Yesterday, February 23, 2023, Jean Arnault announced that Daniel Roth is being revived by La Fabrique Du Temps Louis Vuitton and that Michael Navas and Enrico Barbasini —master watchmakers— would oversee the creation and execution of each Daniel Roth watch personally. Navas and Barbasini founded La Fabrique Du Temps Louis Vuitton and under their oversight, one of the most legendary names in modern watchmaking is being resurrected with the launch of souscription watches as far as I know per the limited information that was released with much of a teaser type of campaign.
For this short announcement, I have decided to publish images of the Sports Automatic Papillon 50th Birthday Limited Edition watch that was released in 1995 on the occasion of Daniel Roth’s 50th birthday by the watchmaker himself and talk a little bit about this gem.
This Daniel Roth Papillon Birthday watch is a perfect example of the mastery and finesse achieved by one of the first watchmakers to become an independent, after a successful career in the Swiss watchmaking industry that included companies like Breguet, Jaeger-LeCoultre and even Audemars Piguet.
Originally born in Nice, France, Mr. Roth relocated to the cradle of watchmaking in the Vallée de Joux and became and independent watchmaker after a very long tenure at Breguet. In 1989, he launched his own namesake watch brand in the Vallée de Joux. After selling his brand to Bulgari in 2000, not much was heard about this watchmaking genius, other than he was still making two to three watches a year out of his workshop located in the upstairs area of his home in Le Sentier.
Fitted with a 36 mm x 31 mm stainless steel case and a gorgeous salmon dial exquisitely finished with guilloché in a very Breguet-like way, the Daniel Roth Sports Automatic Papillon 50th Birthday Limited Edition watch is one of those watches that is definitely worth getting as a memento of the exquisite work done by one of the greatest independent watchmakers of our time that is now coming back to life and will make the price of these pieces soar.
Well respected for creating 26 tourbillons on his own and for the conceptualization and execution of his fully handmade two-minute tourbillon sold under the Jean Daniel Nicolas brand name —named after his son and wife—, Daniel Roth is also very well respected for creating a tourbillon with an outstanding 8-day power reserve, and also for the instantaneous perpetual calendar and the Westminster Grande Sonnerie Carillon, which is the only automatic four-gong chiming wristwatch in production.
Equipped with an asymmetrical case that blends in the round, rectangular and tonneau shapes, this Daniel Roth watch brings memories of those times where independent watchmakers like himself began to flourish and break the mold of conventional watchmaking.
While the information regarding the limitation of the Daniel Roth Sports Automatic 50th Birthday Limited Edition watch is unconfirmed and unknown by me, I assume that probably no more than 50 pieces were made to match the 50th birthday occasion.
Long live Daniel Roth and congrats to LVMH for resurrecting the brand yesterday.
For more on Daniel Roth click here.
