Opinion
Revolution Awards 2018: Lifetime Achievement Award ― Philippe Dufour
Opinion
Revolution Awards 2018: Lifetime Achievement Award ― Philippe Dufour
Each of his timepieces — and he produces only 25 per year — is a work of horological art that has been crafted by his expert hands, combining all the passion and know-how that he has accumulated over the years into pieces that have a real soul. It is no wonder that the waiting time for one of his pieces currently stands at three years.
Funnily enough, Dufour didn’t dream of becoming a watchmaker. He actually wanted to be a mechanic, but at the age of 15 his father was unwell and there was no money to go off to study elsewhere. His teacher suggested watchmaking, so he went to the École Technique in Le Sentier. Fortunately, destiny had its role to play as he immediately became fascinated with this minute mechanical world. After college, he worked for Jaeger-LeCoultre, traveling to Germany, England, the Caribbean and the Virgin Islands to visit different watchmaking facilities. On his return, he worked for Gérald Genta and Audemars Piguet, but it soon became apparent to him that being a cog in a large machine was not for him.
In 2007, Dufour worked on an incredible project called La Naissance d’une Montre, The Birth of a Watch, along with watchmakers Robert Greubel and Stephen Forsey. This ambitious project was set up to transmit all their combined knowledge to a watchmaking professor, Michel Boulanger. Over a number of years, Boulanger learned how to make his own watch from A to Z with a view to pass this precious knowledge onto his students. The project was filmed and documented so this knowledge would never be lost. Dufour’s generosity in sharing and transmitting his knowledge has secured centuries of horological knowledge forever, and for that, sir, we salute you.