Roger Dubuis

Jasmine Dy

Roger Dubuis LogoThe Roger Dubuis brand is continually pushing boundaries and making advances to the Swiss watchmaking industry. Beginning in 1995, there had been so many inventions and innovations that’s already been made and making further developments would take so much more creativity out of average ideas to make changes in the industry in general, but creativity was what Roger Dubuis brought along with the brand’s inception.

Roger Dubuis Watch Reviews

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How the Roger Dubuis brand came to be

Roger Dubuis’ career in watchmaking really began decades before the existence of his brand. He’d been working since the ‘50s as he spent nine years with Saint Imier in its after-sales department, working on watch repairs. He then moved to Geneva to work as watch constructor and maker for Patek Philippe, whose influence is imminent in almost all of Roger Dubuis’ modern timepieces. Roger Dubuis himself noted that this was a formative time in his career, as he revealed in an interview.

Before the watchmaking workshop itself, he opened a repair workshop. At around the same time during the ’80s, he made his first complication: the perpetual calendar module with retrograde displays which would become a signature of his brand.

All these has led to the creation of his brand but most of all, the partnership with designer Carlos Dias made it happen. Roger Dubuis was 57 years old when the Société Genevoise des Montres (SOGEM) was made.

In their first year, two collections were already released: the Sympathie and the Hommage. Both of these were considered an example of fine watchmaking as every piece incorporated the traditional practices of Swiss watchmaking and avant-garde designs. The apparent influence of Swiss watchmaking and Patek Philippe, made more alive by modernized styles, was the reason those first Roger Dubuis watches were acclaimed by collectors.

Roger Dubuis Excalibur Skeleton Double Flying Tourbillon
Roger Dubuis Excalibur Skeleton Double Flying Tourbillon.

A timeline of milestones and collections

In 2005, the flagship Excalibur line is launched, which can be considered as a defining collection for the brand. It uses the double tourbillon movement. Only a year later, new models of the watches in the collection are launched. In the same year, six new movements are made by Roger Dubuis, adding up to a total of 28 movements by the brand.

A year later in 2007, those same movements were the subject of an exhibit at the Salon International de la Haute Horlogerie in Geneva and it showcased the company’s heritage. Then in 2008, Roger Dubuis becomes part of the Richemont Group and the KingSquare collection was released.

Wanting to make the brand’s movements official and tested, all previous creations were handed over to the COSC, the official Swiss chronometer testing institute, for certification. A new La Monégasque collection was released in 2011, to give tribute to the 125th anniversary of the Poinçon de Genève. As every Roger Dubuis watch is hallmarked by the Poinçon de Genève, the brand celebrated by launching Excalibur Flying Tourbillon Monopusher Chronograph, a limited edition.

In 2012, the existing collections brought coherence to the brand’s creative concepts and precise mechanical details. The names for the collections are inspired by four worlds: The Player for La Monégasque, the Warrior for Excalibur, newcomers the Venturer for Pulsion, and the Diva for Velvet.

Roger Dubuis Excalibur Limited Edition
Roger Dubuis Excalibur Limited Edition.

Marriage of traditional Swiss watchmaking and modern styles

In 2013, the Excalibur Quatuor became the world’s first silicon watch with four sprung balances. It was signed by Roger Dubruis and is one of “mechanical magic.” It demonstrated the brand’s efforts in making further developments in contemporary watchmaking.

Today, Roger Dubruis is the only watchmaker brand that has the mark of the Poinçon de Genève, which is symbolic of the quality and outstanding construction.

The original goal for the Roger Dubuis brand was to create complicated and refined timepieces that incorporated the traditional style of Geneva’s watchmaking practices and Patek Philippe’s influence while also fitting them in with the modern trends and aesthetics. This made the best selling point for Roger Dubuis. The combination of the foundations of Swiss watchmaking and trendy and experimental designs make the brand one of the greatest manufactures of the 21st century.

Roger Dubuis Excalibur Spider Skeleton Flying Tourbillon
Roger Dubuis Excalibur Spider Skeleton Flying Tourbillon. Monochrome Watches

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