Founded in 1989, Daniel Roth is long-established as one of the early entrants in the independent watchmaking space that has since ballooned with brands like Urkwerk, MB&F, and Richard Mille launching from the foundations that Daniel Roth laid. With their distinctive styling, fresh take on design, and technical prowess, the watchmaker quickly rose to fame and dominated in the 1990s as their ascension to the upper echelons of watchmaking continued. With a strong design language set and an impressive track record creating high horology timepieces, the brand was sold to BVLGARI in 2000, just one year after BVLGARI acquired Gerald Genta’s eponymous brand, another growing powerhouse within the independent watchmaking scene. Launched in the very early 2000s, soon after the BVLGARI takeover, the Datomax that we have here recalls the designs of Daniel Roth’s earlier and most collectible timepieces with its 18kt white gold ellipsocurvex construction offered in Daniel Roth’s signature 35mm x 38mm sizing and a beautiful guilloche dial to boot. Marrying a blend of textures across its surface, this example’s silver dial also retains Daniel Roth’s famed blued steel hands. However, the Datomax also introduces a set of enlarged black Roman numerals to Daniel Roth’s design vocabulary in a move that differentiates it as a timepiece marking the beginning of BVLGARI’s ownership of the brand. With a large date aperture at 12 o’clock and a seconds subdial at 6 o’clock, the Datomax’s design is easy on the eye and, thanks to its classical Daniel Roth proportions, easy on the wrist too.

A beautiful timepiece to coincide with Daniel Roth's new ownership, the Datomax is stylistically consistent with the brand's earlier pieces while also introducing enough changes that its design is novel, interesting and undeniably beautiful