Introducing The New Daniel Roth Tourbillon In Rose Gold
The second version of Daniel Roth’s modern classic launches at Geneva Watch Days in a modern classic metal.
Last January, Daniel Roth launched the first version of its first watch, which was something that many long time collectors and enthusiasts had admired in its first incarnation as the C187 Tourbillon, produced by Daniel Roth as the brand’s first watch when it launched in 1988. The watchmaker Daniel Roth had by then already had a very distinguished career, having been responsible for establishing the modern design language of Breguet and for developing its tourbillons as well, going all the way back to 1975. The C187 introduced Roth’s now-iconic double ellipse case, and the tourbillon, which had been produced in collaboration with Lemania on the caliber 387, placed the one minute tourbillon front and center on the dial, under a beautifully finished bridge, with a system of three seconds hands of varying length sweeping across three sectors just above the tourbillon itself, to allow the seconds to be read off.
The highly anticipated first tourbillon from the newly revived brand was the Souscription Tourbillon, which was similar-to-nearly-identical in many respects to the original C187, although with a number of careful tweaks to the design, including a clous-de-Paris guilloché pattern on the dial, and, perhaps most significantly for collectors, a new movement, the caliber DR001, although for the Souscription, the movement was hidden behind a solid caseback. The Souscription models were available on a subscription basis – a nod to the “souscription” watches created by Breguet – and a total of 20 were made, all of which are now in the hands of collectors. The new version of the tourbillon is the Daniel Roth Tourbillon Rose Gold, which has a rose gold case, different dial decoration, and an open display back.
On the dial side, the biggest change is the use of “guillochage en ligne” rather than the Clous de Paris pattern used on the original. The dial is in solid rose gold, with sterling silver chapter rings and seconds scales, and the triple seconds hands on the tourbillon carriage are black coated stainless steel. The dial was produced for Daniel Roth by Kari Voutilainen.
The caliber DR001 is a phenomenally beautiful movement – the layout is clear and logical and as a result, aesthetically satisfying as well. The movement is divided into two upper bridges, with the crown wheel, mainspring ratchet wheel, and mainspring barrel visible in the upper bridge, and the going train visible under the lower bridge. The driving wheel for the tourbillon sits under its own black polished steel cock, and the straight-line click for the mainspring barrel is black polished as well. The entire movement is finished to an extremely high standard, with all steelwork beveled and polished, including the screw heads; the linear Geneva stripes echo the linear guilloché on the dial. Caliber DR001 was developed by Michel Navas and Enrico Barbasini at La Fabrique du Temps, where the movement and watch are assembled.
The overall impression you get from both the watch and the movement is one of restrained good taste. Many modern watches tend to push the language of high end movement finishing in a somewhat hyperbolic direction, but of course, the various finishing techniques in the repertoire of Genevan fine watchmaking were developed originally as a natural extension of good workshop practices, not to dazzle the eye (and in any case high grade movements finished to those standards would have been concealed behind solid casebacks in any case). The Daniel Roth Tourbillon Rose Gold is a very traditional watch in this respect – it eschews obvious finishing pyrotechnics in favor of the dignified restraint of classic high grade Swiss fine watchmaking.
The Daniel Roth Tourbillon Rose Gold is not a limited edition, although it will be limited in production to a maximum of 50 pieces per year. Each watch will be numbered – the Souscription Tourbillons were numbered one through 20, so the Rose Gold tourbillon number will start at 21.
Price at launch is CHF 155,000, which is a slight increase over the CHF 140,000 price of the Souscription model. The purist in me loved the solid caseback on the yellow gold Souscription but the caliber DR001 is so well thought out and executed that, given the opportunity to choose between the two, there’s a good chance that the visual pleasure of being able to see the movement might well win out over the purist’s delight in a solid caseback.
The Daniel Roth Tourbillon Rose Gold, ref. DAAD01A1: case, 18k 5N rose gold, 38.6mm x 35.5mm 9.2mm, flat sapphire crystals front and back. Movement, Daniel Roth caliber DR001, one minute tourbillon, 4.6mm thick, running in 19 jewels at 21,600 vph. Production limited to 50 pieces per year; price at launch, CHF 155,00. For more information, visit DanielRoth.com.