Pierre Dubois


Pierre Dubois was born in Le lieu, a village in the Vallée de Joux in the Swiss Jura Mountains. He comes from a long line of watchmakers but initially broke with the family tradition to become a sports teacher. Although sport was one of his passions Dubois soon returned to the academic world to study for an economics degree, resulting in a move into banking.
However, his watchmaking genes led him back to the Vallée de Joux when he was appointed Financial Director, and later Operations Director, in the region’s major Manufacture. From there it seems that it was just a matter of time before he created his own brand - Pierre DeRoche.

The birth of a company
With his brothers Jean-Phillipe and Pascal Dubois heading up the family business, Dubois Dépraz, founded by their great-grandfather Marcel Dépraz in 1901, there was obviously going to be a close link with the two companies. The result was the launch of the flagship model, the SplitRock in 2005, a timepiece that features all the Pierre DeRoche characteristics that give the watches their distinctive look: a concentric chronograph equipped with an exclusive self-winding Dubois Dépraz Calibre movement and a guilloché dial. The three superimposed chronograph hands sweep over a single counter (instead of three counters) located at 6 o’clock, thus providing a fast and precise analogue reading.
So what made Pierre Dubois return to the watchmaking fold?
“I come from a family that has been working in the sector for four generations, but one still requires the desire to launch a brand and have the possibility of choosing the right moment,” explains Pierre Dubois. “I suppose I carried the gene within me and it was just a question of waiting until it became active.”




SplitRock & Shiny Pebbles



Shiny Pebbles & GrandCliff


The Pierre DeRoche philosophy
The philosophy behind the brand is that the aesthetics and the movement must be well crafted and the brand’s first collection, SplitRock, meets these criteria. “Our products feature exclusive characteristics that clearly distinguish them from their standard counterparts,” Pierre Dubois underlines. “As to our growth, we don’t want to rush anything, we must take time to develop and not cut corners. We have to establish our reputation over the long term and we are working on the idea that we are building and preparing a legacy to be handed down.”
Launched officially at BaselWorld 2005, Pierre Dubois is extremely satisfied with Pierre DeRoche’s results and the confidence that the clients showed – 120 orders before the product was actually visible. The most receptive and dynamic markets have so far proved to be Asia and the Middle and Far East, however, both Europe and North America are targeted.

Objectives
As Pierre Dubois explains, the intention of the brand is to move on strategically in stages. “Our objective is to reach around one thousand watches in four to five years,” Dubois continues, “and if we can achieve that, then we can then say that we have reached our goal and established the brand. In the meantime, we make a promise to serve our clients within a maximum of five weeks. This is an ambitious objective, but it’s a question of respect and not disappointing the client. Should there be any repairs or problems, we will handle them here in the Vallée de Joux, we do not intend to work with service centres around the world at present, but we’re leaving the option open.”

The Collections
The SplitRock has understated lines and is dedicated to innovation. The concentric chronograph uses an exclusive self-winding Dubois Dépraz calibre movement offering hours, minutes, small seconds, chronograph with three concentric hands and date. It comes with either a black dial with polished steel hands or a silvered dial with blued steel hands. The case is in stainless steel with a ‘double water-resistant’ crown and pushbuttons, glare-proof sapphire crystal front and back, silver or black guilloché dial, leather strap, water-resistant to 30 metres. This model is also available in 18 carat rose-coloured gold.
Shiny Pebbles is the Pierre DeRoche tribute to women, a rectangular timepiece characterized by its pure elegance and interchangeable straps. The stainless steel watch is equipped with a quartz movement with hours and minutes functions, a crown set with a blue cabochon sapphire, and it is set with either 36 brilliant-cut diamonds (0.18 carats) or 66 brilliant-cut diamonds (0.78 carats). There is an off-white or black dial with a sunburst motif and a leather or satin strap.
The latest model, the GrandCliff, moves away from the rectangular form of the other collections. Boldly round with firmly angled lugs, it is a sports chronograph with hours, minutes, small seconds, 60-minute and retrograde 12-hour counters and a large date window centred between the 2 and 10 o’clock chronograph counters. Available in stainless steel or rose-coloured gold, the GrandCliff is equipped with an exclusive self-winding Dubois Dépraz Calibre movement. There is a ‘double water-resistant’ screw-locked crown and pushbuttons, facetted pushbuttons, a glare-proof sapphire crystal front and back, a grey or black dial with polished or blued steel hands and a leather strap. The watch is water-resistant to 100 metres.


Source: February - March 2006 Issue