A LEGACY OF EXPRESSION

For over three decades, Roger Dubuis has carved a singular voice in fine watchmaking—a position that CEO David Chaumet is now taking deliberate care to fortify.

- Alvin Wong

When David Chaumet stepped into his new office at Roger Dubuis in the summer of 2024, he was walking into territories both familiar and uncharted. More than five years had passed since he last worked there-a place where he had called home for over a decadeand now that he was back as its CEO, Chaumet found himself helming a young and dynamic watchmaking house at the cusp of a new dawn.

"Oftentimes, new CEOs say they spend a certain number of days to understand the brand and such. But I already had in-depth knowledge of Roger Dubuis, so it was a process of rediscovery more than anything else," recalls Chaumet.

Having served as the company’s customer and quality service director, as well as overseeing the Western Europe and Asia-Pacific markets during his first stint between 2008 and 2019, Chaumet not only knew its ins and outs, but had gotten an intimate sense of what made Roger Dubuis tick.

During that time, Chaumet had the privilege of witnessing the passion and gravitas of the brand’s eponymous founder. The late Mr Dubuis, who started the brand in 1995 and almost singlehandedly launched it into the horological stratosphere to be in the company of contemporary watchmaking titans, had originally retired in 2010, but returned shortly after as an ambassador and technical adviser until his passing in 2017. And it was this front-row seat to Mr Dubuis that now underscores Chaumet’s decisions as he seeks to both reconnect Roger Dubuis with its DNA and shape its future.

“What is Roger Dubuis? It is a high-end Genevan watchmaking house that has always been very expressive—way more so than traditional watchmakers in Geneva. And this is something that we hope to strongly reinject into the maison,” says Chaumet.