The New Daniel Roth Tourbillon Rose Gold

Seen by many collectors and watch insiders as one of the most important names of the indie watchmaking scene, Daniel Roth was instrumental in the rebirth of the Breguet brand and as an initiator of the comeback of high-end mechanical watchmaking after the quartz crisis – check this in-depth article for all the details. Recently taken over by the watch division of Louis Vuitton, Daniel Roth made a resounding comeback last year with the Tourbillon Souscription, a modern watch inspired by the all-important original Tourbillon C187. The story continues and following the 20 initial watches in yellow gold, the Daniel Roth Tourbillon now comes back in rose gold as a permanent member of the collection – and with several little updates to make it unique.

The story of Monsieur Daniel Roth and his eponymous brand is fairly complex, but it’s a fascinating one anyway. Born and raised in his grandfather’s watchmaking workshop in Switzerland, trained as a watchmaker in France, Roth started his career at AP. But the first important step in his career was an encounter with the Chaumet Brothers, back then owners of Breguet. Hiring him as a technical-artistic director, they decided to entrust him with the formidable task of restoring the name of the greatest Master Watchmaker to its former glory. The rest… one of the most glorious collections of neo-classic watches. Once having made Breguet great again, Roth decided to fly solo and created his eponymous brand and the first watches came to exist in the late 1980s. In 1994, after 6 years of independent activity, Roth transferred the majority of his shares to Singapore-based The Hour Glass Group. And in 2000, Bulgari acquired the brand. All of this story is explained in this extensive article.

Among the dozens of watches created by the brand Daniel Roth, the most desirable and collectible ones are, without a doubt, those produced during the solo-era of Roth – 1988-1994. And part of these is the stunning Tourbillon C187, a watch that summarizes everything the brand stood for. Double-ellipse case, guilloche dial, blued hands, Roman numerals, high-end movement… This 35x38mm watch featured a movement derived from the hand-wound Lemania 387, with a one-minute tourbillon at 6 o’clock in a recessed openworked part of the dial, framed by a triple 20-second scale, with a three-arm hand. The back side a date sub-dial and a power reserve indicator.

The C187 is the watch that Louis Vuitton decided to use as an inspiration for the re-launch of the brand, with the Daniel Roth Tourbillon Souscription. This yellow-gold model featured a hobnail guilloché dial, blued steel hands and a brand new movement created to mimic the display of the original Tourbillon C187. It was produced in 20 pieces only, but now has a successor.

Meet the second act; the Daniel Roth Tourbillon Rose Gold… This pink-on-pink edition marks the beginning of the brand’s permanent collection. And if it feels very close to the vintage models and to last year’s Souscription version, it still brings some fresh new elements.

Let’s start with what’s already known… The case. No changes here regarding the emblematic design – a.k.a the double-ellipse case or ellipsocurvex – with the same evolutions that were found on the Souscription version, meaning slightly enlarged dimensions of 38,6mm x 35,5mm (we’re talking half a millimeter in total) and a thickness of only 9.2mm (much thinner than a C187). Also, these modern watches have redesigned lugs that are not only shorter but also angled downward, for better wrist comfort – it is a lovely watch on the wrist, with a compact case, true elegance and yet visual presence.

The main evolution for this new Daniel Roth Tourbillon concerns the choice of material, as yellow gold has here been replaced by 5N rose gold, said to be “a perfect evolution from the vintage feel of the yellow gold used for the Tourbillon Souscription,” Matthieu Hegi, Artistic Director of the brand, with the wish to bring here a warmer, slightly more modern take on the concept. It’s a softer take, with slightly less contrast between the gold and the silvered touches of the dial, a feeling reinforced by the light brown, almost beige tone of the strap.

While the majority of the original C187 watches were made with a silver or grey dial, the Daniel Roth Tourbillon Rose Gold is dressed up with a harmonious tone-on-tone rose gold dial. Not just colour-coordinated, the dial is made from solid 5N rose gold, with the applied chapters and scales are in sterling silver. One small but notable difference with the Souscription version, the markings are printed in glossy black lacquer, and matched with black-coated stainless steel hands (and not blued). The portion of the main-plate visible under the tourbillon is still finished with Geneva stripes, contrary to the grained pattern of the C187.

The main difference with last year’s model is the pattern of the dial. Although the very earliest examples of the C187 sported dials finished with hobnail guilloche, which is also found in the Tourbillon Souscription, most of the C187 watches can be found with linear guilloche, a style that would later become a trademark for Roth. This is why this new Tourbillon Rose Gold brings back this specific pattern. Produced in collaboration with the engine-turning atelier of Kari Voutilainen, the dial is done by hand with a manually operated straight-line engine that engraves each of the vertical lines one at a time.

A distinctive element of the original C187 Tourbillon was that it exposed the regulating organ proudly on its dial – something that seems classic today but that wasn’t necessarily the norm back in the 1980s. As such, the Tourbillon Rose Gold retains the stepped dial with the tourbillon at 6 o’clock and off-centred hours and minutes at 12 o’clock. The tourbillon is held in place by a superb rounded bridge in black-polished steel, and is topped by a classic 3-harm hand pointing at a small second track in three sections.

The final difference between the Daniel Roth Tourbillon Rose Gold and the souscription model doesn’t come from the movement (which is identical) but from the caseback… We now can finally see this handsome movement through a sapphire back. The calibre DR001 has been developed from the ground by Michel Navas and Enrico Barbasini, heads of La Fabrique du Temps LV, yet as respectful as possible to both Roth’s work and traditional watchmaking. A classic, 19-jewel hand-wound calibre, it’s shaped and conceived traditionally, without exotic functions or technical solutions. The tourbillon beats at 3Hz and the power reserve is a comfortable 80h.

The design and finishing is extremely fine, without being overly demonstrative. Discreet, subtle decorations have been applied by hand all around, such as Geneva stripes and perlage, as well as anglage with rounded, bevelled edges that are mirror polished. The wheel driving the tourbillon is held in place by a curved bridge of black-polished steel, while its pivot jewel sits in a gold chaton (one of three gold chatons in the movement). A linear winding click sits on top of the barrel and is also black-polished steel – and it surely sounds great too.

While only 20 examples were done with the souscription series, this Daniel Roth Tourbillon Rose Gold will be part of the permanent collection. Each watch will be individually numbered on the dial starting from 21 following the Tourbillon Souscription that was numbered 01 to 20. Considering the brand’s capacities and the hand-made nature of the watch, no more than 50 Tourbillon Rose Gold watches will be produced each year. The price is set at CHF 155,000 excl. taxes. For more details, please visit www.danielroth.com.