Daniel Roth blends art and technology in watches

GENEVA (JP): He appears to be a shy person, far removed from the sophisticated and hi-tech image his timepieces have created. But underneath Daniel Roth is a passionate man when it comes to watchmaking, a passion that has made him one of the world's most famous names in his field.

"He is recognized as the father of complicated watches since he first created his masterpiece, the famous Double-Face TOURbillon in 1991," said Gerald Roden, Daniel Roth's managing director.

Roth is also the only person in the watchmaking business who designs and creates the movements for his watches.

"Most other brands buy the movements from other manufacturers. Not Daniel Roth. He has a passion for the technical aspects, too," said Roden.

Born into the Swiss horological tradition, this grandson of a watchmaker began his career in the Vallee de Joux (Joux Valley), a small enclave located some 50 kilometers from Geneva where the workshops of the most inventive and perfectionist creators of timepieces are to be found.

Roth came to Geneva at the age of 18 and worked first at Jaeger-LeCoultre and then at Audemars Piguet. Soon news about his outstanding ability spread beyond the valley and prompted the Chaumet Brothers, the famous Paris jewelers, to choose him to bring new life to the legendary name of Abraham-Louis Breguet.

For 14 years, Roth studied the work of this 18th century watchmaker, inventor of the tourbillon. He successfully redesigned Breguet's renowned mechanism, placing it in a wristwatch, reviving the name of Briguet in the watch firmament of today.

In 1989, he allowed his ideas to take wings. He gave them a house of their own, in which they could take shape. He worked where he had always wanted to, in surroundings he had always dreamed of, in Le Sentier, in the Joux Valley close to the lake.

The spirit of the valley and the atmosphere of craftsmanship that can be sensed in his workshop ensure that the realization of his dream takes form in pieces that are worthy of great praise, that combine haute couture horlogerie with a creative touch and that carry on in the tradition of the masters. Creativity, integrity, exclusivity and perfection are the fundamental principles of Daniel Roth.

In 1990 Roth produced his first masterpiece, the tourbillon. All the complications of haute horlogerie were to follow: perpetual calendar, retrograde watch, different chronograph versions -- skeleton and otherwise -- as well as traditional and jewel-encrusted watches for men and women.

Roth's understanding of the honor and ethics of his profession is represented in each of the masterpieces he produces. Everything is made according to the oldest traditions. All parts are worked individually, all edges are beveled, every mechanism is set in motion by a single watchmaker.

A Daniel Roth watch is identified at first glance by the shape of its case. It is neither round, rectangular nor oval. Instead, it combines the circle, the square and the oval, a unique design recognizable among all others that has earned a name as the Daniel Roth shape.

Each bold and modern case, which demands hours of work and skillful manual polishing, is adorned with dials which represent the height of watch classicism and whose finish is worked in the same way as practiced in the 18th century. The metal strap, too, carries the distinctive mark, with each link shaped in the Daniel Roth shape.

Formerly known only as men's watches, Daniel Roth timepieces are now also available for women. The lady line, called Lady Automatic, is found in a collection of jewelry watches that are a blend of art and haute horlogerie, a marriage of fashion and tradition.

During the 8th Salon International de la Haute Horlogerie, Daniel Roth displayed his latest creation, the Instantaneous Perpetual Calendar. This elegant timepiece features an extremely rare complication, conceived and created to the exacting standards of the master watchmaker.

The characteristic of this piece resides in the manner in which the day, date, month and leap year are indicated on three different dials. At midnight, the hands jump instantaneously to indicate the new day and date, instead of moving slowly into position over a period of several hours.

Daniel Roth always starts with designs, then embarks on lengthy works to make his timepiece more and more complicated. Like all master technicians, his passion for complications stems from his desire to prove that there is no complication too great to achieve by those with talents to blend beauty and technical expertise.

The various watch complications can be listed into three distinct groups, each of which is subdivided. The first group is watches having one or two additional hands to show the time and this group is divided into four smaller categories: watches with independent second hands, watches with jumping second indicators, chronographs with counters and split-second chronographs.

The second group is watches with a striking mechanism. It includes quarter repeaters, five-minute repeaters, half-quarter repeaters, minute repeaters and grand strikes. The third group is watches providing astronomical indications (calendars) that include ordinary calendars, perpetual calendars, moonphases and time equation watches.

To these may be added new combined functions. When one watch embodies all three categories, it becomes what is known as a grande complication.

Daniel Roth is known to have created watches of the highest complication as his clients expect him to produce more than standard timepieces. His designs are said to be contemporary, a label he accepts with grace.

"It's better to be contemporary than to be dead," Roth calmly argued.

To celebrate the 10th anniversary of his company this year, Roth has come out with another model, for the time being called the Butterfly. The Butterfly was completed three months ago and will be sold as a limited edition of not more than 210 pieces.

"We may find another name for it, because butterfly in French is papillon, which is also the title of the book and movie Papillon," said Roden. (lem)