A Hands-On Introduction To The Daniel Roth Extra Plat Souscription

Limited to just 20 pieces

January 22, 2025

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Just about one year ago, Daniel Roth presented the finished Tourbillon Souscription watch in yellow gold. After announcing the return of the Daniel Roth brand in March 2023, the Tourbillon Souscription was the first project and a nod to the debut model (Tourbillon ref. C187) from Daniel Roth’s watch brand in 1989. Now, after releasing the Tourbillon Rose Gold last August, Daniel Roth returns with yet another release. Meet the Extra Plat Souscription.

Extra Plat Souscription

Fittingly, this model is based on Roth’s second watch, which was made one year after the introduction of the Tourbillon C.187. The Extra Plat Souscription also has a new movement inside. It’s caliber DR002, the second one from the revived LVMH-owned brand. Just as with the previous DR001 tourbillon movement, Michel Navas and Enrico Barbasini — master watchmakers and the founders of La Fabrique du Temps — were responsible for its development.

A tribute to Roth’s second watch

With the Extra Plat Souscription, Navas and Barbasini want to offer a simple two-hand watch that pays tribute to the original Daniel Roth model from the 1990s but with everything executed to the highest standard possible and all in-house at La Fabrique du Temps.

When I visited La Fabrique du Temps a few weeks ago, the Daniel Roth Extra Plat Souscription was waiting for us in a spacious meeting room. It was hard to resist picking it up before Max, our photographer, was able to take some images (fingerprints are a photographer’s worst enemy). Even though I selected the Daniel Roth Tourbillon in rose gold as my contender for our 2024 Readers’ Choice award (cli ck here), I favor this new Extra Plat Souscription. I love my watches to be clean and simple, and I would rather have two hands on a dress watch than three or more. As soon as Max finished his photography work, I picked it up and strapped it on my wrist.

To the highest standards

Measuring only 7.7mm thick, the Extra Plat Souscription is truly a gem. The case design of this watch is close to the original but with reworked lugs, for example, to perfect it. Aside from the typical Daniel Roth double-ellipse case design, it’s the Clous de Paris guilloché that makes me smile. This dial, turned by hand on a straight-line engine from 1935, looks simply stunning. This task is performed by an artisan at La Fabrique du Temps. It requires approximately 10 hours of work per dial for the guilloché alone.

On the dial of the Extra Plat Souscription, there are filet sauté borders on the base and chapter ring. These are applied with a machine dating back even further, to approximately 1850. We also find printed Roman numerals, the Daniel Roth logo, and the watch’s serial number, all in a deep blue. This blue hue perfectly matches the heat-blued hour and minute hands.

On the wrist

Surprisingly, despite being just 33.5mm wide and 38.6mm long, the Extra Plat Souscription sits very nicely on my 18.5cm wrist. Yes, even with such modest dimensions, it also works very well on a larger wrist! The 18K yellow gold case with its double-ellipse shape is very elegant and makes for a perfect dress watch.

Caliber DR002

Just like the Tourbillon Souscription, the case back of this new model is all gold. The manual-winding DR002 movement remains a secret from the wearer, just like the caliber in the ’90s original. However, while it resembles the DR001 tourbillon movement, the DR002 has been built from scratch. This caliber is just 3.1mm thick (or thin) and has the same shape as the double-ellipse case. It also ticks all the boxes of traditional watchmaking in terms of its construction and the decoration applied. For example, the bridges feature rounded and polished bevels (anglage). The master watchmakers also paid a lot of attention to the feel of this movement by ensuring a satisfying winding experience. The balance wheel is a free-sprung type with four arms, each with a variable-inertia weight for its regulation.

Daniel Roth will produce only 20 pieces of this Extra Plat Souscription. The first watches will be delivered starting this month. Of course, another Daniel Roth Extra Plat will follow as a non-limited edition.

I know 2025 just started, but it will surprise me if this homage to the original Daniel Roth Extra Plat doesn’t make my list of favorite watches of this year 11 months from now. What an incredible joy it is to wear and admire!

The retail price of the Daniel Roth Extra Plat Souscription is CHF 45,000 (excluding taxes). You can find more information here.