Daniel Roth Perpetual Calendar, Reference C117SBCSL02 | A unique white...
Dial: skeletonised
Calibre: cal. 8810 automatic, 30 jewels
Movement number: 48
Case: 18k white gold and diamond-set, snap-on sapphire crystal display case back
Case number: 48
Closure: 18k white gold Cartier deployant with diamond-set GRG buckle
Size: 35 x 40.5 mm (width x length including lugs)
Signed: case, dial and movement
Accessories: correspondence between Daniel Roth and the original owner attesting of the diamond setting
Catalogue Note:
Daniel Roth is one of the pioneers of modern independent watchmaking. After beginning his career at Audemars Piguet, he joined Breguet in the 1970s, where he played an important role in reviving the historic name and helped re establish its classical watchmaking language. In 1989, he set out under his own name, creating watches that combined traditional haute horlogerie with a design language that was unmistakably his own. His distinctive double ellipse case quickly became a signature, housing some of the most ambitious complications of the period.
The perpetual calendar reference C117 is one of the most important complicated watches from the early years of the Daniel Roth manufacture. Developed in collaboration with Philippe Dufour, the project began with an ambitious objective: to create a perpetual calendar in which the indications would advance simultaneously at midnight. Working from the automatic Lemania 8810 base calibre, Roth and Dufour developed the mechanism around the unusual proportions and architecture of Roth’s signature case. The resulting perpetual calendar became one of the defining complications of the early Daniel Roth manufacture.
The present reference C117SBCSL02 takes this already important watch considerably further. Entirely skeletonised, its perpetual calendar mechanism is opened to the eye, with finely engraved surfaces, raised indications and blued hands creating remarkable depth within Roth’s distinctive Ellipsocurvex case.
Yet it is perhaps the case itself that makes this watch truly extraordinary. Crafted in white gold, its surface is covered in delicate micro pavé diamonds, from the bezel and case to the lugs and crown, surrounding the exposed mechanics with light. This was not simply a decorative variation, but a special addition made for the original owner in 1997.
Remarkably, the watch is accompanied by the original fax correspondence, documenting the special order for the diamond setting. This provides a rare window into the creation of the watch and establish its bespoke character from the very beginning.
Fresh to the market and preserved by its original owner since new, no other white gold skeletonised C117 with a comparable factory diamond setting appears to have been publicly recorded. Accompanied by the correspondence documenting its creation, the present watch is believed to be unique, bringing together one of Daniel Roth’s most important complications, the hand of Philippe Dufour and a bespoke commission created for a single client.
Dial: skeletonised
Calibre: cal. 8810 automatic, 30 jewels
Movement number: 48
Case: 18k white gold and diamond-set, snap-on sapphire crystal display case back
Case number: 48
Closure: 18k white gold Cartier deployant with diamond-set GRG buckle
Size: 35 x 40.5 mm (width x length including lugs)
Signed: case, dial and movement
Accessories: correspondence between Daniel Roth and the original owner attesting of the diamond setting
Catalogue Note:
Daniel Roth is one of the pioneers of modern independent watchmaking. After beginning his career at Audemars Piguet, he joined Breguet in the 1970s, where he played an important role in reviving the historic name and helped re establish its classical watchmaking language. In 1989, he set out under his own name, creating watches that combined traditional haute horlogerie with a design language that was unmistakably his own. His distinctive double ellipse case quickly became a signature, housing some of the most ambitious complications of the period.
The perpetual calendar reference C117 is one of the most important complicated watches from the early years of the Daniel Roth manufacture. Developed in collaboration with Philippe Dufour, the project began with an ambitious objective: to create a perpetual calendar in which the indications would advance simultaneously at midnight. Working from the automatic Lemania 8810 base calibre, Roth and Dufour developed the mechanism around the unusual proportions and architecture of Roth’s signature case. The resulting perpetual calendar became one of the defining complications of the early Daniel Roth manufacture.
The present reference C117SBCSL02 takes this already important watch considerably further. Entirely skeletonised, its perpetual calendar mechanism is opened to the eye, with finely engraved surfaces, raised indications and blued hands creating remarkable depth within Roth’s distinctive Ellipsocurvex case.
Yet it is perhaps the case itself that makes this watch truly extraordinary. Crafted in white gold, its surface is covered in delicate micro pavé diamonds, from the bezel and case to the lugs and crown, surrounding the exposed mechanics with light. This was not simply a decorative variation, but a special addition made for the original owner in 1997.
Remarkably, the watch is accompanied by the original fax correspondence, documenting the special order for the diamond setting. This provides a rare window into the creation of the watch and establish its bespoke character from the very beginning.
Fresh to the market and preserved by its original owner since new, no other white gold skeletonised C117 with a comparable factory diamond setting appears to have been publicly recorded. Accompanied by the correspondence documenting its creation, the present watch is believed to be unique, bringing together one of Daniel Roth’s most important complications, the hand of Philippe Dufour and a bespoke commission created for a single client.
