High-octane mechanical drama and cutting-edge innovation are guaranteed with this new Roger Dubuis sports watch
The third release from the niche luxury watchmaking house to mark its 30th anniversary, the Excalibur Spider Flyback Chronograph—limited to just 88 pieces—certainly lives up to Roger Dubuis’ reputation as a brand that doesn’t shy away from bold statements.
For one, choosing to don this watch means that you’d already made peace with the fact the rest of your get-up will serve as sartorial supporting cast. Its 44mm pink gold case doesn’t just look and feel hefty, it dominates your wrist with forthright presence.
The notched bezel, a hallmark of the Excalibur collection, is reimagined with 10-minute markers and sharper lines, infusing the watch with sporty charisma. Yet the true drama unfolds on the skeletonised dial—featuring intricate mechanics that draw the eye into its depths of its in-house integrated chronograph movement, threatening to distract you from the world around you. A cybernetic-sque display of angular bridges and gears rendered in gold and black, and hollowed and assembled with architectural finesse, the dial offers a mesmerising articulation of Roger Dubuis mechanical prowess.
And that’s just the opening act. Beneath this spectacle lies a suite of the manufacture’s most compelling innovations: a tilted balance wheel with diamond-coated silicon escapement components at 9 o’clock; the 120° Rotating Minute Counter (RMC) at 3 o’clock; and the Second Braking System (SBS), which enhances the stability of the chronograph seconds. The pièce de résistance is the flyback chronograph mechanism itself—a stopwatch-style complication that measures elapsed intervals and allows for instant restarts with theatrical flourish.
For all its futuristic bravado, the Excalibur Spider Flyback Chronograph remains rooted in classical watchmaking traditions. Its 333 components are decorated with 16 hand-finishing techniques, earning the coveted Geneva Seal—a mark bestowed upon fewer than one per cent of Swiss watches. Historically, too, the chronograph holds special resonance for the brand: it was one of the very first complications devised by Roger Dubuis himself when he founded the maison in 1995.
Part kinetic sculpture, part attention-grabbing wrist accessory, the Roger Dubuis Excalibur Spider Flyback Chronograph is one sports watch that demonstrates what it is like when a brand pushes both design and technical limits to the extreme.
