ ----

Ornatus-MundiToday I want to present a remarkably simple watch in RD's (past) stable, a KingSquare in red gold with a bold chocolate-themed dial: The dial lives by a few but bold design elements. First of course is the unusual colour, its not a light tobacco-brown, its not even milk chocolate, now, this is a solid 70% Grand Cru bar: The chocolate bar is divided into 15 pieces, each of which are home to exactly one functional unit, be it the hour numbers, the brand logo, its designation of origin or the hands. The overall ... ...">Story

---- ∞ ----

Ornatus-MundiMany of you know that I am critical towards skeletonised watches. Too many and too much details disturb me, and my senses get lost on the way. But today I'd like to present a watch where the technique of skeletonisation has been applied such that the essence of the watch is emphasised rather than obfuscated. The watch I am speaking of is the RD KingSquare Tourbillon Skeleton : The bridges of the movement are cut out to achieve maximum optical freedom...">Story

---- ∞ ----

Ornatus-MundiContinuing with the series of in-depth reports (the first one was - naturally - on the RD Excalibur Quatuor ) I'd like to draw your attention to the RD Hommage Tribute to the Minute Repeater : The watch is a tribute (or a homage) in two respects: On the on hand it is of course, true to its name, a tribute to the complication of a minute repeater. But it is also meant as a tribute to the company's founder, Mr. Roger Dubuis . More on this in due time (in a separate article)! Its really hard to withstand the .....">Story

---- ∞ ----

Ornatus-MundiIt is with great pleasure (and thanks to the Gentleman owner) that I am able to present to you a watch that has acquired a cult status amongst watch connoisseurs worldwide - regardless of their respective brand inclination. I am speaking about the Roger Dubuis Hommage Condottieri : Presented as one of the first watches to be produced by Mr Roger Dubuis under his own brand in the mid-1990's, it was an unusual watch in its days: It came with a diameter of 40mm which was considered huge in these days (36mm was ... ...">Story

---- ∞ ----