The 2014 Pierre DeRoche TNT Royal Rétro is only 43 mm in diameter

Pierre DeRoche celebrates its 10th anniversary in 2014; Carole and Pierre Dubois, the watchmaker couple behind this youthful brand, celebrate their 28th wedding anniversary.

Pierre DeRoche is first and foremost the story of this couple. Pierre hails from a family that has been immersed in mechanical watchmaking across four generations and his great-grandfather founded his own movement company in 1901. Now named Dubois Dépraz, it has remained in the family’s ownership ever since. Carole naturally caught the virus from Pierre and his family.

When Pierre DeRoche first exhibited at Baselworld in 2005, just a year after its founding, its SplitRock model was an instant sensation. Read-off was extremely intuitive, notably due to the 60-minute totalizer instead of the usual 30-minute version. Pierre DeRoche would indeed make 60-minute counters its signature.

Pierre DeRoche SplitRock

In 10 years, less than 7 different chronographs have enriched the brand’s various collections with this characteristic, along with other horological complications such as flyback, power-reserve and annual calendar functions, to mention but a few.

In 2009, the brand presented the TNT Royal Rétro, an exceptional piece featuring six retrograde hands, in a ten-second leg relay race. To house this unique mechanical choreography, TNT Royal Rétro is equipped with a particularly technical case with modular design.

The 10th anniversary TNT Royal Rétro

Having become the emblematic Pierre DeRoche model, the TNT Royal Rétro has constantly evolved over the past five years, in turn featuring seven visible sapphire bridges, or eclipsing two of its six retrograde seconds by adding a power-reserve indicator. This year, for the brand’s 10th anniversary, it appears in a slim-line version measuring just 43 mm in diameter. In a nod to the milestone, the “10” hour-marker appears in red to stand out from the others.

Carole and Pierre Dubois, founders of Pierre DeRoche.

Technical Specifications

Royal Retro 43 “10th”

Movement
Mechanical automatic, exclusive Dubois Dépraz calibre, 58 jewels, decorated and engraved oscillating weight, central bridge, 6 chamfered and satin-finished seconds bridges, minute wheel with Pierre DeRoche logo, hands affixed by a transversal pin, 6 gear-driven retrograde seconds hands with strip-spring return.

Functions
Hours, minutes, retrograde seconds in 6 ten-second sections, moving retrograde hand indicator, date.

Case
Titanium middle with black PVD treatment, 43 mm. Bezel, lugs, crown-guard and screw-lock crown in steel. Sapphire crystal with anti-reflective coating on both sides. Sapphire back. Water-resistant to 100 metres (10 bar / 330 ft).

Strap
Alligator with safety folding clasp.

Limited edition
10-piece limited series commemorating the brand’s 10th anniversary. Engraved «10» and red top-stitching on the strap.

Duty free price
18,700 CHF ($21,782 CAD)

Here is a video of the GrandCliff TNT Royal Retro in action:

More about Pierre DeRoche at www.pierrederoche.com