Roger Dubuis

A visit to Manufacture Roger Dubuis By Su Jia Xian (SJX) The trajectory Roger Dubuis has taken in its 15 years is remarkable. Founded in 1995 by Carlos Dias, Roger Dubuis started out as a maker of makers in the classic Geneva style – with a twist. Movemen...  

Roger Dubuis is almost wholly self-sufficient in terms of movements. From movement concept to design and production, everything is done at the manufacture. Several dozen machines sit on the ground level, milling, turning, grinding and drilling the various...  

Every Roger Dubuis movement bears the Geneva Seal. A few years ago that did not mean much, for despite having the seal Roger Dubuis watches often suffered from quality control issues. Now that has changed. Under Richemont ownership management has made sur...  

After the parts are finished, those that require plating are sent to another facility for that, before being returned and sent upstairs for assembly. Dials, hands and cases are obtained from suppliers. The assembly area is quiet and well lit with a parque...  

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To clean up the aesthetics of the brand, Richemont hired Lionel Favre, formerly head of design at Chopard (coincidentally Favre’s successor at Chopard is Guy Bove, who was head designer at IWC). Favre has tweaked the look of nearly every single model in t...  

What a beautiful manufacture. I think RD makes some of the nicest perpetuals; perhaps they could consider doing a few Hommage pieces for some like the in-line perpetual (1429). I suppose to each his own but I prefer the older designs.

Part V: The future In three to five years, Roger Dubuis aims to raise its output to a respectable, but still small, 6000 to 9000 pieces annually. Its current production is unknown, but I am sure it is a fraction of 6000. The brand has a sizeable boutique ...  

great report mate, any ideas on their current production? are they doing stuff for other richemont companies(one would assume so).

in a floor owned by Cartier and run by Cartier staff who came over from La Chaux-de-Fonds. There is no official statement on this, but I believe the Roger Dubuis part of the factory does work for other Richemont brands also. - SJX

Only a few more months!

While the pieces from Roger Dubuis are not my taste generally, it is good to see new developments taking place. Style-wise they are a little too in your face for me! I guess I'm not confident enough a watch wearer for their pieces. Cheers, Daos

Very interesting report , im staying tuned for the future of RD , personally i NEVER liked their recent past . Faisal

Interesting report, but I still like the old design, especially the Easy diver. Just my 2cent Thanks for sharing Best, eddy

Very nice visit and pictures, I am glad to notice that Richemont seems to be a good fit for a brand that always had so much promise.

I'll go on record and say I much prefered the three original Diaz designs from the comparisons you showed here. I wonder how others will feel and if the new designs really will prove the more popular? Best, njo2002

Now we wish the best for the brand future after these difficult times. Fr.Xavier

Having just returned from visiting another manufacture, I was at least able to recognise a number of the processes required to create and assemble such timpieces.

I just hope RD will produce more smaller diameter watches. RD can be as good as Patek, may be even better. Regards Ling

Thanks SJX both for the photos and the insightful essay. In some was Dias has left a great legacy. Certainly something that can be built upon again. Do you have any idea what Carlos Dias is doing now? Let's hope the company continues to make unique qualit... 

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... some big, bold wine styles, eye-catching names and labels, and targetted high-end marketing? He seems like the sort of man who would be successful at marketing anything. I wish him luck. Andrew