hen David Chaumet joined Roger Dubuis in 2008, there was not yet any talk of "Hyper Horology”. He was in charge of quality and customer service, before taking responsibility for the Swiss market, then Europe and Asia-Pacific. The Geneva-based Manufacture founded in 1995 was at a turning point, having just been acquired by Richemont after a decade of creative frenzy under the impetus of Roger Dubuis and Carlos Dias. The time had come for industrial rationalisation, a focus on development endeavours and more mature product management.

After four and a half years at Baume & Mercier, David Chaumet returned to head up Roger Dubuis when he was appointed CEO a year ago. His mission is to revisit 30 years of history to clarify the brand’s strategic positioning, hovering between creative exuberance and the serenity of Geneva’s Haute Horlogerie based on fine craftsmanship and the Poinçon de Genève quality hallmark.

©Archives Europa Star

©Archives Europa Star

Following a 2001 visit to Roger Dubuis, this report was published in Europa Star six years after the brand was created by Roger Dubuis and Carlos Dias.

©Archives Europa Star

The brand’s 30th anniversary is therefore an opportunity for a two-pronged approach: exploring its heritage – notably with the Hommage La Placide and the Excalibur Monobalancier Biretrograde Calendar – and reaffirming Roger Dubuis’ most spectacular territory of expression with the new Excalibur Knights of the Round Table - The Enchanter Merlin. All these timepieces encapsulate the brand’s original duality: the master-watchmaker’s placid nature and the brand’s flamboyantly theatrical personality.

David Chaumet, CEO Roger Dubuis

Europa Star: You are celebrating Roger Dubuis’ 30th anniversary. What does this milestone mean to you?

David Chaumet: While 30 years is not very long in watchmaking terms, for us, it has already been a period of fast-tracked creativity. This anniversary has been an opportunity to revisit everything: the great creations, the founding calibres, the iconic designs. We have a richer heritage than people realise, particularly in terms of bi-retrograde movements, highly specialised small series and Haute Horlogerie timepieces with sophisticated complications.

From the outset, there was a very fertile tension between Roger Dubuis’ passion for Geneva tradition – on the one hand, the quest for fine craftsmanship, precision, the Poinçon de Genève, with complications such as the double tourbillon, retrograde displays, the perpetual calendar – and, on the other hand, the expression of Carlos Dias’ temperament through exuberance, unusual case sizes and highly dramatic dials.

One might describe this as “serenity and fire”, a duality embedded in the Maison’s DNA: watches capable of appealing to very traditional collectors while boldly owning an extreme theatrical look on the wrist. My role today is to bring these two poles into dialogue rather than choose one over the other. This is so that we can continue appealing to our two historic clienteles: devotees of traditional Haute Horlogerie and those seeking the brand’s expressive exuberance.

The new 38 mm Hommage La Placide timepiece is available in an 18K rose gold 28-piece limited edition. This exclusive series echoes the Excalibur Biretrograde Calendar recently launched at the Watches and Wonders exhibition: two biretrograde creations closely linked to the brand’s heritage.

You arrived in 2008, just after Richemont acquired Roger Dubuis with an initial 60% stake (finalised eight years later). It was a turning point and a period of profound transformation for the Manufacture. What changed from then on?

It was indeed a pivotal period. Between 1995 and 2008, the brand had explored almost every possible avenue, involving a frenzy of creativity, a flurry of movements and numerous small, sometimes highly intuitive series, all guided by the instinct of the duo at its helm.

From 2008 to 2011, we moved from a Manufacture designed for a creator to one designed for customers. We streamlined movement platforms, development times, reliability and the correlation with commercial expression. We gained management maturity without sacrificing technical boldness.

Today, this foundation serves us well: we have acquired in-house expertise in all movement components – from development to final adjustments – and retained our longstanding partners for dials, cases and straps/bracelets, while consolidating what we do ourselves.

Inside Calibre 1472, the combination of two star wheels provides a fluid design for the mechanism of the months and leap years. One of the wheels has 12 teeth, while the second has 48, enabling the month and leap year to be displayed on the same counter by means of two coaxial hands.

Roger Dubuis positioned itself very early on in the field of Hyper Horology. As Swiss watchmaking has moved upmarket, the idea behind this concept seems to have spread throughout the industry... How do you now position yourselves?

For us, Hyper Horology is where flawless Geneva Haute Horlogerie meets deliberately theatrical expressiveness. It is not merely a matter of outdoing others in terms of complications or price. In concrete terms, it means calibres developed entirely in-house, a level of finishing in line with the Poinçon de Genève – today, around 92% of our pieces are certified – along with extremely expressive elements. I often say that every Roger Dubuis watch should be like a play: each element has a role, enters the stage and catches the eye – yet without ever compromising on technique.

For example, when we developed the RD1472 calibre for the Hommage La Placide, we started with the RD14 calibre and the original RD72 module. We had to rethink the axes, recalculate the ratios and re-engineer a large number of components to meet current Poinçon de Genève standards. It’s a huge, invisible task, yet that’s exactly what Hyper Horology is all about: revisiting a heritage and elevating it to today’s standards.

Let’s talk about Hommage La Placide. How did this timepiece come about?

The Hommage collection was originally created by Roger in 1996 to pay tribute to the watchmakers, teachers and friends who had influenced his career. For the 30th anniversary, we wanted to return to this concept, while applying it to Roger himself. Placide was his boy scout nickname that stuck with him throughout his life. It refers to his calm, composed nature and his subtle intelligence – in contrast to the very flamboyant image people sometimes have of the brand.

The watch is a 38 mm rose gold 28-piece limited edition with a perpetual calendar and a biretrograde display – two of his favourite complications. The RD1472 movement is decorated to the highest standards with 15 types of hand finishing, from snailing to cold-worked chamfering.

The model also stands out for its multi-layered dial, with its mother-of-pearl segments, its Bleu Léman baseplate – a nod to the lake that Roger saw every day on his way to school – and its elliptical bi-retrograde scales. It is a watchmaker’s tribute to a watchmaker.

On the exceptional Excalibur Knights of the Round Table - The Enchanter Merlin, produced in a 28-piece limited edition, each knight marks his hour with a unique pose and presence.

The other major new release is the Excalibur Knights of the Round Table - The Enchanter Merlin. Could you tell us about it?

The Knights of the Round Table saga has been one of our major creative franchises since 2013. It perfectly represents our expressive watchmaking. We are telling a new story with this timepiece, centred on the crystal palace built by Merlin for the Lady of the Lake.

Everything about this model is masterful theatre: a dial built like a mystical landscape with 56 columns of different heights in Murano glass, polished or matt enamel, rhodium-plated gold and rose gold; with ruthenium crystals at the base creating a sparkling lake effect – and for the first time in our history, an “invisible” setting of hexagonal diamonds on some of the columns.

Around them, 12 knights, each sculpted in rose gold, watch over the scene. It takes two to three days to craft each figurine. Beating at the heart of the watch is the RD821 automatic calibre bearing the Poinçon de Genève. Here again, technology serves the narrative. We are not trying to break any records, but instead striving to create emotion, a theatrical performance, while maintaining our technical watchmaking legitimacy.

Calibre RD821 calibre features 14 different types of hand-finishing on its components, an essential criterion for obtaining the prestigious Poinçon de Genève.

Today, neo-classical or neo-vintage styles dominate discussions in the watchmaking world, perhaps even more so than extravagance. Is La Placide a response to this trend?

We are not interested in neo-vintage, in the sense that we do not want to simply reissue the past. Conversely, we have a very rich heritage spanning just 30 years, with completely extraordinary references – and it would be a shame not to explore this legacy. The challenge is to honour Roger Dubuis: to reintroduce design signatures such as biretrograde displays, certain colour codes and dial architectures, while remaining resolutely contemporary.

The Excalibur Monobalancier Biretrograde Calendar and the Hommage La Placide are good examples of this dual approach. What’s more, we stand out for our ability to offer bespoke creations through our Rarities department. If we manage to maintain this common thread – serenity and fire – while strengthening our ties with collectors around the world, then I believe we will have succeeded in our next quest.