Duality up for sale next month: http://watchesbysjx.com/2017/09/bre...dufour-duality-no-00-in-new-york-auction.html One of only 9 in existence, so will be interesting to see what this goes for. Unfortunately way out of my price range, and will be a solid profit for the current owner. Cheers, Al
This is one of the reason why I'm very looking forward for this auction. Had a pleasure to see these 2 Dufour beauties in metal, back in June, Alongside these as well,
What a wonderful viewing. I'm not much of a black dial person on dress watches but how it makes those indicators more prominent, adds to the dimensionality . I can only imagine the detail in person!
That was pretty awesome! A few nuggets: - of the 200 Simplicité he made, 120 went to Japan. Later he showed a Japanese schoolbook for children in Manga format that has a section on watch technology. It includes several pages of drawings of Dufour, his workshop, his watches, where he is located in the world, etc. Dufour and the Japanese share an affinity of appreciating craftsmanship of the highest order. - He mentioned that visitors are often taken aback when they visit his workshop because they are more use to the antiseptic (his word) environment of the modern firms, "and here things are little different". Cool to see him smoke a pipe while working. - many of the traditional tools he is using are very old. They "didn't come with instruction manuals and those who knew how to use them are in the cemetery." So to use the tools he had to self-teach himself on the methods to operate them.
I wish I understood French. Somewhat surprised that there aren't added subtitle translations on that. Watching it is still fascinating though.
We can also note that he tried to train young watchmakers but they could not cope with the expectations that Dufour put on...he is still disappointed by that!
I noticed that too. I think it may have to do that he chooses to make his watches in a traditional way with period tools and techniques; I can imagine differences of opinions occurring if an an apprentice wanting to bring new ideas.
To me it is more like he was too demanding in quality of execution that the student get quick discouraged. To him young watchmakers get too quickl discouraged, so a lack of perseverance
That's indeed what Mr. Dufour alluded in the movie. I think we are not necessarily contradicting ourselves... The quality of execution can also mean doing it the traditional way for some people. His workshop appears to me as a replica of a fine 1920's artisan watchmaker. Interestingly, at that time, Hamilton veered away from artisan manufacturing process and literally made millions of precision timepieces (such as the 992B) with easily interchangeable parts. Many ways to skin a cat...
Mr Dufour has trained several younger watchmakers - when I was in his shop several years ago he had 2 others working with him to produce the Simplicity models, with the idea that these people would be service providers down the road for his brand. One was clearly from Japan as that is his largest market. This is a video I took of one of those people polishing countersinks on bridges by hand: That morning he had completed about 6 countersinks in total, so it's a time consuming process. Of course the work is demanding, but if you have been through watchmaking school you know it's a demanding profession, and working with someone like Mr. Dufour is not going to be any easier. The vast majority of watchmakers I know would be fine sweeping his floors for a year to get the opportunity to work for him. His atelier is a mix of old and new equipment, so he uses a mix of old and new production techniques. It's an old farmhouse, so although other brands have similar buildings as part of their factories (JLC comes to mind specifically), they are primarily large industrial production facilities, so quite different from what you see in his shop. Certainly you could automate the polishing of countersinks, but they would not be at the level the ones I've shown above are at - this is done as much by the feel of the surface during polishing as it is the appearance. In contrast to that completely old school methodology for the countersinks, I asked him about making Côtes de Genève, and being the very generous person that he is, rather than simply explaining it, he showed me the process fist hand. Here a piece of German silver is adhered to the base of the machine, and the machine has a high speed spindle with a wooden cup attached (ebony so the black part): The edges of that cup are charged with abrasive powder mixed with lavender oil (smells wonderful) and then the spinning cup is moved across the plate by hand - steady movement is required for even stripes: The work is then indexed a fixed amount over, and another run is made with the tool - I did bring this sample home with me but have misplaced it. Really wish I could find it! Now this machinery is older, but not ancient by any means. Mind you compared to how most brands produce Côtes de Genève these days with a fully automated machine, this is a very antiquated technique certainly, but it is what distinguishes "proper" Côtes de Genève from the mass produced versions that dig deep trenches in the surface of the work: With the way Mr. Dufour creates these, you can close your eyes and run your fingers over the surface, and it will feel completely smooth, not like a plowed field... Oh and the Duality that is up for sale - that is one I have held in my hands personally... And this is his own personal Simplicity...I didn't fully strap it on my wrist... In my own personal experience, he takes his work, but not himself, very seriously. He is kind, and has a wonderful sense of humour. Cheers, Al
@Archer I fully agree with you !! I would be more than happy to get trained by M. Dufour just one year!! I quit recently my Financial Controller job in order to be full time watchmaker after turned back to school for graduation. Honestly I was a bit disappointed by the way they taught watchmaking => the purpose was to provide workforce as operators more than watchmakers. I have learn by myself and with an experienced watchmaker 2 years before going back to school and very happy to have done that! Concerning Dufour, I am very glad to see that he like to teach and to perpetuate the knowledge ("Naissance d'une montre" projec with Greubel Forsey). You are very lucky to had the opportunity to visit his beautiful workshop and thanks for sharing the "côtes de Genève" tips!!
Please correct me if I'm wrong but I believe he out sources his dials. Needless to say that they are flawless works of art.
I realized when this came up I had never seen how much that Duality sold for - $915,000 (plus fees I'm sure but I didn't check).