I know he has been discussed on this forum extensively in the past, but my god, I was reading about him and his techniques this morning, and this man is a true master. When I first saw photos of his Simplicity, I wondered why people were willing to throw so much money at a time only watch, but now I understand.

I can’t believe that he does everything by hand. That is just insane. He wears a Datograph as well, so he must respect the Lange brand. Does A. Lange Sohne also make everything by hand? I know they are many orders of magnitude a larger operation.

Are there any other independent watchmakers in the world who are on par with Dufour?

 

Lange doesn't make anything hand made like Dufour. Lange makes thpusands of watches a year.

Roger Smith from the Isle of Man makes handmade watches on par with Dufuor, and there are a few others.

 

yes I enjoyed that video of RW Smith and his operation. some seriously high end craftsmanship. they didn't mention what one of his watches would set a person back but i'm sure it's gotta be startling

 

Haven't seen any recent data but I think a simple watch is in the £60,000 range. But I might be off.

 

I think it’s more than that.

 

You are right, starting north of £100,000 now and a many year wait.

 

Two years ago, a Duality (well, the first one, #0) was sold for 915k USD at Phillips.
https://www.phillips.com/detail/philippe-dufour/NY080117/47

 

I’ve had that watch on my wrist, while I was in Mr. Dufour’s atelier...

 

I have great respect for the man, and not trying to take away from his accomplishments but my understanding he designs and makes most of the movement. Not sure if the makes the dial, hands, case, etc. Roger Smith (and his teacher George Daniels) make the whole watch. Someone correct me if I'm wrong.

 

I was about to ask the same question. Does Dufour make everything himself? Hands? Balance spring? Etc?

 

Does anyone have any insight into this? I know that most watchmakers don’t make all of their components from scratch.

 

Just relooked at my copy of Watchmaking by George Daniels (1981), his famous guide book for watchmakers. As far as I can see he made everything himself, balance springs, hands, cases, even the glasswork. Raw materials in ---> finished watch out, that's really essential for a handmade watch. I would think R.W. Smith does the same thing today since he apprenticed under Daniels. Recently read an interview with Smith and he was asked if he considered himself obsessive about his watches to which he answered, 'you'd have to ask my wife as I spend weeks working on a dial'. Not sure if Dufour and others go that same route or if they buy in some specialized components. I would not be surprised if Dufour has his cases made to spec by a specialist, same with the crystals. Some of these crafts are very specialized, like case making.

 

I’m not sure either, and also not sure how easy it is to figure that out.

 

I'd say a good bet is Rexhep Rexhepi's Chronometre Contemporaine. Really good stuff.

Photo credit: SJX Watches

 

Trying to get on the waitlist...we shall see.

 

will go go pick it up in person?

 

I would if I got it. I very much doubt that I will get it anytime soon. Unless people fall off the waitlist.

 

Do you care about also buying the watch maker just like when buying a watch and you are buying the seller? for example in the other thread of Lange and Journe you know that chanel has a stake in journe and Richemont with Lange

what happens if for whatever reason and please I don't want it to happen but something happens to Rexhep or he decides to just do a Odet's a do something else or ... what happens then to your watch and servicing?

 

Questions that are frequently asked. There is certainly value in a brand that translates monetarily. Look at Rolex. Their factory mass produces hundreds of thousands of watches per year. There’s nothing hand finished about them and yet they sell for many times retail in some cases. That’s a direct result of brand value.

You can make a strong argument that Lange and Journe lost some real value when they sold all or part of themselves to larger corporations. I certainly thought about that when purchasing the Lange but I also felt like secondary market prices for their watches had already priced in that perceived loss of identity. In the end, it wasn’t that important to me. Journe prices are still high, but the same phenomenon will catch up with them in the end. And in any case, I’m no longer interested in Journe.

Servicing, too, is a valid concern. I have yet to acquire a piece that I consider worthy of heirloom status and so this concern isn’t quite real for me. Perhaps it will be one day. If I fall in love with a watch enough, and one of its parts broke but couldn’t be easily replaced, there are options, albeit expensive ones, that would solve the issue.

 

A simplicity is on my wishlist. Glad to know that a journe would be a good placeholder till then.