Roger Dubuis

Tracing back the origin of La Monégasque: The Sympathie

 

I've always loved the sympathie line.   The shape was unique, yet not overly complex.   To many, it was either love or hate whereas for me, it was love at first sight.   A refreshing change from the typical round & rectangular shaped watches and to top it off, a rather unique representation of perpetual calendars back then. 

First launched in 1996, the voluptuous shape captured the spot light and 'defined' the iconic shape of the brand.   Initially it was done in 34mm & 37mm case size.

In 1999 the model was revised w/ a minor update which incorporated a thicker & curvy lug w/ oversized lug screw:

In 2000, the line was further updated w/ round crystal..   Rumours has it that the manufacturer was having difficulties making the 'shaped' crystal, hence the switching over to round crystal.    It somehow lessen the appeal of the case but it also allow the possibility of enlarging the case size to 40mm     

 

43mm case size was introduced in 2002

Announced in 2004, a major revamp took place and the line took on a dose of sportiness.   The case size was standardized at 43mm for men collection. 

In 2006, a smaller case size of 40mm was added to the collection but only a handful of models were released. 

During 2007 SIHH, the line went thru the final face lift before retiring from the product line:

As you can see here, strong design clue of Excalibur was already taking shape.  

Not to forget the sportier variants that were derived from the line as well:

So which one do you like the most?
This message has been edited by Jester on 2012-01-07 20:28:02