The Daniel Roth Tourbillon returns in resplendent rose gold
Russell Sheldrake- The revived Daniel Roth is back with its second watch, the Tourbillon Rose Gold.
- The model is a limited production of 50 pieces a year, with pricing on request.
- It adds a pin-stripe guilloché pattern to the dial, and a sapphire exhibition caseback.
That’s right, the fabled brand that once belonged to its eponymous master watchmaker and now under the dutiful eye of Louis Vuitton and La Fabrique du Temps, has just unveiled its second post-revival watch. A rose gold Tourbillon marks the next step in the brand’s second life that began with a limited run of just 20 Tourbillon Souscription models in yellow gold. There are a few key updates to note across this new model compared to the initial run, and we’ll quickly run through them all as they have clearly all been chosen deliberately to speak to the dedicated community of Daniel Roth collectors.
This willingness to engage with the collecting community has been shown by the brand before when, after the initial launch of the Tourbillon Souscription, there was a fair amount of feedback online concerning a few points of its original design. Daniel Roth went back to the drawing board and made alterations to fall closer to what this committed core of collectors were looking for. While it only made 20 of these yellow gold pieces, the aim was clearly to set the tone with them and ensure that the wider community would admire each and every detail.
So let’s look at what this new model has to offer. First of all is the new metal type, 5N rose gold. This was one of the metals used in the original Tourbillon C187 models that were released in 1989, assumed to be Daniel Roth’s second-most used metal after yellow gold. It has been used uniformly across the case and dial, with the former maintaining the double ellipse shape that became the hallmark of Roth’s work. With its highly polished, round-surfaced, and gently sloping lugs, this is a case many will recognise immediately.
Another line of continuation that we find here is the use of the pinstripe or guillochage en ligne for the rose gold dial. This is the pattern that Roth’s watches were known for in the late 1980s and early 1990s. While others were sticking rigidly to clous de Paris, barleycorn, and other traditional styles, Roth embraced this straight up and down design which helped to elongate his watches, and give them a unique twist without straying from his original points of reference in Breguet.
The bottom half of the dial is dominated by the fan-shaped seconds counter which is read off the one-minute tourbillon underneath which has three hands of differing lengths attached to it. Displaying a tourbillon like this and making such fantastic use of it might be one of my favourite things about Daniel Roth watches old and new. It adds a fantastic sense of character to these watches which seem almost purpose-built to display high levels of craftsmanship.
One area where this watch deviates from the original Roths and the Tourbillon Souscription of last year is on the back. The most famous version of Roth’s tourbillon featured another dial with a date and power reserve, while the yellow gold mode from 2023 had a simple closed caseback. Here, we have a fully open, sapphire exhibition display. While it doesn’t adhere strictly to what has gone before, it does give a wonderful view of the DR001 calibre that has a full gamut of hand-finishing applied to it. Côtes de Genève stripes dominate the main bridges, bordered with anglage and black polish giving the fourth wheel bridge some contrast.
It’s great to see that this movement has been made to fit into the double ellipse case shape, adding to the aesthetic joy that turning this watch over can give. While the first Tourbillon Souscription watches were strictly limited to 20 pieces, these are entering standard production, or as standard as it is possible to be with this high level of finishing and craftsmanship. The brand is stating that they’re only able to make 50 pieces a year, which is still a fairly high number, no doubt made possible by the large facilities at La Fabrique du Temps.
Daniel Roth Tourbillon Rose Gold pricing and availability
The Daniel Roth Tourbillon Rose Gold is limited to 50 pieces made a year, but no word on how long its production run will be. Price: CHF 155,000.
| Brand | Daniel Roth |
| Model | Tourbillon Rose Gold |
| Case Dimensions | 35.5mm (W) x 9.2mm (T) |
| Case Material | 18k 5N rose gold |
| Water Resistance | 30 metres |
| Crystal(s) | Sapphire front and back |
| Dial | 18k 5N rose gold |
| Lug Width | 20mm |
| Strap and bracelet | Brown calfskin leather, 18k 5N rose gold tang buckle |
| Movement | DR001, made by La Fabrique du Temps, manual wind |
| Power Reserve | 80 hours |
| Functions | Hours, minutes, seconds, tourbillon |
| Availability | 50 made a year |
| Price | CHF 155,000 |