Legendary watchmaker Roger Dubuis started his horological career younger than most. As a schoolboy in Corsier-sur-Veyey, he had special permission from his teacher to leave school before his classmates to go and wind the weights of the church clock and ring the bells at noon. At 12 years old he was already spending more time in the village watchmaker’s workshop than outside playing with his friends.
His studies took him to the Geneva Watchmaking School followed by positions at Longines and Patek Philippe. During the depression of the quartz era, he continued working at Patek Philippe but had an atelier at home where he would work on his own projects in the evening. He went on to assist the Musée d’horlogerie and the Galerie d’Horlogerie Ancienne, better known today as Antiquorum, in repair and restoration work. However, he is best recognised for co-founding the company SOGEM that went on to become the Manufacture Roger Dubuis.
Although he is retired from the Manufacture that carries his name, none of his passion has gone; on the contrary, he is now dedicated to transmitting his knowledge to the next generation. “I wouldn’t say that I am at the end of my life, but there are still things I have to do - to transmit what was taught to me to others,” Dubuis says. “If I have done it in a practical sense throughout my career, now I am giving lessons on the history of watchmaking, or more, the history of the life of a watchmaker and his metier.”
Source: Europa Star April-May 2007 Magazine Issue
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