Swiss watch brand
Daniel Roth: history, models and value
Daniel Roth is the watchmaker who helped relaunch Breguet in the 1970s and 1980s, then founded his own brand in 1988. Its double-ellipse watches are collected today, and LVMH revived the name in 2023.
- Founded
- 1988
- Founder(s)
- Daniel Roth
- Headquarters
- Geneva
- Owner / group
- LVMH
Daniel Roth: origins and founding
Daniel Roth SA was founded in 1988 in the Vallée de Joux, with workshops in Le Sentier. It made complicated dress watches in a classical style, many with tourbillons and hand-guilloché dials. The first reference, the 2187/C187 of 1988, introduced the brand's signature double-ellipse case.
Founders and family
Daniel Roth was born in France in 1945. He trained as a watchmaker at Jaeger-LeCoultre and then worked at Audemars Piguet. In 1974 the Paris jeweler Chaumet, which had just bought Breguet, hired him to help revive that name. Roth led the team that created the new Breguet collections inspired by Abraham-Louis Breguet's watches. He left Breguet during Chaumet's financial trouble and started his own company. After selling it, he kept making a few watches by hand, including pieces sold under the name Jean Daniel Nicolas, after his son and wife.
Daniel Roth history and milestones
- 1988: founding of Daniel Roth SA.
- 1994: The Hour Glass, the Singapore watch retailer, took over the company.
- Mid-1990s: more modern designs, sports watches and jewelry watches were added.
- 1999–2000: The Hour Glass merged Daniel Roth with Gérald Genta, and Bulgari bought the combined manufacture in 2000.
- 2011: with Bulgari, the brand became part of LVMH.
- 2015: Bulgari stopped the Daniel Roth brand.
- 2023: LVMH announced the revival through La Fabrique du Temps Louis Vuitton.
- 2024: the Tourbillon Souscription, 20 pieces in yellow gold.
- 2025: the Extra Plat Souscription, 20 pieces.
Famous Daniel Roth models
- Tourbillon – the brand's core complication, including a tourbillon with an 8-day power reserve.
- Perpetual calendar – including an instantaneous perpetual calendar.
- Extra Plat – a thin, time-only double-ellipse watch from the 1990s, remade in 2025.
- Sports and Papillon models – 1990s pieces, such as a steel limited edition with salmon guilloché dial made for Roth's 50th birthday in 1995.
- Grande Sonnerie – the Westminster Grande Sonnerie Carillon of the Bulgari era.
Movements and technique
The original Daniel Roth watches of the 1990s were built on bought-in high-end movements, including Lemania calibres, which were then reworked and decorated. The revived brand uses calibres developed by La Fabrique du Temps Louis Vuitton in Geneva: the DR001, a hand-wound one-minute tourbillon with 80 hours of power reserve, and the DR002, a hand-wound double-ellipse movement at 4 Hz with 65 hours of reserve.
Daniel Roth today
Daniel Roth is part of LVMH's Watches & Jewelry division. The watches are made at La Fabrique du Temps Louis Vuitton, the Geneva complications specialist founded by Michel Navas and Enrico Barbasini, in very small numbers (fewer than 100 a year were planned). This is haute horlogerie: the 2024 Tourbillon Souscription cost CHF 140,000 before tax, and the 2025 Extra Plat Souscription CHF 45,000.
Daniel Roth prices on the pre-owned market
The 2023 revival brought new attention to original Daniel Roth watches. The early pieces from the founder's own period (1988 to the mid-1990s), especially tourbillons and perpetual calendars in gold with guilloché dials, are the most sought after. Pieces made after 2000 under Bulgari form a separate market, so it matters which period your watch comes from. Originality, a recent service by a qualified watchmaker, and box and papers all help the price.
How to recognise a genuine Daniel Roth
A genuine Daniel Roth has a precisely made double-ellipse case, crisp hand guilloché on the dial and high-quality movement finishing. The reference and an individual number are engraved on the case. For older pieces, check that the movement fits the reference and that the dial has not been refinished. Because values have risen, ask a specialist to inspect any expensive piece. More tips: how to spot a fake watch.
What is your Daniel Roth worth?
Original Daniel Roth watches can be worth a lot, so it pays to know what you have. Upload photos to our free watch value estimate, and for insurance, an estate or a sale, order a written watch appraisal.
Frequently asked questions
Who owns Daniel Roth today?
Daniel Roth belongs to LVMH. Bulgari bought it in 2000, stopped it in 2015, and LVMH revived it in 2023 through La Fabrique du Temps Louis Vuitton.
What is a Daniel Roth double-ellipse case?
It is the brand's signature case shape, first used on the 1988 reference 2187/C187: a rounded oval shape made from two overlapping ellipses. The revived watches keep it.
Are vintage Daniel Roth watches valuable?
Early pieces from the founder's own period, especially gold tourbillons and perpetual calendars, are sought after by collectors. Watches from the Bulgari years (2000 to 2015) are a separate market.
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