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Lot Essay
Truly one of the greatest watchmakers of all time, standing shoulder to shoulder with the likes of Abraham-Louis Breguet and George Daniels, Philippe Dufour is referred to as a “living legend” by his peers in the industry and his watches have been called “masterpieces” by the French magazine Le Point. But the appeal of a Philippe Dufour work is not just about rarity, it is about one man’s lifetime quest for perfection and beauty through the preservation of the traditional Swiss watchmaking techniques, embodying all of his own personal values of dedication, hard work, honesty and passion.
Born in 1948 in La Sentier in the heart of the Swiss watchmaking hub of the Valle de Joux to a family of watchmakers, Dufour learnt the basis of his craft at the École Technique before going on to work for such titans of the industry as Jaeger-LeCoultre, Gerald Genta and Audemars Piguet. But it was when he decided to start restoring watches on his own that he understood how things were done in the past, with fewer tools in an age before CNC and computer aided designs. So he embarked on a 2,000 hour project to make a grande sonnerie minute repeating pocket watch which he eventually sold to Audemars Piguet in the neighbouring watchmaking village of Le Brassus, and who went on to order 5 pieces in total. Following this project Dufour decided it was time for his own name to appear on the dial so in 1989, he started on the road to create a wristwatch version of Grande and Petite Sonnerie Minute Repeater which was presented at Basel World in 1992. Christie’s was honored to provide the debut for this historically important piece when it was sold in the May 2008 Geneva auction for 457,000 CHF.
As Benjamin Clymer of Hodinkee put succinctly “Dufour builds watches the way he believes they should be made, by hand and each on direct commission” with each one of his early watches constructed and finished to the highest of standards exclusively by the hands of the master watchmaker. His success is not only due to a mere mastery of technique honed over a lifetime dedicated to the craft, it is Philippe Dufour’s sheer commitment to perfection and his desire to leave a small part of himself in each of his creations, that differentiate his watches from those of other watchmakers.
Famous architect Mies van Der Rohe once said “God is in the details” and seen in the light of this quote, one understands why Philippe Dufour has been repeatedly referred to as “the god of watches”. The Simplicity strikes admirers with the most handsome of details in every corner of the movement: from the wide and even Cote de Geneve engraving emanating from the ruby at the centre of the movement, to the elegant design of the black polished single piece click spring, a part that is traditional made of multiple components, and his signature curves, bevels and interior angles to the bridges.
Simplicity is considered by many collectors to be among the most superb pieces of horology ever made, beautifully displaying the finest finishing techniques in a straight forward time-only presentation. For astute collectors lucky enough to own one of his watches, most would consider it the pinnacle of their collection and it would be the one piece to remain if all others had to go.
Born in 1948 in La Sentier in the heart of the Swiss watchmaking hub of the Valle de Joux to a family of watchmakers, Dufour learnt the basis of his craft at the École Technique before going on to work for such titans of the industry as Jaeger-LeCoultre, Gerald Genta and Audemars Piguet. But it was when he decided to start restoring watches on his own that he understood how things were done in the past, with fewer tools in an age before CNC and computer aided designs. So he embarked on a 2,000 hour project to make a grande sonnerie minute repeating pocket watch which he eventually sold to Audemars Piguet in the neighbouring watchmaking village of Le Brassus, and who went on to order 5 pieces in total. Following this project Dufour decided it was time for his own name to appear on the dial so in 1989, he started on the road to create a wristwatch version of Grande and Petite Sonnerie Minute Repeater which was presented at Basel World in 1992. Christie’s was honored to provide the debut for this historically important piece when it was sold in the May 2008 Geneva auction for 457,000 CHF.
As Benjamin Clymer of Hodinkee put succinctly “Dufour builds watches the way he believes they should be made, by hand and each on direct commission” with each one of his early watches constructed and finished to the highest of standards exclusively by the hands of the master watchmaker. His success is not only due to a mere mastery of technique honed over a lifetime dedicated to the craft, it is Philippe Dufour’s sheer commitment to perfection and his desire to leave a small part of himself in each of his creations, that differentiate his watches from those of other watchmakers.
Famous architect Mies van Der Rohe once said “God is in the details” and seen in the light of this quote, one understands why Philippe Dufour has been repeatedly referred to as “the god of watches”. The Simplicity strikes admirers with the most handsome of details in every corner of the movement: from the wide and even Cote de Geneve engraving emanating from the ruby at the centre of the movement, to the elegant design of the black polished single piece click spring, a part that is traditional made of multiple components, and his signature curves, bevels and interior angles to the bridges.
Simplicity is considered by many collectors to be among the most superb pieces of horology ever made, beautifully displaying the finest finishing techniques in a straight forward time-only presentation. For astute collectors lucky enough to own one of his watches, most would consider it the pinnacle of their collection and it would be the one piece to remain if all others had to go.