製造商: Philippe Dufour 年份: 2004 機芯編號: N° 63 型號名稱: Simplicity 材料: 18K white gold 機芯: Manual, cal. 11’”, 21 jewels 錶帶/ 錶鏈: Leather 錶扣: 18K white gold Philippe Dufour pin buckle 尺寸: 34mm in Diameter 簽名: Case, dial, movement and buckle signed 配件: Accompanied by Philippe Dufour Certificate of Origin dated April 2004, fitted presentation box and outer packaging.
Catalogue Essay
There is always a sense of excitement when a timepiece made by the great Philippe Dufour comes to the market. Especially an early example like the present number 63 cased in a rare 34mm white gold livery.
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. Two dial types can most often be found on his timepieces; either in white lacquer or with a hand-guilloché dial, with unique versions also known.
Whereas the majority of the Simplicity models ordered by clients were housed in 37mm cases with guilloché dials, Dufour continued making a small number of pieces in 34mm with the white lacquer dial.
With the discontinuation of the Simplicity the world's greatest collectors can only access one on the secondary market and the present example is the perfect opportunity to own a masterpiece of independent horology.
Philippe 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.
