A Quick History of Daniel Roth Watches

Today, numerous independent watchmakers are creating jaw-dropping watches with exquisite finishing, massive price tags, and long waiting lists. But that wasn’t always the case. When Daniel Roth watches came on the scene in the late 1980’s, the whole “independent ultra-luxury watch brand” niche hadn’t been firmly established. At the time, the level of finishing on Daniel Roth’s watches was something you’d typically only see from storied brands like Patek Philippe and Breguet (where Roth worked for 14 years).

Luxury watch collectors quickly took notice of the complications and quality, and Daniel Roth watches–signature “double ellipse” case and all–were a hot commodity in the 1990’s. Roth left the company in 2000, and the brand sauntered on as part of Bulgari for a while before going on hiatus. But as of 2024, Daniel Roth watches are being made under the direct ownership of LVMH with some help from La Fabriques du Temps. We’ll give you a quick rundown.

Daniel Roth Watches: A Timeline of Brand Ownership

After starting his career at Jaeger-LeCoultre and Audemars Piguet, prodigal watchmaker Daniel Roth was instrumental in shaping the modern Breguet brand. He helped create their first modern-day tourbillon watch and established a focus on elaborate guilloché dial work. In 1988, he left Breguet to start his own high-end marque. That company has gone through several ownership phases over the years:

• Independent (1988): Daniel Roth establishes his eponymous brand, working independently with a small team of watchmakers.
• The Hour Glass investment (1994): Singapore-based luxury watch retail chain The Hour Glass purchases a majority stake in the company. Their investment helps increase the staff from about 12 to 30 watchmakers.
• Bulgari acquisition (2000): Bulgari purchases the Daniel Roth and Gerald Genta brands. Mr. Roth leaves shortly thereafter.
• LVMH buys Bulgari (2011): LVMH’s acquisition of Bulgari includes the Daniel Roth brand. They even tried branding the watches as Bvlgari watches, with Daniel Roth written in small letters on the caseback or the bottom of the dial.
• Hiatus (2015): Production of Daniel Roth watches stops for about eight years.
• Rebirth as standalone LVMH brand (2023): Daniel Roth is no longer part of Bulgari, having been spun off as its own entity in the Louis Vuitton watch family. They now use movements made by Fabriques du Temps (a highly respected atelier also owned by LVMH) and dials made by Kari Voutilainen’s esteemed workshop.

Traits of Daniel Roth Watches

The only watch case shape used for Daniel Roth watches–ever–is the double ellipse. And they always use pointer hands, with simple triangular tips. Other than that, Daniel Roth is best known for tourbillons, and in fact the entire original point of the double ellipse case was to elegantly accommodate a large tourbillon.

Arguably the most recognizable Daniel Roth design is the Tourbillon model with a seconds scale broken into stacked 20-second segments. Three different-length hands are connected to the flying tourbillon, each pointing to its corresponding 20-second arc. Because the tourbillon rotates once per minute, this acts as an unorthodox seconds indicator. Fittingly, this is the design used for both 2024 Daniel Roth releases.

Exotic dials have always been a hallmark of the brand. Daniel Roth watch dials invariably feature guilloché patterns, white enamel, skeletonization, or some combination of the three. The hobnail pattern, also known as Clous de Paris, seems to be a company favorite.

Exquisite decoration of the movement and dial isn’t the only thing Daniel Roth is known for, however. Complications have always been one of their strengths. Historically, Daniel Roth used high-end base movements from reputable suppliers like Frederic Piguet, Girard-Perregaux and Lemania and added complex in-house modules to them. The fervor about fully in-house movements didn’t really exist until about 2008. In addition to classic high complications like perpetual calendars and minute repeaters, some interesting Daniel Roth creations include a triple-retrograde model and a unique dual-time watch that can account for Daylight Savings Time–the Metropolitan.

What is the “Subscription Model?”

Some watch brands operate on a pre-order-only basis, taking deposits and delivering the watches when they’re ready. In the 1980’s, that was called a “subscription model” and it’s how the original Daniel Roth watches were sold. That’s why the first Daniel Roth watch since the “rebirth” was called the Tourbillon Souscription. Limited to 20 units, it was indeed sold under the subscription model. I think “pre-order-only” is a more descriptive term, but if you hear “subscription model” in a luxury watch context, that’s what it means.

Now that the Tourbillon Souscription is sold out, the Tourbillon Rose Gold (and all future releases of the re-envisioned Daniel Roth brand) will be available at 15 physical retail stores worldwide. Ten are in the United States, nine of which are 1916 Company locations. Dubai, Paris and Shanghai each have one Daniel Roth retailer, and Singapore has two–both of which are The Hour Glass locations, so apparently there is no bad blood between the Daniel Roth brand and their former majority stakeholder. Note that these are all established luxury watch stores that sell several other brands. It’s unlikely that there will ever be standalone Daniel Roth boutiques–they simply make too few watches.

Daniel Roth Watch Prices

The retail price of the Tourbillon Rose Gold is currently listed at CHF 155,000 (about $184,000) on danielroth.com. For a pre-owned Daniel Roth, expect to pay an absolute minimum of $7,500 for a basic steel Bulgari-era model and around $18,000 for an independent-era one. Skeletonized chronographs like ref. 447.X.60 tend to go for just over $20,000. You can even get a perpetual calendar chronograph like ref. 379.Y.50 for $30,000, although that’s not the brand’s most elegant design. Used Daniel Roth tourbillon watches usually range from $40,000-$140,000, with double-sided “Regulateur Tourbillon” models coming in at the high end of that.

The most expensive Daniel Roth watch of all is surely “Il Giocatore Veneziano,” an absolute masterpiece created with the help of automaton expert François Junod. It’s a minute repeater watch with an enamel-painted “dice player” automaton that begins an eight-second motion when the chime is activated. Limited to ten pieces, its market value is over $400,000.

Gallery

If you’re not a fan of the double ellipse (or “Ellipsocurvex”) case, well, Daniel Roth watches aren’t for you. But if you do like the shape, there are a wide variety of excellently made complications to fill the dial. As one of the “OG” small-volume high-end watch brands of the modern era, Daniel Roth has a lot going for it, and it’s a relatively underrated watch brand for now. It will be interesting to see what LVMH makes of it in the coming years.