"Pierre DeRoche?? Never heard of it, just another microbrand?" That’s a pretty common first reaction from many of my watch friends, some of whom are even professionally involved in the watch industry, when I mention my new alarm watch. So — who or what is Pierre DeRoche?
The best answer comes with a short history (and I promise, it’s not a long one :). The Pierre DeRoche company was founded in 2004 by Pierre and Carole Dubois. Pierre is a fourth-generation descendant of the famous Dubois watchmaking family. Rings a bell? Dubois-Depraz? Yes, that Dubois-Depraz. Pierre DeRoche is closely connected — family-wise — to the Dubois-Depraz (DD) company.
Namely, the DD company was established 121 years ago (in 1901) by Marcel Dépraz, Pierre Dubois’ great-grandfather. Today, the company, based in the Vallée de Joux, employs around 340 people and is fully independent, managed by three Dubois brothers. Until 2017, DD was managed by two brothers while Pierre ran his own Pierre DeRoche brand. In 2017, Pierre left his brand to join his two brothers in managing DD. One brother runs the commercial department, the other is the company’s chairman, and Pierre’s cousin oversees the technical department.
While Dubois Dépraz works with most of the high-end watch brands, developing additional complications and manufacturing components for them, and does not produce watches under the DD brand itself, Pierre DeRoche focuses on watches with mid-range complications — almost all of which have been developed exclusively for the brand by Dubois Dépraz.
So, you could say that Pierre DeRoche is kind of a playground for Dubois Dépraz’s own brand watches.
Pierre DeRoche has quite an astonishing collection of watches, divided into three main lines: TNT, GRANDCLIFF, and SPLITROCK. You can check out all the collections here: https://www.pierrederoche.com/en/
As an alarm watch collector, my particular focus was on the TNT collection, as it hides one very interesting watch — the TNT RendesVoux. This watch was developed in 2011 to celebrate the 110th anniversary of the Dubois Dépraz company. It is limited to 201 pieces in the titanium case version (with steel pushers, bezel, and crown). As far as I know, each watch is assembled only upon order. Besides the titanium case version, a titanium/gold version limited to 21 pieces is also available.
All TNT watches share the same case shape, and the RendesVoux is no exception. It gives the impression of being quite a large, heavy, and bulky watch, with a diameter of 45.5mm excluding crown and pushers, and a height of 17mm. The watch looks even bigger due to several pushers almost integrated into the case. Despite the large circumference, the dial itself is relatively small — just 34mm. This disproportion gives the watch a striking, almost intimidating appearance.
The watch is powered by the DD 960 movement, based on Dubois Dépraz’s internal reference. To avoid a “jungle” of watch and movement references, Pierre DeRoche uses its own numbering system, and this movement is designated as PDR 4015 within Pierre DeRoche. The DD 960, or PDR 4015, is a fully in-house developed Dubois Dépraz movement made exclusively for Pierre DeRoche. It does not exist in any other watch.
The DD 960 is a modular construction movement. The base movement, which provides hours, minutes, and seconds, is an ETA 2892. Dubois Dépraz added its own date complication displayed on a separate sub-dial instead of the standard ETA date ring, along with its own 24-hour indicator on another sub-dial. The main addition, however, is an alarm module featuring a two-gong, two-hammer ringing system. Due to its modular construction, the alarm is powered separately from the timekeeping function.
The alarm module is quite unusual — I might even say strange. The entire module is operated via pushers, while the crown is used only for standard watch functions (setting the time and date, and manual winding of the main barrel). There are three pushers. The first is at 4 o’clock, which is “normal” — it switches the alarm on and off. This type of pusher is common on many alarm wristwatches. However, there is also a pusher at 8 o’clock that winds the alarm! To fully wind the alarm, you need to press this pusher 2-3 times, and you have to push quite hard. The sensation is strange! Since the dial is transparent and you can see the front of the movement, you can observe the entire bridge set below the “Pierre DeRoche” inscription moving back and forth while winding. Very interesting.
The last pusher, located at 10 o’clock, is used for setting the alarm. Each full press of this pusher moves the alarm hand backward by approximately one hour. A gentle press moves the hand in smaller increments, but to be honest, it is extremely difficult to set the alarm to the exact time. Luckily, there is a workaround — I’m not sure if it’s by design or by accident. When you set the time backwards and the hour hand reaches the alarm hand, the hour hand “grabs” the alarm hand and moves it along. This feature is quite common in many alarm movements. Thanks to this, you can set the alarm precisely to the minute. After setting the alarm this way, you just need to set the hour again by turning the hands forward.
Although the dial is relatively small compared to the overall watch size, there is a lot going on. The outer ring features minute markings, a subtle “12” at the top, and bold red hour markers at 3, 6, and 9. The inner ring is dedicated to alarm setting, with explicit 20 and 40-minute markers each hour, and 10, 30, and 50-minute markers in between. Each full hour — which also serves as a 5-minute marker for the time — is marked with a strong white indicator.
As mentioned earlier, the date and 24-hour indicators have their own sub-dials, both quite clear with plenty of numbers and distinct hands. Additionally, there are three smaller red hands dedicated to the alarm module: the alarm hand, the alarm power indicator, and the alarm on/off indicator. Not to forget, the alarm bell itself moves while ringing.
Because the dial is transparent and you can see the front part of the movement, the whole display can look quite busy. But what works well in this busy layout is that the minute and hour hands are large, well-designed, and very prominent, so reading the time is never a problem — even at night, thanks to very good lume.
Are all these indicators really necessary? In my opinion, no. Less is more, I’d say. For example, I would remove the 24-hour indicator and keep the standard date ring format to create a cleaner, more user-friendly dial. I would also replace the transparent look with a more traditional dial — even though I appreciate the winding alarm detail, perhaps covering the left, less interesting part of the dial would be better. All the alarm indicators, however, are useful and necessary. The alarm bell is attractive, and together with the other indicators, they form the essential parts of an alarm wristwatch, so I would leave those elements as they are.
Since the alarm is the main feature of the watch, let’s hear how the alarm sounds. From the watch’s name, RendezVous, it’s quite obvious that its primary purpose is not as a wake-up alarm but rather as a meeting reminder. This is nothing unusual — many alarm wristwatches throughout history were designed as reminder watches rather than morning alarms. From today’s perspective, where we all keep calendars on our phones, this may seem unusual, but at the end of the day, the general idea of a wristwatch is somewhat outdated in this respect, right? Phones can do everything watches used to do.
Back to the alarm — it rings beautifully, with a very subtle and gentle sound. It’s totally different from the annoying buzzers on most wristwatches, where a hammer strikes a pin. A fully powered alarm rings for approximately 14 seconds. Let me also point out the tiny details visible on the movement while the watch is ringing — wonderful! This ringing definitely justifies the transparent dial, which shows only the right side of the movement.
Fully powered alarm rings approximately 14 seconds. Let me also point out all the tiny details seen on the movement while watch is ringing. Wonderful! Ringing justifies the decision of the transparent dial. Again, just right side of the movement.
Now, onto another important question: how does this watch feel on the wrist? At first glance, you might think it’s totally unwearable, but surprisingly, that’s not the case. The watch sits very comfortably on the wrist; the construction of the lugs and the way the strap fits the case allow the strap to curve down the wrist and hug it nicely. No issues at all. Of course, you need a wrist of at least 18.5 cm to wear this watch comfortably. The titanium case also ensures that the watch is not heavy — it’s lighter than you’d expect.
I don’t like the safety folding clasp — it’s very big and fastens with difficulty. I also wonder if an alligator leather strap with a folding clasp is really a good choice for a “sporty” watch, especially one with 100m water resistance. I would have liked to try a rubber strap instead, but the construction and lug fittings don’t allow for an easy strap change. You need a special screwdriver to unscrew the lugs, and this tool is not provided.
Since I already mentioned packaging... well, the watch comes in a modest box — relatively small, far from extravagant, without any additional features. Inside the box, there’s a booklet with basic information about the watch and an instruction manual. On the back page of the booklet, there is a space for the stamp and proof of purchase, so even a standard warranty card is missing. I must say I was a bit disappointed. On the other hand, it serves its purpose and doesn’t take up much space in my already overcrowded closet. Sometimes, less is more.
Still, I would be glad if the tool for strap replacement were included, and if the watch came equipped with an additional rubber strap. Or — just a thought — maybe even a titanium bracelet? It seems I will never know how those combinations would look.
Price of the watch? A lot. €20,000 with taxes for EU customers. The most expensive TNT model. Of course, you receive a very unique, limited watch with an in-house Swiss movement. So it’s hard to argue — high-end watch prices keep climbing, and this is no exception. Sadly for us, watch lovers.
In the end, I must congratulate Pierre DeRoche’s PR team. After my purchase, I sent the company an email asking for some additional information about the brand and the watch itself. They were very polite, quick to respond, and answered all my questions without delay. Much appreciated!
Add comment
Comments