Following the unveiling of the latest, stunning haute horlogerie masterpiece from Roger Dubuis – the Excalibur Knights of the Round Table Monotourbillon – during Watches & Wonders, “Day & Night” had no choice but to focus solely on the legendary Knights of the Round Table timepieces during our interview with Nicola Andreatta, CEO of Roger Dubuis
Can you tell us about the Knights of the Round Table – how it started, its massive feedback that generated many more iterations of the theme, and did Roger Dubuis anticipate that kind of success?
Absolutely not; I was not there when it first came out and don’t know the exact story. But from what I have heard, the first time nobody wanted to do it. It was a kind of intuition to play with sculpted knights on the dial. The idea was to find our own métiers d’art at Roger Dubuis, and since everything has to hyper expressive, the idea was to start sculpting these little knights and make this kind of 3D engraving our métiers d’art. They placed the 12 knights around the table, using the table itself as the dial and this was inspired by an old painting that showed the Round Table of King Arthur. That was how it began, and it was a tremendous success immediately. They thought it was overpriced and too limited; it was neither. It was the beginning of the legacy, and today, I can say that it is by far the most iconic collection we have, and the moment we put them out, they are sold out.
I assume that you have collectors picking up all editions to grow their collection?
Actually no; we only have a couple of clients who have all the seven editions. It is sold out so fast that even the most devoted of our collectors are unable to get them. Now, we have made it a point to prioritise clients who have bought at least one other edition earlier. That way, we at least are able to help the real collectors and the loyal friends of the brand to enlarge their collection.
This year’s edition has seen the introduction of a tourbillon in the Knights of the Round Table; why did it take so long?
As I explained, the main idea behind the Knights of the Round Table was to develop our own métiers d’art, so we mostly concentrated on craftsmanship for the Knights of the Round Table editions. The movement was usually a simple two-hands or three-hands one. But Roger Dubuis is about haute horlogerie, and we have an obsession with gravity, which is very well testified by all the calibres we have developed over time to defy gravity – the tourbillon, the double flying tourbillon, the Double sprung, the Quatuor. We decided to combine the worlds of haute horlogerie with that of our craftsmanship and we elevated the Knights of the Round Table to a different level. We now have the central tourbillon that testifies to the fight of the knights against gravity and is a much more accurate timepiece than before. We are super happy and it was very successful as all the pieces were sold out by 9am this morning.
How do you balance horology with craftsmanship when you are creating the Knights of the Round Table watch?
Yes, it is a Knights of the Round Table watch, but it is also a complicated watch. At Roger Dubuis, we always start from the aesthetics. So, we designed a watch that was cool, based on the Round Table and then we decided we wanted a tourbillon and so we designed something with a central tourbillon – something that we have never used as all our tourbillons are all in different positions. Then, we played with the Murano glasses to create this concentric effect around the tourbillon that valorises and makes the tourbillon the centre of action. In a way, it what we do always; we design beautiful timepieces and then find a way to make it work. At Roger Dubuis, the function follows the form, which is not always the case everywhere. We wanted our watches to be beautiful and then we work on the function, the same as happened for this timepiece. I would say that is our normal job, that of combining the two.
The Murano glass that you used for the Knights of the Round Table is very hard to shape and work with; why then did Roger Dubuis opt for Murano glass?
We love challenges, and we love the best things in life. In this case, we wanted coloured glasses and the best coloured glass in the world is Murano glass. We connected with them; as you know, the more the temperature rises, the more the colour changes. There is a real technique behind their craft and it is part of their legend; there is a real difficulty in making this timepiece. Sometimes, we choose something because it is complicated; we love to have the best even if it is more complicated.
When will the first and the last piece of this Knights of the Round Table edition be delivered, as they all have already been sold?
We will take about eight months, and pretty much all of them will be delivered by then. In these eight months, we make the ring with the knights. Every ring takes three weeks to make, and so it is going to take time. One of the reasons why we always decide to limit the Knights of the Round Table editions is because we cannot make more. Based on our people and our expertise, we can only make a few every year. For the next eight months, we will produce the table, the knights, the movements and then deliver them altogether within eight months.
This is the eighth edition of the Knights of the Round Table; does Roger Dubuis have a schedule for an edition every other year or is it something that happens as and when your maison is inspired?
Clearly, there is a schedule because everything has to be planned in advance. It takes years to conceive a new movement, design a new watch and so on. We already know what is coming; the idea is to continue with an annual edition of the Knights of the Round Table, as we have done for the past seven editions, which will be issued in 28 pieces, and every now and then, we are going to have a regionalisation and potentially an elevated edition. So, we will have 3 segments within our collection – let us call it that even if it is not a collection – 28, regional edition, and a more complicated edition. We are going to play with the regional and complicated ones from time to time, and we will see which one comes out first.
We are now working on regionalisation, working with legends that are not necessarily that of the knights of King Arthur, as we worked with the Chinese zodiac – the 12 animals’ heads that we worked with in the past – and dedicated 12 pieces to China. In the future, we will work with other markets.
