Independents

TimJackson
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OK, I'll have a shot...

I have seen all three watches up close. While the finishing on the Simplicity is not up for discussion, and the Journe, whilst being lovely isn't in the same class from a hand finishing, making almost all parts inhouse etc. It is a serially produced in massive quantities by comparison, with an inhouse movt. certainly.

Here goes...The dials for one are not made by Dufour or Journe's manufactory, nor are the hands or the cases. Roger's dial is made in his workshop, guilloched by hand and the layers are made seperately, each with a different style/pattern of guilloche. Check out the power reserve for instance. Recessed below the main level of the dial. Soldered on after it is hand guilloched. All the writing on the dial is done by hand, carving out the letters, then filling in with a black lacquer/paint. There are also economies of scale coming into play. This is Roger's second wristwatch, with him making almost all of it in his workshop, other than the hairspring, mainspring, crystals and jewels. He makes his own balance and that together with the unique co-axial escapement that he uses as the basic design, from his mentor and friend Dr. Daniels, to build his movement around. This isn't your typical swiss level escapement, and that in of itself makes it stand apart in terms of technical expertise and time to design from scratch. I'm not a watchmaker, but I do know it took thousand of hours to perfect the design. I have to disagree with the above post, it is a major factor...Other details, that should be mentioned, are the 18k hands, hand crafted again. Fundamentally, all this takes time and time as they say is money.

This is not the same co-axial escapement found in the Omega watches. It is a different design, one that is more true to Dr. Daniels' original design, built for longevity.

I hope this helps in some way to give a little more data on the price difference. Is Roger's watch expensive...yes, but so it should be. There is a measurable difference. There are countless examples in  other luxury fields where one can draw analogies, just look at custom hand built high quality cars...or even a bespoke tailored suit of the finest fabric, hand made on Savile Row...

It is very easy to get into trying to quantify and qualify watch prices, after all, much of the watch business is in an almost commoditised form, but this isn't the arena in which Messrs Dufour and Smith reside in. My thinking, is that anyone who can afford a fine watch at this level shouldn't be looking at the pricing so much, once they understand what is involved in making the watch. It takes time to appreciate and understand these watches and sometimes more importantly the watchmaker. At least this is my considered opinion on the subject.

Warm regards,

Tim