Why Louis Vuitton is relaunching Daniel Roth watches

It was another time.

Long before the Urwerk, MB&F, De Bethune and other Trilobes, the pioneers of independent watchmaking were called Vincent Calabrese, Svend Andersen Gérald Genta or… Daniel Roth.

In a surprise press release, La Fabrique Du Temps Louis Vuitton has just announced that the brand bearing its name will be reinvented under the aegis of the group's watchmaking manufacture.

And under the passionate and expert gaze of its two genius master watchmakers, Michel Navas and Enrico Barbasini.

The news was expected, Jean Arnault having notably posted last November on Instagram three magnificent creations signed Daniel Roth accompanied by a lapidary

.

But time is running out, and it's now official: the elegant complications of one of the pioneers of high and beautiful contemporary watchmaking are about to come back to life.

How not to admire the elegance of his Premier Retrograde, or the harmony of his Tourbillon C187, a reminder if necessary of his years spent at Breguet, of which there are still a few examples on specialized sales sites?

An example of watchmaking design and technicality.

Louis Vuitton

"The creation and development of the first watch are underway and their outcome will be revealed to the public within a few months,"

Louis Vuitton said in its press release.

A few hundred Haute Horlogerie pieces should see the light of day each year

But who is Daniel Roth?

Now 78 years old, he still creates pieces by Jean Daniel Nicolas in his studio on the shores of Lac de Joux.

But he is already enthroned in the pantheon of living gods of time alongside his contemporaries, notably FP Journe and Philippe Dufour.

Born in France into a family of watchmakers, he joined Audemars Piguet, where he perfected his skills for seven years, before being quickly recruited by Breguet, then relaunched by the Chaumet brothers, in the early 1980s. all the magic of Abraham-Louis Breguet's legendary pocket watches, he led the revival of the brand in 1976, relocated the House to Switzerland and opened his first workshop in Le Brassus.

It was in 1989 that Daniel Roth was one of the first watchmakers to launch a house in his name, as Gérald Genta had already done two decades earlier.

In particular, he developed a tourbillon movement for wristwatches housed in an impressively modern Ellipsocurvex case.

Its C187 mechanical double-face Tourbillon has become a classic, as has its C147 two-register chronograph, equipped with the legendary Lemania 2310 movement. It was even in collaboration with a certain Philippe Dufour that the instantaneous jump mechanism of the C117 perpetual calendars was designed. .

Michel Navas and Enrico Barbasini.

Louis Vuitton

What is the relationship between Louis Vuitton and Daniel Roth?

You have to go back in time a bit: in the mid-1990s, the Gérald Genta and then Daniel Roth houses became part of the Tay family, at the origin of The Hour Glass network in Asia.

In June 2000, Bulgari acquired the two companies as well as the Manufacture de Haute Horlogerie SA from The Hour Glass.

A takeover that will allow the Roman house to complete its watchmaking know-how and lay the foundations for its success in fine watchmaking, between Octo Finissimo and Serpenti.

It was not until 2010 that the Gérald Genta and Daniel Roth brands ceased to exist per se to be fully integrated under the Bulgari banner.

The following year, it was Bulgari's turn to be bought by LVMH, of which it is still a part today and is one of the flagship watchmakers and jewelers.

The Italian Maison having decided to concentrate its production capacities on its own-name collections, the brands Gérald Genta and Daniel Roth are continuing their peregrination this year to reinvent themselves now within La Fabrique du Temps Louis Vuitton, with the help of its experts in grand complications.

A first "subscription" series of 20 pieces should first be unveiled.