Philippe Dufour is a Swiss-born watchmaker from Le Sentier, Vallée de Joux. He is regarded as the greatest master of modern watchmaking, and his watches are referenced as among the best ever made. He finishes all of his watches himself by hand. In 1992, Dufour was the first watchmaker to put arguably the most complex of complications in a wristwatch, a Sonnerie. His other two models include Duality and Simplicity.
Education
After middle-school, at the age of 15, Dufour decided to choose a profession rather than studying academics. Upon his decision to study mechanics, he got his first training at the Ecole d’Horlogerie de la Vallée de Joux and graduated at 1967.
Career
Following the completion of his studies, he was hired by Jaeger-LeCoultre in 1967. After working for several companies, Audemars Piguet ordered 5 Sonnerie movements for pocket watches from Dufour and he started to work on the project in 1982. The last movement was delivered in 1988. After finishing the order, he set out to become one of the first independent watchmakers and presented his first wristwatch in his own name in the Basel World fair in 1992. Following the world's first Sonnerie wristwatch, he developed the Duality in 1996. The principle of the watch was based on the differential system that averages errors between two balance wheels. Only 9 pieces were made. In 2000, he introduced his most famous model: Simplicity. The model was the only current production watch from Dufour and about 200 were planned to be produced. He reportedly has so many orders he is not taking any more. One of his Simplicity watches is exhibited at The Espace Horloger watch museum at Switzerland.
Auctions and collectability
Simplicity is the most frequently appearing model at auctions. In 2016, Phillips sold one for €260,000. In 2017, Sotheby's sold one for €176,000. In 2017, Phillips sold one for €192,500. One of the 9 Duality models ever produced was sold in 2017 at New York by Phillips for almost $1,000,000.
Personal collection
Other than his own creations, Dufour has been seen wearing only two other watches. In an interview during SIHH 2016 he stated: "Datograph is the only neutral watch I bought for myself", a timepiece from A. Lange & Söhne. In an interview with watch industry publication Hodinkee, he stated: "The best chronograph ever made is the Datograph". At Baselworld2019, he was seen wearing a Rolex GMT Master II ref. 126710.
