Roger Dubuis

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Miniature Painted Enamel Dials, Roger Dubuis Style!

Miniature Painted Enamel Dials, Roger Dubuis Style!

- by Z3 (Jonathan Zhang)

On our forum, I often encounter mechanical wonders such as tourbillons, minute repeaters, sonneries, that make my jaws drop in awe. While I will always love the complexity and horological innovations embodied in those high complication marvels, I also have a strong appreciation for those relatively simpler pieces that are artistically executed. One example is my fascination with watches featuring miniature painted enamel dials.

While much attention is focused on high complications,miniature enamel painting remains one of the exclusive yet relatively under-appreciated specialty in the Swiss watch industry. One maker that has a special place in my heart is Roger Dubuis - a brand whose enamel watches combine traditional artisanship with vibrant colors, modern concepts, and intriguing designs.

Miniature painting is the most elaborate form of enameling,which encompasses a variety of techniques including cloisonné, plique-à-jour,and champlevé. Enamel is, more or less, glass: a compound of silicates and other elements that is transformed into colorful, translucent film when baked at high temperatures. An enamel painter uses an extremely fine brush to apply enamel color compounds and oil on a white enamel or mother-of-pearl surface, creating a scene, layer by layer, working from light to dark colors.

What makes the enamel painting technique even more complex(and expensive) is that it requires firing after each layer of color is applied. A detailed painting can undergo this process more than 20 times, and with every trip to the oven, the work is put at risk for cracks and discolorations. This, as many enamelists like to say, is where the art ends and the praying begins.When completed, the multiple layers create almost palpable depth and brilliant contrasts that do not fade over time

There exist extensive literature on the enamel process on the web. Hence, in the interest of brevity, I will go easy on the text, and share with you my small collection of three Roger Dubuis miniature enamel watches.

1.  "Much More" M34 in rose gold. The pattern is Tarot card, depicting two scenes of "Geisha". This is my favorite with lots of fine lines and details. The warm rose gold case, along with rose gold hands, complement the intricate dial well

Curved back hugs the wrist well, despite its huge size of 34mmby 52mm lug to lug.

Wrist shots:

2.  "Hommage" H43 (a large watch measuring 43mm across) in white gold, featuring the motif of "Sailboats".  Dial has star-shaped indices, and blued-steel hands.

3. "Much More" M34 in rose gold, titled "Amerique", featuring a caricature of the map of North and South Americas.

All of the above models house RD Calibre 57 automatic movements. All of them are decorated to the requirements of the Geneva Seal. Despite some people claiming of quality issues and/or finishing issues with certain RD models, I find the movement to be reasonably well-finished, haven't noticed any blatant finishing flaw, and haven't encountered any reliability issues for this simple movement.

Group pics!

These enamel dials are delicate beasts (God forbid if I accidentally drop one on hard floor!), do not rank very high on legibility, and might attract too much attention in the real world. For these reasons, they might not be everyday watches, but they certainly put a big smile on my face every time I take them out of the safe, put them on my wrist, and admire them in awe.

Hope you have enjoyed the photos.

Cheers,

Jon Z (Z3)

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