Swiss luxury watchmaker Roger Dubuis has denied reports that he left the company bearing his name to join another high-profile Swiss luxury watch firm.

“I wish to formally deny recent allegations in the Swiss press that I have been hired by Franck Muller Watchland SA,” he said in a statement provided to JCK magazine. A Sept. 26 article in a Geneva, Switzerland, newspaper said Dupuis had been hired to replace watchmaker Franck Muller. Muller reportedly hasn’t been seen at his company for many weeks, say other watch companies and local newspaper reports. Articles in the Tribune de Geneve allege Muller may have left the company he co-founded and which bears his name. Both Dubuis and Muller are well-known to luxury watch connoisseurs and consumers for their innovative designs and timepieces.

However, Dubuis—a master horologist who worked for many years for Patek Philippe, another top Swiss luxury brand—is reducing his daily involvement in the company he co-founded in 1995 with Carlos Dias, a successful Portuguese businessman. The company—which recently debuted its newest collection, called “FollowMe,” in the U.S. market—plans to expand its market and production over the next few years. Roger Dubuis timepieces are sold in major markets around the world, and there is a waiting list of potential distributors in 24 countries.

“Although I wanted to free myself from the daily burden of managing a company in full expansion,” said Dubuis in his statement, “I am proud to be able to continue within Manufacture Roger Dubuis SA my quest for watchmaking perfection and to be fully associated with the bright future of the company.”

JCK