Introducing The Daniel Roth Extra Plat In Rose Gold

The reborn Daniel Roth brand had a strong launch when their first watch debuted in January of 2024: the Daniel Roth Tourbillon Souscription, which was a very faithful, very beautiful version of the original Daniel Roth tourbillon ref. C187, launched in 1988. The 2024 tourbillon was sold on a subscription basis, hence the name – 50% down payment, and 50% on delivery – and like the original, had a closed caseback. This was followed by a version in rose gold, launched in August of 2024, and then, by the time only Extra Plat Souscription in yellow gold.

The design of the new Extra Plat watches is derived from that of the 1990 automatic ultra thin, from Daniel Roth, which was followed in 1991 by a hand-wound model. The automatic was powered by the F. Piguet caliber 71, and the hand wound model, by the F. Piguet caliber 21. The modern Extra Plat in yellow gold is hand-wound, with a movement designed and assembled at Louis Vuitton La Fabrique du Temps – caliber DR002, following the same numbering scheme established for the tourbillon movement, designated caliber DR001. As with the tourbillons, while the first modern Extra Plat is in yellow gold, with a closed back, the new rose gold model has a display back.

The case design remains the same, and as with the 1990 model, the dial has a pinstripe pattern, with Roman numerals, and guilloché applied in three concentric circles to the inner and outer circumference of the chapter ring, and as well as in a vertical pinstripe pattern. The steel hands are heat blued.

The double ellipse case is elegantly proportioned and quite thin, at 35.5mm x 38.6mm x 7.70mm, just slightly thicker than the 1990 model, which was 38mm x 35mm x 6.7mm, and the 1991 hand-wound model, which was 31.3mm x 31.4mm x 6mm. An arched gadroon circles the case middle, running through the center of the lugs, with a domed edge on the bezel and caseback.

The yellow gold versions of both the tourbillon and the Extra Plat had solid display backs as a nod to the original designs, and to those collectors who favor a solid case back as more traditional. The caliber DR002, however, is so fantastically beautiful that I can’t help but celebrate the fact that it’s now visible.

Caliber DR002 is a modern movement technically, measuring 31mm x 28mm x 3.1mm; the automatic F. Piguet caliber 71 was 2.4mm thick, and the F. Piguet caliber 21, 1.73mm thick, but there are a couple of reasons for using a thicker (but still very thin) hand-wound movement in the rose gold Extra Plat. The F. Piguet 71 had a 48 hour power reserve, and ran at 18,000 vph and the F. Piguet 21, a 42 hour power reserve running at 21,600 vph. The caliber DR002 has a considerably longer power reserve, at 65 hours, and runs at a modern 28,800 vph/4Hz.

Most importantly, caliber DR002 has been specifically designed to not only power the Daniel Roth Extra Plat, but also to be the base caliber for future complications.

Caliber DR002, like DR001, is a shaped movement designed to fit the inner dimensions of the double ellipse case; it runs in 21 jewels and is adjusted to six positions, with a freesprung adjustable mass balance. The layout is similar to that of the tourbillon caliber DR001, but with some differences thanks to the DR001’s placement of the tourbillon carriage on the centerline of the movement and on the dial side of the watch.

The Daniel Roth tourbillon caliber DR001

Other differences include the frequency; the DR001 runs at 21,600 vph, and its rate is adjusted via timing screws on the balance, vs. the use of rotating weights on the DR002. Thanks to differences in the configuration of the going trains, the hand-winding train for the DR002 is different as well, although both movements are still punctuated by the beautifully finished crown wheel and ratchet wheel on the mainspring barrel.

Having said, “beautifully finished,” it’s obvious that the entire movement benefits from the same high level of attention. The Geneva stripes are finely applied, running continuously across the movement bridges; the mainplate is decorated with perlage, on both sides. The dial side of the movement is of course not visible but it’s just as well finished, with perlage applied to the mainplate, and some of the most beautiful keyless works (for winding and setting) that I’ve ever seen in a wristwatch.

The movement bridges are finely finished with rounded anglage and polished flanks, with the sharp inner corners characteristic of a genuinely hand-finished movement.

Jewels and screws are both set in mirror polished countersinks, and all steelwork is beveled and black polished, except for the snailing on the crown and ratchet wheels. Going train wheels have beveled and polished edges and train wheel teeth are mirror polished on their flanks as well.

Nowadays, we tend to admire fine movement finishing for its aesthetic properties but many of these finishing techniques served a practical purpose, as well as simply being the logical extension of good workshop practices. Geneva stripes in addition to serving a decorative purpose, have a surface texture that can trap any minute dust particles inside the movement –an especially important consideration in the days before modern silicon greases and gaskets were available to seal watch cases. A particle of dust can be nearly invisible but if it gets into the film of oil in which train wheel pivots run, it can over time scratch and wear even hardened steel. Polishing bridges and applying anglage serves to remove machining marks as well as any burrs remaining from the machining process (again, more of a consideration in the days before modern five axis CNC machining was possible) and black polishing steel helps harden the surface and reduce the risk of corrosion. Even the bevels on movement screw heads have a purpose; they help ensure that the tip of a watchmaker’s screwdriver can enter the slot without scratching the screw head (and of course, screw driver tips have to be properly shaped and polished as well, in order to sit correctly in the slot and allow the necessary torque to be applied without jumping out of the slot and scratching the movement; traditionally one of the first things an apprentice watchmaker learned to do was correctly shape the tips of screwdrivers).

It’s hard not to be a little fulsome in praise of the calibers DR001 and DR002. With the fetishization of fine hand finishing in modern watchmaking and collecting – which, I hasten to add, is not a bad thing; it has led to high expectations on the part of serious collectors, and preservation of craft among watchmakers who go to the trouble of actually finishing their movements by hand, instead of finding ways to simulate it mechanically – there has also come a tendency to make movements whose design verges on the baroque, with such lavish application of finishing techniques that they begin to feel divorced from the functional excellence that was the reason for those techniques in the first place. Daniel Roth’s approach is unstinting in the execution of craft, but it never loses sight of its connection to functional considerations and if you’re a fan of classic high end watchmaking, these are movements for a traditionalist’s traditionalist.

This is fine watchmaking in every sense of the word: excellence in everything from proportions to case design to movement design to … well, to everything, really.

The new rose gold Extra Plat is not a limited edition, although the amount of hand work which goes into making them will necessarily mean low production numbers. Price is CHF 49,000 – and although hand-finished, hand-made time only watches have become some of the most expensive examples of fine watchmaking in the modern horological landscape, with the Daniel Roth Extra Plat you can really just how much the intrinsic horological content of the watch justifies the price.

The Daniel Roth Extra Plat In Rose Gold: case, 5n rose gold, 38.6mm x 35.5mm x 7.70mm; water resistance 30 meters. Dial, hand-guilloché decorated with thermally blued hands. Movement, caliber DR002, running at 28,800 vph in 21 jewels, 31mm x 28mm x 3.1mm, hand assembled and hand finished, with 65 hour power reserve. Price, CHF 49,000; available now.

The 1916 Company is proud to be an authorized retailer for Daniel Roth watches. Please contact us for availability.