Philippe Dufour is renowned for his exceptional craftsmanship and dedication to traditional watchmaking techniques, producing some of the most exquisite and sought-after timepieces in the world. His watches are celebrated for their meticulous hand-finishing and innovative designs, making them a symbol of horological excellence.


Philippe Dufour is a Swiss independent watchmaker from Le Sentier in the Vallée de Joux, widely regarded as the greatest living watchmaker and a defining figure of the independent watchmaking revival. He created the Grande Sonnerie wristwatch (1992) and the Duality double balance wheel watch (1996) — both extraordinary technical achievements — before the Simplicity (2000), which is considered the finest hand-finished time-only watch ever made by a single watchmaker.
The Simplicity (2000) is Philippe Dufour's masterwork — a time-only watch with hours, minutes, and seconds, in which the extraordinary complexity is not in the complications but in the finishing quality. Every component is hand-finished to a standard that has never been surpassed: mirror-polished surfaces, perfectly executed anglage, hand-engraved bridges, and assembly that represents decades of accumulated skill. The Simplicity is the benchmark against which all other hand-finished watches are measured.
Dufour's most important contribution may be the inspiration he provided to a generation of independent watchmakers. His lectures, his willingness to share knowledge, and his insistence that one person can produce every component of a watch revived the concept of the artisan watchmaker in an era dominated by large manufactures. Watchmakers from Kari Voutilainen to Roger W. Smith acknowledge Dufour's influence. He also developed the Grande Sonnerie — one of the most complex watch mechanisms — as a one-man effort, which is considered virtually impossible by conventional standards.

.avif)