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Philippe Dufour
Simplicity
An extremely rare and fine white gold wristwatch with guilloché dial, Breguet numerals, original certificate and presentation box
- Estimate
- CHF350,000 - 700,000$350,000 - 701,000€360,000 - 721,000
CHF1,022,200
Lot Details
- Manufacturer
- Philippe Dufour
- Year
- 2020
- Movement No
- 204
- Model Name
- Simplicity
- Material
- 18K white gold
- Calibre
- Manual, inhouse, 21 jewels
- Bracelet/Strap
- Leather
- Clasp/Buckle
- 18K white gold Philippe Dufour pin buckle
- Dimensions
- 37mm Diameter
- Signed
- Case, dial, movement and buckle signed
- Accessories
- Accompanied by fitted wooden box, International Guarantee and Certificate of Origin dated 2020 and outer packaging.
Specialist
Full-Cataloguing
Catalogue Essay
Rarely has a watchmaker singlehandedly so well represented a horological genre that has gone from being reserved for the cognoscenti, to a category that is boxing in the same heavyweight league as Philippe Dufour has.
Philippe Dufour exemplifies what we have collectively come to imagine as the typical Swiss watchmaker: a pipe-smoking solitary figure working in a small workshop in the Swiss Alps handmaking watches of incomparable beauty and quality infused with passion and love.
Philippe Dufour is all of the above and much more. An extremely talented and passionate watchmaker, he is an ardent defender of traditional watchmaking that he considers a dying art. A true living legend, his watches are considered masterpieces that collectors jealously treasure, making them extremely difficult to obtain.
The Simplicity was first presented in 2000 and was a break away from Dufour’s wonderfully complex mechanisms. With this model, he wanted to demonstrate his unrivalled finishing techniques and to prove that simple could also mean sophisticated. Each watch, like all his other creations, was to be hand-finished and assembled by the master himself.
The Simplicity was originally presented in a 34 mm case and a larger 37 mm case was offered rapidly after. It was made in pink gold, white gold or platinum with a unique steel version known. Dufour also created two dial types, one in white lacquer and the other with a hand-guilloché dial.
The world’s greatest collectors recognized a modern masterpiece and icon, and orders flooded in rapidly. Dufour’s quota of movements was rapidly reached, and those lucky enough to have been able to order a Simplicity had to wait long years before delivery. Everybody else had to wait for a piece to appear on the secondary market.
The present fresh to the market Simplicity features two rarer traits, first it is in white gold, a metal rarely seen for this model as it seems that collectors ordered mainly the platinum and pink gold examples.
Furthermore, the dial is slate grey with full Breguet numerals as opposed to the regular Arabic numerals at 3,9 and 12 o’clock. Finally, the numerals and the hands are pink gold whereas normally the color matches the case. These elements lead us to believe that the present Simplicity n° 204 is truly unique.
Philippe Dufour exemplifies what we have collectively come to imagine as the typical Swiss watchmaker: a pipe-smoking solitary figure working in a small workshop in the Swiss Alps handmaking watches of incomparable beauty and quality infused with passion and love.
Philippe Dufour is all of the above and much more. An extremely talented and passionate watchmaker, he is an ardent defender of traditional watchmaking that he considers a dying art. A true living legend, his watches are considered masterpieces that collectors jealously treasure, making them extremely difficult to obtain.
The Simplicity was first presented in 2000 and was a break away from Dufour’s wonderfully complex mechanisms. With this model, he wanted to demonstrate his unrivalled finishing techniques and to prove that simple could also mean sophisticated. Each watch, like all his other creations, was to be hand-finished and assembled by the master himself.
The Simplicity was originally presented in a 34 mm case and a larger 37 mm case was offered rapidly after. It was made in pink gold, white gold or platinum with a unique steel version known. Dufour also created two dial types, one in white lacquer and the other with a hand-guilloché dial.
The world’s greatest collectors recognized a modern masterpiece and icon, and orders flooded in rapidly. Dufour’s quota of movements was rapidly reached, and those lucky enough to have been able to order a Simplicity had to wait long years before delivery. Everybody else had to wait for a piece to appear on the secondary market.
The present fresh to the market Simplicity features two rarer traits, first it is in white gold, a metal rarely seen for this model as it seems that collectors ordered mainly the platinum and pink gold examples.
Furthermore, the dial is slate grey with full Breguet numerals as opposed to the regular Arabic numerals at 3,9 and 12 o’clock. Finally, the numerals and the hands are pink gold whereas normally the color matches the case. These elements lead us to believe that the present Simplicity n° 204 is truly unique.
Literature
Philippe Dufour
Swiss | 1989Philippe Dufour is a modern master creating some of the most coveted timepieces available today. His watches feature clean, classic lines fitted with high-grade in-house movements and stunning finish and polish. His Simplicity model is near-perfect hand craftsmanship, produced entirely in a traditional manner without the use of modern industrial tools. Over a 12-year period he created approximately 200 examples often customized to the client's wishes. Today it is considered one of the finest mechanical time-only timepieces produced. Also highly sought-after is the Duality, a highly complicated masterpiece made in only 9 examples. Dufour worked for some of the top names in watch manufacturing including Jaeger-LeCoultre, Audemars Piguet and Gerald Genta. In 1978, he opened his own workshop creating all his own parts. He is both the man and the brand, and by keeping his production numbers limited, Dufour maintains absolute control over quality and is therefore considered one of the most important independent watchmakers today.
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