DAAG01 Daniel Roth Tourbillon

This, ref. DAAG01, is a 2025-revived Daniel Roth—and one is currently auctioning for the first time ever. Daniel Roth the brand returned in 2023 under La Fabrique du Temps / Louis Vuitton and the tourbillon that reopened the brand sits deliberately close to the 1988 original. However, the man himself is now working under the name Jean-Daniel Nicolas and that’s important to note. This restomod is close enough to its origins that the differences are worth naming precisely. The double-ellipse case keeps the familiar 38.6 x 35.5mm footprint, but at 9.2mm it is slimmer than the roughly 11mm C187. The lugs are hand-soldered still, now tapered and curved downward rather than the original's straight, severe stubs. The crown is stamped with the case outline. Dials are solid precious metal, hand-guilloché at Comblémine, Voutilainen's dial atelier, with applied silver chapter rings and serif typography drawn from the earliest pieces.

The movement is the real break. The C187 ran a modified Lemania ébauche which Roth helped to develop at Lemania when he was working for Breguet. In its day, it was the only series tourbillon sent through COSC. The new calibre DR001 was developed in-house by Michel Navas and Enrico Barbasini: 206 components, 19 jewels, still 3Hz, but 80 hours of reserve — roughly double the Lemania-based original, whose figure was never officially published. The bridge architecture and going train are reworked pretty nearly entirely to fully fill this case.

The relaunch opened with the Tourbillon Souscription: 20 pieces in yellow gold, numbered 01 to 20, sold out at CHF 140,000. Rose gold followed in 2024 and platinum in 2025, both regular production numbered from 21 onward, with output capped at roughly 50 tourbillons a year. Three metals and, so far, no white gold.

Finishing is where the gap is widest. The Souscription hid its work behind a solid caseback; the rose gold and platinum show it through sapphire. Bridges carry Côtes de Genève with internal and external anglage, jewels sit in polished gold chatons, the third-wheel cock and the tourbillon bridge are black-polished steel, and the tourbillon cage is bevelled inside and out with consistent width. The original was finished well for a 1990s series watch. This is finished to independent-atelier standard in classic style, which is the argument the relaunch is making. That said, it’s not an excess of interior angles or unique treatments. It’s just very well executed basics. The watch is a very well executed love letter to the original daring independent of 1988—before all but a couple.