I must admit that I had my doubts when news broke of the revival of the Daniel Roth brand a few years ago. I’m not a huge fan of modern watch brands using the name of an iconic heritage designer to sell watches that have very little to do with the original brand. However, I am long since assuaged in that fear because modern Daniel Roth are producing some fabulous watches that are faithful to the vision and concepts of Roth. The revival began with the Tourbillon Sourscription in yellow gold followed by the non-limited Tourbillon Rose Gold, now to bring the Tourbillon collection to a full trilogy, they are releasing the Daniel Roth Tourbillon Platinum.
As you might expect, this is a material overhaul of the Tourbillon model but the overall design remains the same. That means the 38.6mm x 35.5mm double ellipse case is made from platinum, one of the rarest precious metals used in watchmaking. Its rarity is due in part to how expensive the material is but also how difficult it is to work with. It takes specialist tools to machine and shape, meaning that each case takes about three times longer to produce than an equivalent gold case. The rewards though are worth it with its characteristic lustre.
Compared to the two gold models that have come before, platinum is a much colder material in terms of its tone. As such, the dial also needs to be adjusted away from the warm tones of the previous editions in order to pair nicely with the case. As such, they’ve opted for an anthracite finish on the white gold pinstripe guilloché dial as well as the central disc in the centre of the hour and minute time display. The pinstripe pattern helps draw the eye downwards past that subdial to the focus of the watch, the tourbillon seconds display at 6 o’clock.
While it looks complex, the tourbillon seconds display is actually surprisingly simple. As the tourbillon cage rotates once every 60 seconds, one of the three equally spaced (but different length) hands that are attached to it moves past one of the linear seconds scales that each denote 20 seconds. It’s essentially taking the concept of the more common, though still niche, wandering hours display such as seen on the Ur-Freak and applies it to seconds.
The movement powering this display is the DR001, a manual winding calibre with 80-hour power reserve. It’s produced by La Fabrique du Temps Louis Vuitton, who are also the manufacture behind the new Louis Vuitton Escale and other brands like Gerald Genta. As for pricing, the Daniel Roth Tourbillon Platinum is CHF 185,000 (approx. £175,800) which is roughly £35,000 higher than the rose gold edition. Maybe I just have expensive tastes but the platinum might just be my favourite of the trio.
Price and Specs:
More details at Daniel Roth.
A very pretty looking watch, but, it’s a bit too much in terms of “show”, I personally prefer “under the radar’ style, with a dial that is easy on the eye and, easy to read the time (raison detre). And there is the price tag. I won’t be seeing one of these at Christmas.