The new CEO of Roger Dubuis is David Chaumet, who has been with the company for a long time, having previously worked at Richemont Group headquarters, where he was responsible for Europe (including Switzerland), Hong Kong and Asia Pacific, before serving as CEO of Baume & Mercier for five years.
Photograph by Yu Mitamura
Masamasa Hirota (this magazine): Interview and writing
Text by Masayuki Hirota (Chronos-Japan)
Edited by Yukiya Suzuki (Chronos-Japan)
[Article published in the July 2025 issue of Kronos Japan]
"We want to talk about the value of the watch rather than its price."
CEO of Roger Dubuis. Born in France in 1973. After working for companies such as Total in France, he joined Roger Dubuis in 2008. After serving as president of Western Europe and the Asia-Pacific market, he became CEO of Baume & Mercier in 2015. He has held his current position since June 2012. While one might think of him as an elite, having been involved with Roger Dubuis since shortly after its acquisition by the Richemont Group, he is a "watch guy" with extensive knowledge of the company's products, both old and new.
"It was probably around Christmas 2023 when I was asked to return to Roger Dubuis. I was very happy to be connected to Roger again." Having worked closely with co-founder Roger Dubuis, he is certainly someone who knows Roger Dubuis better than anyone else in the Richemont Group. So what does he think are the company's strengths?
"Compared to other companies, our 30-year history is short. But what we've accomplished is incredible. All of our teams work under one roof and are agile. This is our strength. We have a department called QLAB, where our movement development team and designers come together to discuss things."
Currently, Roger Dubuis has achieved great success mainly through its emphasis on skeletons and its connection to motorsport, but are there plans to establish other pillars in the future?
"We have had pillars for 30 years, such as continuity, creativity, and style. After making the skeleton our signature, we collaborated with motorsports. Thanks to that, even people who didn't know about Roger became aware of us. So, in the field of watchmaking, we want to develop, create, and innovate together with motorsports and the field. But this is not all. We are watchmakers, after all."
This is Roger Dubuis's simplest and most representative model, a master of boldly hollowed-out skeleton watches. The case is made of grade 5 titanium, which is 33% lighter than stainless steel, making it even more comfortable to wear. The skeletonized star-shaped bridge supporting the barrel is now an iconic element that makes a Roger Dubuis watch instantly recognizable. Automatic winding (Cal. RD720SQ). 32 jewels. 28,800 vph. Power reserve of approximately 72 hours. Ti case (42mm diameter, 12.7mm thick). Water resistant to 10 bar. 10,010,000 yen (tax included).
The luxury market is currently experiencing significant growth. Does Roger Dubuis have any plans to increase prices?
"We don't talk about price, because we want to talk about the value that's built into the watch. What's important is that we create watches that are valuable to our customers, and that we can explain what those watches are. There are some watches out there today that maintain quite a high price, but that may be the result of something like a stock market, rather than something that stirs emotion."
Now that he's hinted at a different direction, what kind of new work will he unveil in the future?
"I can't go into too much detail, but we want to reconnect with the early Roger Dubuis era, which means it will be a watch inspired by the very first designs and watches."
