David Candaux releases his next watch which promises the interesting dual escapement concept driven by a differential. This entry level piece from him will be an interesting addition to the complications dictionary of the independent makers. Introducing the DC12 MaveriK.
Press Release with commentary in italics.
New: David Candaux DC12 MaveriK
The David Candaux DC12 MaveriK has a recommended retail of CHF 98,000 before taxes.
Commentary
In an interesting move by David Candaux, his next chapter opens with this novelty. Called the DC12, it incorporates a dual escapement which is joined at the fourth wheel where the power is split by a differential. Here, the single power train splits at the differential with the energy escaping from two escape wheels which balance each other out. The principle is exactly the same as what Dufour has done for his Duality. Coincidentally, David’s workshop is also in Le Soliat, just a stone’s throw away from Philippe’s own studios.
This concept was first mooted in the 1930s at the École Technique de la Vallée de Joux, a watch which can still be seen at the museum there. This was the watch that had inspired Philippe Dufour to make his Duality, where he miniaturised the concept to use a single power train by using a differential to split the power to run two balance wheels.
The differential, a complicated mechanism, allows the power from the train to be equally distributed to the two balance wheel, allowing a constant escape of energy from the power train. The two balance escapement assembly is then able to compensate for each other, enabling better synchronicity.
This new work by Candaux offers a more reliable solution to the problem initially solved by Dufour. By using a hairspring shock absorber to equalise the two balance wheels, allowing them to find a natural equilibrium.
The work retains the miniature differential, which now is able to operate freely without being subject to locking.
The dial is in interesting bowl shape. The main Hour and Minutes display is marked by a chapter ring which intersects with the seconds display placed at 12 o’clock. The seconds hand is placed over an aperture exposing the differential, as a hint that something special is within the movement. This open aperture is often reserved for a tourbillon, which the MaveriK lacks. But the visually captivating seconds chapter ring, with appliquè markers – for a a conical bowl, topped with lume for the 5 minute intervals and losange markers in matte finish with polished anglage for the minutes. This chapter ring curves around the main dial structure, like seating in a stadium. As if to indicate that the middle of the dial is an arena of sorts. The three dimensionality of the dial is quite amazing.
Also retained from earlier Candaux works is the Magic Crown mechanism. This is an amazing innovation which allows the crown to remain hidden in plain sight, and tucked away when not in use for winding or hand setting.
Movement finishing, and in fact finishing of all the components of the watch is immaculate and fully in line with the haute horlogerie levels as expected from Candaux.
This is a complicated movement, and we will require some time to study and compare it to the Dufour Duality. However, we are impressed with the CHF 90k asking price. This was the price of the Dufour Duality way back in 2000 when I first enquired about it. We will be meeting David to handle and photograph the watch next month. We will, of course, take the opportunity for him to explain the intricacies. And will report back with a detailed analysis and review.
Release details
David Candaux is a free-spirited watchmaker. His inspiration draws from nature, from the Vallée de Joux where he was born, from the verticality of the mountains and from the rigor of the watchmakers who came before him. Every gesture, every decision, every detail marries watchmaking heritage with the spirit of the twenty-first century. His quest for precision is born from adventure, from movement, from a dialogue between instinct and gravity.
2025 opens a new chapter. A demanding terrain, sculpted like a mountain ridge, where mechanical art meets technical daring. Drawing from the past, David builds an architecture that lives, breathes and inspires. After seventeen years of reflection, he unveils a radical idea: a free double balance. Heir to the Vallée de Joux yet freed from its codes, he forges a movement in motion, suspended between memory and boldness.
At the heart of this creation beats an unprecedented calibre, designed and crafted in his workshop at the Solliat. The C30, with its seven-level architecture, unfolds a depth that perfectly follows the case’s distinctive line. it unites the memory of the Vallée de Joux with a vision of tomorrow. Like a mountaineer on a narrow ridge, every gesture is measured, every balance decisive, aimed at a single goal: precision on the wrist.
Three new patents crown this achievement: three technical, two aesthetic. Each is the fruit of extensive research and testing, and above all, of a clear idea: a mental gesture that constantly deconstructs to rebuild with greater mastery.
The creator’s freedom takes shape in the movement’s freedom: the DC12 MaveriK is born.
In the footsteps of Vallée de Joux watchmaking
The double balance has fascinated watchmakers for centuries. In the 1930s, at the École Technique de la Vallée de Joux, unique calibres were created where two regulators worked in tandem, linked by a differential. Rare pieces, exceptionally precise, yet never industrialized.
Decades later, Philippe Dufour reinvented this complication with the Duality, the first wristwatch to integrate two balances connected by a differential. A discreet and masterful creation, it inspired David and echoes the meticulous spirit and precision-driven culture that shaped him.
Gabriel Locatelli, who first crossed his path at Jaeger-LeCoultre when he was just 14, instilled in him rigor and precision: a deep voice, an intense gaze and a guiding hand that engraved in him discipline and high standards. Philippe Dufour, a seminal figure of the Vallée, has always been there as a steady, supportive presence, teaching him patience, the poetry of mechanics and the path to independence.
David’s approach is not about reproducing an old mechanism, but evolving a language. His work is the result of years of reflection, silent testing and accepted doubts – a rare patience. He draws on archives, visits museums and follows in the footsteps of past masters. For him, innovation cannot exist without memory.
Heir to Gabriel Locatelli’s tenacity and nurtured by Philippe Dufour’s silent rigor, David chose a singular path. Their example convinced him to push his pursuit to its fullest. The double balance becomes the vehicle of a living heritage: an architecture in motion, shaped for today. His way of writing, in his own hand, the next chapters of watchmaking history.
DC12 MaveriK: boldness and instinct
MaveriK is the embodiment of a deep freedom, steering David’s thought and his craft. Inspired by the Texan rancher Samuel A. Maverick, who refused to brand his cattle, the name embodies the refusal of constraints and the courage to forge one’s own path, driven by instinct, knowledge and conviction.
The final “K” asserts the uniqueness of this creation: its kinetic energy, angular strength and sharp aesthetic. MaveriK does not follow established rules; it creates new ones, blending ancestral heritage with cutting-edge modernity.
The name DC12 extends this vision, like a new emblem shaped by over 30 years of rigor and expertise. The number 12, a multiple of 6, echoes David’s favorite number: 6, ever-present in his collection, symbolizing the six sides and six angles of the hexagon – creation, life and harmony. Just as the DC1 laid the foundation and the DC6 embodied contemporary mechanical exploration, the DC12 continues this fundamental lineage that structures David Candaux’s creative universe. DC12 thus becomes a reference point, merging scientific precision with instinctive gesture: a free-moving mechanism where relativity and quantum mechanics meet on common ground.
“Freedom fuels every creation”
Three patented innovations for precision at its peak
The double balance is one of the most effective – and most complex – solutions to optimize real-world precision. Two balances, functioning independently yet compensating each other, achieve a radical equilibrium in the service of accuracy.
But each escapement requires its own energy. Simultaneous demands can disturb the movement or even cause a stoppage. The classic solution? To move the differential – the system’s keystone – away from the seconds’ train, at the expense of precision.
At the heart of the DC12 MaveriK, David changes the rules: he liberates rather than constrains. He places his foundational invention at the center of the movement: a flying satellite planetary mounted on a hairspring shock absorber. It is not peripheral; it lives at the core of the seconds’ train. This satellite does not command – it accompanies. It absorbs, adjusts and allows two independent balances to dialogue freely, finding a natural equilibrium together. The mechanical differential, positioned at the seconds’ train’s nerve center, calculates in real time the average of their isochronism deviations, ensuring exceptional regularity. A genuine compensating mechanism, the hairspring of the flying satellite channels force with subtlety, delivering a fluid and balanced distribution to each balance. The watch breathes, senses and adapts before it acts.
To ensure this exceptional mechanism remains reliable in daily use, the C30 caliber integrates a secured winding system, covered by a second patent. Winding click and spring work together as a safety system: energy flows in the correct direction, unwanted backflow is blocked, ensuring smooth, robust winding true to artisanal watchmaking.
Finally, the DC12 MaveriK incorporates a third patented system combining winding and time-setting. Thanks to a coaxial, ingeniously inclined control mechanism, the crown engages either the two mainsprings or the time-setting function, independently and compactly. The result: precision, robustness, and fluidity at every interaction.
Every patent, every innovation, every detail converges toward a single goal: allowing the components to interact freely, to absorb, to accompany, and to act fluidly – creating a watch that lives and breathes with its wearer.
Purity, fluidity, modernity: design as a manifesto
With the DC12 MaveriK, David takes a new leap in the expression of his design, achieving near-surgical precision. Every line carries meaning, every detail reflects a deliberate choice, and the geometry – perfectly curved and balanced – reveals absolute mastery. Ergonomics are total: the “magic crown,” integrated into the case, ensures ultimate comfort, while the fluidity of the case’s curves, with parallel arcs and consistent thickness on both the dial and caseback sides, embraces the wrist with almost organic precision. The top-loading construction is a technical feat, and the lugs, fine, taut and lightweight, extend this dynamic. Even the 39.5 mm diameter is conceived to the millimeter, offering a presence that is balanced yet never heavy.
The dial pushes this pursuit of harmony to its peak, inviting us into an uncharted universe. The opening, though round, curves delicately to follow the case’s form – a tamed ellipse. Its “chip”- shaped, thin, undulating silhouette evokes both the fragility of a leaf and the strength of a confident design. Resting on a nickel silver base, a subtle homage to historical pieces, it comes alive with applied indexes that stand out against an outer white track. Each index, crafted in titanium with a precise angle and length, follows the curvature of the dial to enhance visual harmony. Minute numerals, marked at five-minute intervals, integrate subtly along the periphery. The central hours disc, in white opal and ringed with diamond-polished edges, delivers a contemporary reading. A delicate interplay of colors, materials and textures unfolds, while the hands, flame-blued and finely honed, capture the light in perfect resonance with the minute indexes.
At 12 o’clock, everything converges: the three-dimensional, suspended differential commands attention through its free presence. It completes a 60-second rotation and drives the small seconds with lightness, embodying a movement that breathes, freed from traditional constraints. In counterpoint, at 6 o’clock, “Le Cœur et l’Esprit” (The Heart and Mind), asserts a philosophy: the intimate link between thought, transmission and creation.
Through a wide aperture, the caseback reveals the movement with its two beating hearts, infused with the spirit of the Vallée de Joux and crafted in Grade 5 titanium – a guarantee of lightness, robustness and longevity, in line with all of David Candaux’s creations. Two elongated bridges, stretched like arcs and featuring straight-grained decoration inspired by historical models, cradle the balances with purity, enhanced by a hand-finished central snow-grained bridge asserting its presence with sobriety and precision. Every finish – polished inward angles, brushed flanks – becomes a language of sincere craftsmanship. Finally, the case plays with contrasts, alternating polished and satin surfaces to emphasize the singularity of its lines.
Water-resistant to 50 meters, the DC12 MaveriK unites modernity and the memory of the Vallée de Joux. Case and dial bring to life an intuitive, technical watch sculpted to endure. It breathes the present: radical, familiar, a living signature on the wrist.
Candaux DC12 MaveriK Specifications
DC12 MaveriK In titanium
Hand-wound movement with 3 patents • Double regulator mounted on the seconds’ train • hours and minutes • small second integrated to the flying satellite planetary
MOVEMENT
Movement dimensions: • Overall diameter: 29.50 mm (13’’’) • Thickness: 6.90 mm * Number of components: • Movement: 258 components • Flying satellite planetary: 25 components • Weight of the planetary: 0.15 g • Weight of the timepiece: 47.8 g • “Magic crown”: 31 components • Movement, crown, case: 258 + 31 + 46 = 335 components * Number of jewels • 45 • Semi-gloss ruby jewel set in solid molded gold chatons * Chronometric power reserve: • 58 hours * Barrels • Two coaxial series-coupled fast-rotating barrels with a fixed-flange spring * Balance wheels • Double balance with dual in-house variable-inertia,with gold mean-time screws (diameter 10mm) * Frequency • 21’600 vibrations/ hour (3Hz) * Balance spring • Phillips terminal curve• Titanium stud and stud holder * Bridges and main plate • In titanium • Hand-polished beveled angles and polished chamfers, 36 inward beveled angles, mirror-polished, straight-grained, pearling under the bridges • Special snow-grained finishing • Cascade bridges
Movement side: • Stainless steel screws and pins, black-polished • Planetary bridge in grained titanium, with hand-polished bevels and angles • Gold plate with engraved and grained number, polished bevels and moldings, brushed flanks * Double regulator • Flying satellite planetary at 12 o’clock • Jewel bearing • 60-second revolution • Flying satellite cage in titanium * Gearing: • Wheel plate in CuBe • Sharp inward angles, beveled, diamond-milled on two sides • Stainless steel pinion with polished teeth * Displays: • Central hours and minutes • Small second at 12 o’clock
EXTERIOR
Case: • Asymmetric 6 o’clock to 12 o’clock and symmetric 3 o’clock to 9 o’clock Fully curved shape, top and bottom running in parallel • In satin-brushed and hand-polished titanium • Top-loading case • Curved titanium side lugs * Case dimensions: • Caseband diameter: 39,5 mm • Case height: 11,7 mm • Height on synthetic sapphire crystals: 11,9 mm * Water resistance of the case: • 5 atm – 50 m – 164 ft *
Crown: • “Magic”, Pressure release mechanism • 3 positions : neutral, time setting, winding • Embossed engraving of “Bear Head” logo * Dial side • “Chips” -shaped dial in nickel silver • Curved round opening integrated into the case shape • Multi-level construction with central hour disc in white opal, circled by diamond-polished rings • Black pad-printed Arabic numerals • Three-dimensional, angled, hand-polished indexes in grey gold • Sapphire seconds subdial • Black graduated rim for minutes and secondes • Tampographed inscription “Le Coeur et l’Esprit”
Hands: • Flame-blued stainless steel hour and minute hands, beveled and hand-polished • Small seconds in flame-blued stainless steel, beveled and hand-polished, integrated into the planetary differential with flying satelllite at 12 o’clock
Strap and buckle: • In handmade rubber, with a velcro clasp engraved with the David Candaux logo
