What trends should we be keeping an eye on?

Absolutely and this is a recurrent thing in watchmaking with different alternating cycles. It goes from silver to blue to green and so on. These colour trends will reemerge every few years. There’s going to be a renewed focus on unusual complications. Lots of brands are already reinterpreting tourbillons in lots of different ways. We’re seeing more skeletonised movements, which is interesting because of lot of watchmakers are beginning to open up their existing creations so we can see what’s ticking below. For us at Roger Dubuis, we design our watches another way. We start engineering and inventing calibres, which can only be skeletonised. Our watches aren’t supposed to have a dial on top.

What advice do you give to first time Roger Dubuis buyers?

We’re the future of watchmaking, so you’re stepping into a world that doesn’t exist yet. We’re separate to the crowd of classical, fine watchmakers and we’re writing the future. It’s been an exciting journey, and collectors should be eagerly waiting for more Roger Dubuis novelties to come.

How has the last year been for Roger Dubuis?

Very interesting. It’s a good time for watchmaking. We’re witnessing the evolution of technology, case materials and the very idea of watchmaking itself.

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What’s your biggest takeaway from the last year?

Nothing can be taken for granted.

Tell us about this year’s launches.

The entire line-up is quite amazing. We’ve given the Excalibur collection a facelift, which was a big initiative we started almost two years ago.

We’ve heard your father was involved in watchmaking.

Yes, in fact the first watch that I ever wore was one I made in my father’s factory. I started visiting at a very young age and spent lots of time in the prototype unit. I created a little case that housed a quartz movement, which I was super proud of. It wasn’t water resistant or anything, but it was mine. It was a watch I had made with my own two hands. I sadly don’t have it any more; I lost it.

What do you remember most about your father's factory?

The thing I remember most is the smell and sound of the machinery, particularly the sound of those stamping machines. This was the old way of manufacturing and we don’t use it anymore. I really remember the smell of the oil that we used in those milling machines. It would get on everything you’d wear.

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