To cut one’s teeth under a legend like watchmaker Philippe Dufour can’t be easy, but daughter Danièla has no complaints. Working with her father in his workshop since 2021, Danièla focuses on all aspects of watchmaking, while also learning and unlearning every day.

Edited excerpts from an interview. 

WatchTime India: What is a typical day at work like?

Daniela Dufour: I’m a watchmaker, which means that I am manufacturing watches from A to Z, the same as my father. He always wanted someone who was capable of doing everything. I arrived at the workshop, and my father was like, ‘OK, now you have to do watches the way I’m doing it.’ And this is what I’m doing.

WTI: What aspects of watchmaking do you enjoy most?

DD: The diversity—it’s never ending. It’s an infinite world, and you can always learn something new every day. At my level, I’m working on so many different aspects; aspects not only concerning my bench, but also writing papers, meeting clients, customers, and watchmaking lovers. I have the pleasure of discovering new watches, mechanisms, and decorations too. I’m also rediscovering the watch industry because it has changed so much. Independent watchmakers are challenging industrial brands because of how we finish our movements, and then the big brands faced that and also evolved in terms of finishing a movement correctly.

WTI: You come from watchmaking legacy. What are the positives and negatives of that?

DD: The positive is having a father who is a living encyclopedia. I learn every day from him. And it’s such a pleasure to be able to enjoy someone who has so much passion. For him, it’s not work. He’s doing his passion every day. And he transmits that stamina, that energy to you.

The negative aspect of it is the fact that I’m compared with my father, and people waiting for me to be a total replica of my father. And I will never be that because each person is unique in their own way of thinking, how they’ve been raised, the values they have got, and also how they have evolved. It’s a good thing because we all have to be different; we need the diversity. People don’t understand that just being the ‘daughter of’ is not enough. You have to work hard, harder than all the others out there to prove that you are legitimate, because people always say that you’re there just because you have a name. No, it’s hard work.

WTI: And what is it like to work with family in a professional environment?

DD: For me, it’s a dream. I have no problems working with my father. I think watchmaking adds something more to our relationship. At the workshops, I understand that while he is my father, he’s also the boss. And the boss is always right. So, I have nothing to add on it. And I’m doing what he’s saying, what he orders me to do. So there’s no problem.

WTI: What do you like, and dislike, about the watch industry today?

DD: Again, I like the diversity. You think you’ve seen it all in watchmaking? Wait till next year, you will be surprised. It is never ending. Also, the fact that when I have a timekeeper in my hand, I feel emotions. It is talking to me even though I know it’s an object. As an independent watchmaker, the watch is part of my soul because there’s my blood, sweat, tears, my anger, but also my passion, joy, everything that I’ve been through, every emotion, which exists in that watch.

The negative aspect, which is, well, also good, is speculators because they transform a piece of art only for transaction, and I am scared that these timekeepers can lose their history and prestige. But it also helps in adjusting our prices because we have very limited watches per year.

WTI: If you weren’t a watchmaker, what would you be?

DD: I’m not sure. When I was a little girl, I didn’t even know watchmaking existed—I was in ballet school. But then we moved to Switzerland, and when I was around 10 or 12, because my father spent a lot of time at the workshop, I got very curious about his work, and he transmitted to me the virus of watchmaking. I went to auctions and exhibitions, also saw a lot of stuff about watchmaking. And when I was around 12, I told him that I wanted to be a watchmaker. He didn’t want me to become a watchmaker. Even much later, my parents tried to change my mind. They even had to go to my school because the directors of my school thought that my parents had forced me to become a watchmaker. They had to explain that they actually wanted to change my mind. My father kept telling me for two years that I was way too smart to continue what he did, to go to university, to do something else. I understand now that at the end, he just wanted to be sure that I had the shoulders for it, and also see if I was really motivated to begin with.

WTI: The one lesson you’ve learned from your father that you hold dear...

DD: That patience is key, and you have to keep trying. You cannot give up; there’s always a solution. And if that solution doesn’t exist, you have to create it. Also, the values of work. My parents always told me, you don’t work, you don’t eat. I told myself that through hard work, you can have everything you want in life. Hard work is the only thing that pays.

WTI: What was the last timepiece that you worked on, or are currently working on?

DD: I’m working on the Simplicity.

WTI: If you were given the opportunity, what would your dream watch look like?