Two new Excaliburs from Roger Dubuis
Roger Dubuis has debuted two new Excaliburs, evoking two diverse worlds that the marque likes to break boundaries in. While the Excalibur Spider Huracán Monobalancier was unveiled at the Goodwood Festival of Speed, the Excalibur Sorayama Monobalancier is the third timepiece from its Urban Culture Tribe
Excalibur Spider Huracán
Roger Dubuis, the official timing partner of the 2022 Goodwood Festival of Speed, presented the Excalibur Spider Huracán Monobalancier (MB) in honour of the new collaboration. The hyper watchmaker already boasts two renowned partnerships within the motorsport’s universe, creating adrenaline-charged masterpieces with racing legend Lamborghini Squadra Corse and premium tyre expert Pirelli. Welcoming another partner to the fold with the Goodwood Festival of Speed, the new timepiece boasts an expressive blend of hyper materials and hyper mechanics.
The new Excalibur Spider Huracán MB reflects the DNA of Lamborghini Squadra Corse combined with the horological excellence of the maison. Powered by an automatic RD630 calibre, the 45-mm diameter Excalibur Spider Huracán channels the same exhilarating performance as its motoring namesake.
Strong visual cues are inspired from the Huracán GT3 EVO2, including the honeycomb motif made famous by the supercar, with its hexagonal dashboard paralleled in the shape of the calibre. Built like an engine, the calibre’s twin barrels and 12° tilted balance wheel also represent the movement signature associated with Lamborghini Squadra Corse. When viewed from the back, the skeletonised movement reveals the 360° oscillating rim weight. This reproduces the like-for-like speed effect of a Huracán wheel rim, as well as emulating its design. Finally, a crown inspired by the supercar’s racing nuts is paired with an upper calibre strut-bar bridge design reminiscent of those found on the V10 engine itself.
Both Roger Dubuis and Lamborghini Squadra Corse compulsively seek out hyper-tech materials to fulfil their obsession with shaping the future. Just as Lamborghini Squadra Corse chooses carbon fibre for its racing cars, Roger Dubuis crafts the new Excalibur Spider Huracán MB case, bezel, and crown from pure white Mineral Composite Fibre (MCF).
Exclusively developed in-house, this hyper-tech material illustrates the maison’s technical mastery. The 100% integrated Manufacture found that engineering silica via a Sheet Molding Compound (SMC) process could produce a material 13% lighter than SMC carbon. Not only does this lightness make it extremely comfortable to wear on the wrist, it also enables the creation of intricate designs thanks to a sturdy structure.
Always seeking out the most expressive aesthetics, the pure white MCF is further elevated with embellishments in striking green, intense red and electrifying yellow to honour the design of the Huracán GT3 EVO. The same shades are also found on the white rubber strap, which features green calf leather perforated with tiny holes to reveal the red beneath. Intricate stitching in red adds to the audacious look, while a Quick Release System ensures ultimate versatility. As exclusive as the Festival of Speed Driver’s Club, the Excalibur Spider Huracán MB is reserved for a select tribe only and therefore limited to 88 pieces.
Excalibur Sorayama Monobalancier
Searching for inspiration in the most unexpected places is in Roger Dubuis’ DNA. This includes uniting with world-famous urban culture artists who share its values to break the rules, showcase radical expertise, and obsess daily over the design of the future. Continuing a journey to create boundary-breaking masterpieces, Roger Dubuis introduced the third timepiece from its Urban Culture Tribe with the Excalibur Sorayama Monobalancier (MB).
Pioneer in his art, the world-famous Japanese artist Hajime Sorayama has been inspiring his peers for decades. His talent has been rewarded by multiple awards and his genius led him to work with the biggest names across high fashion, technology, and music. Knowing he chooses to pursue opportunities that force him to push the boundaries of his art, Roger Dubuis invited him to the Manufacture to take on the creative challenge: to reinterpret the maison’s astral signature.
Embracing this opportunity to infuse his realistic and expressive signature design, the innovative artist co-created a timepiece that merges one radical world with another. Hyper performing, hyper inspiring, and hyper hypnotic, the result is modern art for the wrist.
Never one to shy away from a challenge, Roger Dubuis made the decision to recraft and reshape its own work of art – the Excalibur Monobalancier – earlier this year. Clean-cut lines on both case and movement create a heightened sense of depth, while the signature star now levitates freely above the barrel. An evolution that not only raises the timepiece to an even higher standard, but also makes it an exciting and versatile canvas for Sorayama to express himself.
Reinterpreting the Excalibur MB with hyper expressivity and sophistication, the artist chose to be provocative by breaking the maison’s design codes. Curvy lines and a full shine finish blur the sharp design and contrasted finishes Roger Dubuis usually signs its masterpieces with. Sorayama borrowed further cues from his own iconic creations by echoing his 3D sculptures within the polished titanium finish. This striking aesthetics required the maison’s hyper-skilled watchmakers to develop unusual processes to replicate the desired shiny effect. A first for the Maison and highly challenging task especially when it came to polish fully the titanium case and bracelet.
Determined to bring even more play with light to the timepiece, Sorayama also reimagined Roger Dubuis’ micro-rotor to create a hypnotising moiré optical illusion triggered by the natural fluid movements of the wearer’s wrist. This captivating and endless rippling effect – another first for both the artist and Maison – required months of in-house prototyping seeking for the right combination of materials, decorations and finishes. The final execution associates an extremely precise and optimal distance between each line of the stamped décor, with a traditional three-hour long guilloché technique on specific parts of the micro-rotor and an innovative assembly process placing a stamped sapphire dial above the reimagined micro-rotor.
As artistically inspiring as technically impressive, the Excalibur Sorayama MB houses an automatic calibre recently enhanced with a series of mechanical and aesthetic improvements. Motivated by a desire for hyper performance, Roger Dubuis’ engineers increased the power reserve of the RD720SQ to 72 hours. They also optimised the micro-rotor to minimise vibrations and doubled the balance wheel inertia to improve stability and make it less sensitive to shocks. Better efficiency and energy transmission was further increased through the use of a new lube and by optimising the shape of the escapement wheel, pairing it with adjustable pallet-stones, and constructing both elements from diamond-coated silicon.
The Excalibur Sorayama MB is rewarded with the Poinçon de Genève – one of the most exclusive stamps of certification in watchmaking today. The hyper sophisticated masterpiece is also the first Roger Dubuis titanium grade 5 bracelet to feature its Quick Release System for ease and versatility. Housed in a 42 mm case crafted from titanium grade 5 as well, this exclusive artwork is limited to just 28 pieces and at first available in Japan only.
