Roger Dubuis Sympathie 34 Biretrograde Calendar 2000 New Millenary Edition, 2000

Dealer description — S.Song Watches

Long before Roger Dubuis became associated with the extravagant designs of its later years, the brand was producing some of the most interesting, complicated watches of the late 1990s. Founded in 1995 by Roger Dubuis together with Carlos Dias, its earliest collection consisted of just two families, the classical Hommage and the far more distinctive Sympathie. The Sympathie was perhaps the more original of the two. Rather than relying on a conventional round or tonneau case, Roger Dubuis developed an unusual shape formed from four sweeping curves meeting at sharply defined corners. It was unlike almost anything else being produced at the time, yet somehow remained remarkably classical in execution. Early Sympathies are rare, and the original examples with their fully shaped crystals are particularly interesting today. Among the most distinctive watches to use this case was the Bi-Retrograde Calendar, a complication that became something of a signature for early Roger Dubuis. Rather than displaying the calendar through conventional subsidiary dials, the day and date are arranged across two large retrograde scales that sweep diagonally across the dial, with their hands returning instantaneously at the end of each cycle. The present watch is an especially unusual version produced around 2000 to commemorate the arrival of the new millennium. A large "New 2000 Millenary" medallion sits at 12 o'clock, while oversized calendar numerals and lettering are arranged almost typographically across the dial. There is an almost chaotic quality to the design, yet the underlying layout remains surprisingly balanced. The two blued retrograde hands mirror one another across the dial, while the moonphase at 6 o'clock anchors the composition. The white dial has an almost porcelain-like appearance, with the warmth of the rose gold case providing a particularly nice contrast against the black typography, flashes of red and deep blue of the calendar hands and moonphase. The 34mm rose gold case is equally important. Early Sympathies were constructed with a specially shaped sapphire crystal that follows the unusual curves of the case and dial. Later examples adopted a conventional round crystal within the shaped case, reportedly in part because of the difficulty involved in producing the original. It is a subtle difference, but the shaped crystal preserves the complete geometry of Roger Dubuis' original design and is one of the details that makes these early Sympathies so appealing. Powering the watch is the automatic Calibre RD 5740, visible through the sapphire caseback. Like many early Roger Dubuis movements, it was produced to the unusually demanding standards that defined the manufacture during this period, carrying the Geneva Seal while also receiving chronometer certification from the Besançon Observatory, referenced by the "Bulletin d'Observatoire" signature on the dial. For me, this Roger Dubuis Sympathie 34 Bi-retrograde Calendar captures exactly what makes early examples from the brand so interesting. The unconventional Sympathie case, fully shaped sapphire crystal, bi-retrograde calendar and obsessive approach to movement finishing and chronometry are all characteristic of the manufacture while its founder was still directly involved. It is a masterstroke in design - on paper, all of the above might seem like too much. But through proportion, taste and a good design hierarchy, this watch somehow comes out incredibly coherent and well-executed.