Roger Dubuis

What was the reason for changing to round crystal in the later generation of Sympathie?
It's really for technical reason: water resistance is extremely challenging for shaped crystal, especially given the three piece construction of the case. 

What was the design inspiration of the sympathie case?
It was actually 'motivated' by very 'strange' case presented to us, made by a case maker in Jura area.   That prompted me to come up with my own design. 

And when I showed him this picture, he had this small grin on his face!

 

Of the current lines, which do you prefer?
Excalibur & Velvet are closest to my heart.  Having said that, given the commercial aspect of appealing to wider audience I do think there's a need for more diversified ranges of products.   The key is that underneath all these products lies the manufactured 'heartbeat' of traditional craftmanship and master level of finishing which are the true philosophy of the brand.   Not to forget the emotion moving styling which is at the very centre of the brand's founding pillars.

Tell us about the Condottieri?
Totally about 40 were made, all made with pocket watch movements.   That was the very first project that the brand embarked on and we did a few actual pocket watches for specific requests, then the remaining movements were made as wrist watches.  The significance, lies in the dial.   The White enamel dial was initially done by Donze Baume.   While the quality was great, at times it turns out a little bit inconsistent.  That's when we kickstarted the in-house expertise on enamelling technique.  It was really my  persuit of that 'perfect' dial which inspired the whole initiative toward having in-house expertise in every aspects of watchmaking, not to mention the complete autonomy of the movement manufacturering.   I do believe RD was one of the first brand who tried to master the technique completely in house.

Do you think Enamel would return to the spot light again?
I firmly believe that the know-how of traditional watch making such as enamelling will always be appreciated by collectors and needs to be passed on to the next generation of watch makers.   Our in-house enamalist, Dominique Baron, started learning the techniques from scratch.   Now she's the head enamalist in Stern, who's owned by Richemont.   It truly defines the artistic aspect of watchmaking.

What do you think of all these new material being used in watchmaking?
While it doesn't not necessarily contribute to the adherance to Poincon de Geneve, it certainly adds new dimension in movement development.   I believes the brand would continue to benefit from these new technologies.

Given the current stable of movements, what do you consider as missing in terms of complication?  
At the beginning, the very first complicated movement we adopted were the double retrograde perpetual calendar with chrono.  Soon, we started developing our first in-house chronograph movement.  Then the minute repeater movement shortly after then to the double tourbillon.  My philosophy on movement development is that the complication needs to serve a useful purpose.  As such, I don't see any need of developing overly complicated movement just for pure showcasing.  Having said that, I do believe that the brand has achieved a significant milestone by developing & manufacturing most of the traditional complication.   From here, we live by our motto of embracing the incredible world so one can only expect out-of-this-world complication to come in the future!

I sensed a slight bit of tension from Gregory Bruttin, who was sitting nearby! 

You mentioned earlier about your full respect to traditional watchmaking craftmanship, tell us more about what  you've done on this subject?
During the 70's, I witnessed the disappearing of expertise/know-how due to the oil crises then the  quartz invasion.   As such, in 1977 I created a small club called "Federation of Geneva Cabinotiers", which encompasses different talents such as engraver, enamalist, casemaker.   Until 1750, there were no true manufacturer in Geneva.  As such, most of the watch makers in Geneva were independent watchmakers working out from their attic, who are termed Cabinotiere.   These master craftman essentially made up the manufacture in Geneva as a whole.

During your years at Roger Dubuis, what was your biggest challenge?
That would have to be the setting of the watch that needs to satisfy the criteria from BOTH Observatoire National de Besancon & the Poincon de Geneva.    During the early stage, RD was still sourcing components from different supplier.   Back then, the consistency among different batches of compoents delivered by these suppliers made it extremely challenging to fine tune the watch to comply with both standards.   This was one of the major reasons for RD to achieve complete autonomy in terms of movement components, including hairspring. 

Why was it so important to achieve recognification/certification from both establishments?
First off, these two certifications are complementary, while one focuses on the finishing and the other place emphasis on the precision.    The adherance to high standard essentially stems from my career at Patek Philippe, and obviously carries on to my philosophy when I created my own brand.

Is it worth it in the end for the persistent adherance to all these standard?

It's never about whether it's worth it or not?   As I mentioned earlier, it's part of my philosophy as a watch maker for all these years so it's my instinct to carry on that vision!

What do you see as the challenge ahead for the firm?
The release of new guidelines for Poincon de Geneve will inevitably means even stricter tolerance and much more demanding precision and respect to fine craftmanship.   I do believe it would be challenging to create bold & daring time piece and out-of-the-world complication while at the same time paying full tribute to the fine criteria posted by the new standard.   I guess this is why the world for Roger Dubuis is the incredible one!