Roger Dubuis Sympathie 40 Biretrograde Chronograph, 2000s

Dealer description — S.Song Watches

For a long time, the Roger Dubuis name was considered over and irrelevant to collectors. With Dubuis watches of today having garish designs and proportions that are just, all wrong, it is no wonder why. The truth is, Roger Dubuis, the man, left the company in 2005 and while he was undoubtedly a brilliant watchmaker, he lacked business expertise. An independent brand with aspiration, I do not doubt that today’s independent watch brands have Roger Dubuis and other pioneers of his time to thank for laying down the groundwork. Roger Dubuis formed his eponymous brand in 1995 after two decades at Patek Philippe and at the time, it not only took huge courage to start an independent brand but Dubuis had to also operate in an area that wasn’t as mainstream as it is today. There were two main lines that Dubuis produced- the Homage series, which were more traditional round-cased watches, and what you see here today the Sympathie series. Featuring a more experimental and unconventional case design, this is the most iconic Dubuis shape with an amorphous and angular shape. This particular example is a Sympathie 40, denoting a 40mm case size and houses a biretrograde calendar chronograph mechanism. With the legendary manually-wound Lemania Cal. 2310 movement as its base, the Cal. RD 5630 is fitted with a retrograde calendar module and finished to an incredibly high standard. Notice the capped column wheel — a trait seen on Patek Philippe chronographs to this day. Furthermore, every early Roger Dubuis bears the Poincon de Genève (Geneva Seal) and is chronometer-graded by the Besançon Observatory. Not only is the Sympathie case distinctively Roger Dubuis, but his dial design also has a strong identity. This Sympathie 40 has a beautiful eggshell lacquer dial that has a milky undertone and features stylized lettering on both the Arabic numerals and the calendar display. The thing that strikes me the most about early Roger Dubuis watches is that not only are they of the highest standard, but they somehow manage to have a truly original design language — something that is truly lacking in most of today’s industry. Each Roger Dubuis model from his time was made in limited editions of 28, making this example extremely special and rare.