Early watches from the masters

[unknown]

A collected man has some great articles about these.
Franck Muller, Roger Dubuis, Daniel Roth ...
They were the most respected brands in haute horlogery 20-30 years ago.
Before Richemont bought ( read f@cked up ) Roger Dubuis, he made some exception watches with a super finishing. Watches made between 1995 and 2003. After 2003 Rigger Dubuis left the manufacture and in 2008 Richemont bought a big part
Same for Daniel Roth ... Fantastic watches in the early years but less interesting after 7 year and completely gone after Bulgari bought them
And Franck Muller, also sublime in the beginning .. until some investment vehicle stepped in the manufacture and they started to make cheaper watches or better said, expansive watches with a cheap ETA movement and much less finishing

Anyway, if you could have one of these 3 top watchmakers their early pieces ... which one would you prefer?

[unknown]

some random pics to show what we're talking about

[sgwatchguy]

Gorgeous. Thanks for sharing. Some of these heritage pieces have recently seen massive spike in interest / value.

[Jay (Eire)]

Dubuis for me, just aesthetically more interesting. It’s a generalization however, there are several Roth and FM which I would also be happy to own. But overall Dubuis takes my vote.

[_speedmaster_]

Early Dubuis for me. I love the aesthetics and I’m particularly fond of chronographs.

All I knew of Dubuis was the current collection under Richemont (I was still in college when Richemont purchased RD). I was floored when I stumbled upon older Dubuis chronographs. It’s quite sad to look at what they used to make and compare it to their current output.

[enjoythemusic]

Early Dubuis without a doubt. His early work far exceeded that of PP, ALS, and others.

[unknown]

Originally Posted by enjoythemusic

Early Dubuis without a doubt. His early work far exceeded that of PP, ALS, and others.

I agree, the finishing was superb

[unknown]

Well the early Dubuis pieces do get my vote too
I have a simple “much more”... a big watch, definitely for a watch made in 2001
Would love to add a heritage but these became to expensive... while early “much more” are still very affordable. Even if you want a perfect example will all te boxes and papers

Early Daniel Roth is also an option but I did not found one yet, at least not what I am looking for

Early Franck Müller is more difficult...
Was looking at some pieces but discovered those movements suck. I mean cheap terrible finished movements
And I don’t know what pieces one need to look for to find his interesting pieces ��

[dchang81]

what's the deal with the inscription just for friends

[unknown]

Originally Posted by dchang81

what's the deal with the inscription just for friends

Just stupid marketing
During the early years, so the only interesting years, that nonsens wasn’t written on the watches. Mr dubuis wouldn’t probably accept this stupidity.
It’s something from Carlos Dias, he did more stupid things after mr Dubuis left somewhere in 2003.

It’s so sad we had a manufacture probably more interesting than Patek Philippe at that time but the everything got lost when dubuis retired.

And when Richemont got involved in 2008 it became a disaster.

Happens all the time ... you have a MASTER WATCHMAKER that prefers to create art pieces but unfortunately people that smell money get involved and the ruin a gem.