Horological Meandering

I have become somewhat interested in the watches  of Roger Dubuis. They seem quite beautiful aesthetically and well executed.  They also seem to be astronomically priced and do not have the respect of people really in the know, as on this forum.  I like the feeling that I get at least  a little bang for my buck as I do with other members of my humble collection eg IWC GP and JLC. I would appreciate the opinions of other members of the forum. Thank you

Jim

added to Editor's Pick

This message has been edited by AnthonyTsai on 2008-02-25 15:48:23

I don't think people will doubt that RD make very high quality watches with movements that, as I understand, are all made in house and to Geneve Seal quality standards. In addition, RD seems to introduce a newly developed movements every year---some of which appear to be really extravagant like double tourbillons with  double micro-rotors , eight-day manual wind shaped chronos and a variety of others . . . really wild stuff sometimes, just go to their website and take a look. I think what bothers many "enthusiasts" or "purists" is the design perspective that RD has adopted recently, which is to make large and ostentatious cases and dials. Also troubling have been the distribution problems that RD has had and rumors of financial issues within the company. I believe that their movement facility was bought-out by a larger group or that at least there were rumors of their being bought out . . . I'm not really sure. They have always had very well-finished movements and from what I have seen, very nice case and dial work---at least in terms of production quality, if not aesthetics. 

Personally, I really like their older, classic watches from the late 90's, early 2000. Such as the Hommage and Sympahie line and some of the Much More and Golden Square models, that had more subdued dial designs. And the movements are very nice, as I stated above: well-finished, Geneve Sealed, and among the few watches that receive observatory certificate from Besancon.

So are they worth it? In terms of quality, they have some good stuff. I am not sure if RD is still considered a strong "brand", however . . .whatever that means. I am not sure that they have a very solid, dedicated following such as a lot of the big names: PP, AP, Panerai, etc, or even some of the independents like Journe. They do not have very good re-sale value, but that is probably due to the perception of the brand as mentioned above. This poor re-sale value, however, means that many great quality pieces are available on the secondary market for low prices. So if you like them . . .

I really like the brand and have four RD watches so take my words in that context. I've voted with my dollars.

You're correct in that RD hasn't seemed to garner the support of the watch collecting community but remember, we are but a small segment of the  
market. Their earlier models were, in my view, breath taking, innovative, stylish and creative with design elements combining current trends and old  
World design elements. Recent designs have been pushing the envelope and that's not always accepted by us collectors. I, for one, wish they would
return to the more classically styled designs but hey...............I'm a member of the Boring Traditionalists Club (BTC)
They make a high quality watches, all bearing the Geneva Seal and at the current discounted street prices they are a tremendous bargain in my  
opinion..........at least some of them are, if you like a particular style. They had some serious USA distribution problems and I think that's why we've  
seen so many heavily discounted watches on the market. I think this has contributed to their loss of cachet. I read that those problems have been  
resolved now.


 
 


If you're looking for an investment, don't look to Roger Dubuis. If you want a beautiful watch to wear and enjoy and if you find a watch you like and the  
price is worth it to you, then buy it. I'm extremely happy with mine and plan on continuing to wear and keep them.


 


This message has been edited by MTF on 2008-02-24 00:11:30

Thank you N and Mel for the responses and especially the pictures. I don't know how any red blooded watch lover could look at your pieces Mel and not be impressed with the beauty and finishing. Tell me though with 4  watches like this, can you comment on the overall accuracy, reliability and any servicing issues over your years of ownership? I would think you should be a great judge of this. Thank you again.

Jim

................let me open up the old kimono.

I've had problems with three of my four. One minor problem and two not so minor problems. They have been fixed and the watches have been performing without issues since.

Sympathie Guilloche - The watch was keeping accurate time but the hour or minute hand were a teeny bit out of alignment. The watch was purchased pre-owned and was cosmetically like new. This problem was fixed promptly and without charge by RD even though it was out of warranty and has performed flawlessly since.

Hommage Perpetual Calendar- The perpetual calendar indicator was not advancing. Timing and other calendar functions were operating properly and accurately. This watch was purchased pre-owned and was cosmetically mint. I think this problem may have been caused by someone (previous owner or the jeweler) changing one of the calendar functions at the wrong time. This problem took RD a while to fix but the watch came back from Switzerland looking like brand new and has performed flawlessly since.

Sympathie Chronograph - The watch would lose time sporadically. Upon close inspection, I found a tiny loose screw floating around in the movement. The case back didn't look like it had ever been opened so the watch could have come from the factory like that. This watch was like new in appearance and I was the first owner but it had been in the "system" for a couple years.  It was repaired under warranty in Switzerland and returned like new (as expected) although this too, took them a while. 

Hommage Condottieri - Purchased pre-owned in mint condition and has performed flawlessly.


These problems, while annoying, are not uncommon with high end watches.
Yes, I expect an expensive watch to run accurately and without problems but if you read any of the high end watch forms, you'll see that these problems happen with more frequency than any of us would like. It's amazing that these tiny mechanical devices, which beat from 400,000 to nearly 700,000 times a day, even run accurately at all.
While two of the three problems I've had with mine really pissed me off..........................I wouldn't hesitate to purchase a Roger Dubuis watch that I liked.

I am glad that most of the collectors don't like them as I could get it cheaper.

Their earlier watches are superb.

 

Regards

Ling

Roger Dubuis had some major problems here in the USA.  There were a lot of quality control and mechanical problems with the SAW, complicated by the North American distributor and RD 'disagreements'.  Lots of owners got caught in the middle as they couldn't get service for the watches.  Posted on the News Forum, apparently they just settled the lawsuits and have reached some agreement.  Details of what happened are not that well known, but as in most of these cases, the consumers got hit.  Roger is no longer with the company that bears his name and they got acquired by a large group but claim they are still under Carlos Dias's direction.  Please note:  not trying to slam them but more of a heads up.  Hope this helps.

Dubuis and Dubuis North America settle issues:  http://news.watchprosite.com/show-forumpost/fi-112/pi-2404551/ti-402591/s-0/

Richemont acquires Dubuis' component manufacturing operations:  http://news.watchprosite.com/show-forumpost/fi-112/pi-2297901/ti-380641/s-0/

Cheers,
Anthony

PS.  I highly suggest bookmarking our FrontPage (www.puristspro.com) as your entry point into PuristSPro because you can see all the current Industry News as well as all the other interesting posts throughout all the forums on the site

Thanks all for the great info. I can always count on memebers of this site.

Jim

as other members have stated. Of late Roger Dubuis seems to value form over function, creating watches that are not only flamboyant, but with pointless complications like the double tourbillon.

- SJX