Admired by all connoisseurs for his incomparable mastery of the watchmaking art – and sometimes referred to as a ‘living legend’ –, Phillipe Dufour exercised his profession for around 20 years before going freelance and opening his own workshop in the Vallée de Joux; his native region whose tradition he affectionately perpetuates. That was in 1988. After the Grande Sonnerie presented in 1992 and the double-regulator Duality in 1996, two world-firsts in wristwatches, he entered the 21st century by deliberately running counter to existing trends. In a period that was witnessing a resurgence of horological complications, Philippe Dufour chose to create the now famous Simplicity. Despite a display of just hours, minutes and small seconds, this Simplicity - launched in 2000 - is of course not as simple as it appears. It took some 12 years for Philippe Dufour and his small team – naturally working under his supervision – to produce the 200 or so timepieces in the collection. They were made to order with two- to three-year delivery times – a condition accepted by the carefully selected owners who are all personally acquainted with the watchmaker – and justified by an exceptional level of quality. The Simplicity is first and foremost designed to last and is thus outstandingly durable. Every technical option was driven by this goal and all the components were hand-crafted for this purpose, with the same rigorous discipline applied to each part. The Simplicity reached impressive heights in terms of hand finishing, endowing it with the extraordinary added value acknowledged by enlightened connoisseurs. For hours on end, the movements were painstakingly enhanced using traditional decorative techniques: Côtes de Genève, satin-brushing, mirror polishing – and doubtless the most difficult and time-consuming of all: chamfering. This technique was applied to the mainplate, the bridges with sharp internal and external angles, the screws including their slots and even the wheel teeth. The watchmaker’s signature and the serial number are engraved on solid gold plates embedded in two of the four bridges. For the external elements, Philippe Dufour offered several always classical variations for the cases (white or pink gold, 37mm or 34mm) and dials (guilloché or lacquered with applied or hand-painted numerals and Dauphine or Breguet hands). Before turning the page on the Simplicity, without doubt a milestone in watchmaking history, in 2020 Philippe Dufour announced he would be making one final anniversary edition of 20 pieces for the watch’s 20th anniversary. Number-one in the series sold at auction, in Geneva, for CHF 1.3 million.

• Traditional watch produced in an artisanal manner and designed to stand the test of time • Hand finishing of exceptional quality