It was only last week that we took a deep dive into the new Roger Dubuis Hommage La Placide and now for the occasion of the Dubai Watch Week, they are unveiling a piece unique version of that same watch. The special edition is called the La Placide Hommage Sukoon Al-Layl, which translates in English to the Serene Night edition.
As we talked about the specifics of this biretrograde perpetual calendar recently, let’s jump straight to the alterations that make this piece unique. The most notable feature is that the Leman Blue dial has been replaced with guilloché waves in a very, very, very dark shade of blue. It’s designed to evoke an image of the windblown desert dunes seen in the dark before dawn just as the first hint of the sun starts to make its presence felt. The mother-of-pearl dials and scales have also been inverted to have light markers on dark pearl.
It takes a display that was originally as bright and sunny as a day on Lake Geneva and gives it an air of mystery, like the night sky. Even the warm gold of the 38mm case has been replaced with the cold silver of the moon. Though it’s not actually made of silver, it’s much more precious than that in platinum. Somewhat ironically the actual moons on the moonphase are still golden yellow in keeping with how they were depicted on early Roger Dubuis moonphases.
Turning the La Placide Hommage Sukoon Al-Layl over reveals an exhibition caseback through which you can see the calibre RD1472, finished to the same exacting standards as the movement in the standard Hommage La Placide. It offers a 48-hour power reserve which might sound low but then it does power retrograde days, retrograde date, hours, minutes, month, leap year, and moonphase, which takes a lot of power.
Considering that the standard model is limited to 28 pieces at £120,000 making it insanely exclusive to begin with, a unique piece version with an even higher level of dial finishing and a more prestigious case material is almost unthinkable – well, this is Roger Dubuis so it’s actually easily thinkable, but the Placide is actually quite toned down for them.
Price and Specs:
More details at Roger Dubuis.
I guess they timed it perfectly, – at that price it is only likely to attract the wealthy that attend the Dubai event.