Roger Dubuis was never interested in being discreet. Born in 1938, he trained in Geneva and spent 14 years at Patek Philippe, where he specialized in complications and absorbed the standards of the Poinçon de Genève at their most exacting. By the 1980s, he had struck out alone, restoring historic pieces. But he carried a bigger ambition: to prove that a new name could sit at the same table as Geneva’s grandest maisons.

In 1995, he teamed up with designer Carlos Dias to launch Roger Dubuis, and the first collections were a shock. The Sympathie, with its angular case and complex retrograde displays, looked nothing like the norm. The Hommage line was bolder still, housing flying tourbillons and perpetual calendars in oversized, architectural cases. And every single movement — from day one — bore the Geneva Seal, something no young brand had ever dared to attempt.

Roger Dubuis Homage La Placide

That mix of flamboyant design and old-school legitimacy rewrote the rules. Dubuis showed that haute horlogerie could be loud, extroverted and still meet Geneva’s highest standards.

Today, the Roger Dubuis manufacture continues in that spirit under Richemont, producing skeletonized tourbillons and high-octane complications. His legacy is simple: fine watchmaking doesn’t have to whisper. Sometimes, it can roar.