Two new Roger Dubuis masterpieces are tributes to its founder’s brand of theatrical high horology

In the rarefied world of haute horlogerie, few names are as uniquely inventive as Roger Dubuis. Established in 1995, the maison is the youngest watch brand in the Richemont group, yet it has carved out an unmistakable identity — one that blends technical mastery with avant-garde design, termed hyper horology.

This singular approach to contemporary watchmaking stems from its visionary founder, the late Roger Dubuis himself, whose passion for complications and expressive mechanics defined his life’s work.

As the brand celebrates its 30th birthday, two exceptional timepieces — Excalibur Grande Complication and Excalibur Biretrograde Calendar — pay homage to his genius. Innovation, craftsmanship and technicality aside, both watches stay true to the man’s belief that a watch should not just tell time; it should inspire emotion.

Excalibur Grande Complication

Roger Dubuis was a man who thrived on challenges. His fascination with grand complications — the most intricate feats of watchmaking — drove him to push boundaries by fusing technical precision with artistic expression. Epitomising this relentless pursuit, this creation combines three prestigious complications —a perpetual calendar, a minute repeater, and a flying tourbillon — into poetry in motion.

In 2009, the maison unveiled its first fully in-house Grande Complication calibre, the RD0829, a movement that set the standard for high horology. Now, taking its place is the RD118 calibre, which is a symphony of 684 meticulously hand-finished components, each bearing the Poincon de Geneve seal of excellence.

A marvel of mechanical memory, the perpetual calendar is the Genevan watchmaker’s favourite complication. Here, it accounts for leap years, varying month lengths, and even the Gregorian calendar’s quirks, requiring no adjustment until 2100. The biretrograde display, another signature Dubuis touch, ensures the day and date hands sweep gracefully across their arcs before snapping back to zero.

For Roger Dubuis, sound was as important as sight. The minute repeater in this piece is no ordinary chime: It strikes the tritone, an interval historically known as the “devil’s chord” for its dissonant, haunting beauty. Activated by a pusher at 9 o’clock, the hammers strike with exceptional precision and musicality.

No Roger Dubuis watch would be complete without a flying tourbillon, and this one is a stylish interpretation. Positioned at 6 o’clock, its Celtic Cross-inspired cage is crafted from lightweight titanium, a nod to the house’s love for innovative materials. More than just a regulator, the tourbillon here is a sculptural centrepiece — a reminder of the founder’s belief that watchmaking should be as visually thrilling as it is mechanically profound.

Limited to just eight pieces, the Excalibur Grande Complication is housed in a 45mm pink gold case with a sapphire caseback, and paired with a brown calfskin strap.

Excalibur Biretrograde Calendar

If the Grande Complication is Roger Dubuis at his most technically ambitious, the Excalibur Biretrograde Calendar is the maison at its most elegantly expressive. This watch revisits the very first Roger Dubuis timepiece from 1995, reimagining its biretrograde display — one of the watchmaker’s defining innovations — with contemporary flair.

Developed in the 1980s with Jean-Marc Wiederrecht, it allowed hands to sweep backwards at the end of their cycle, imparting a mesmerising dynamism. In this latest iteration, the day and date hands bearing modern skeletonised forms glide along semi-circular scales. At 40mm, the case is a nod to the classic proportions of Roger Dubuis’ early designs. Crafted in pink gold with a white mother-of-pearl dial and a brown calfskin strap fitted with an interchangeable folding clasp, it exudes an understated luxury that manages to turn heads.

Every detail here is a love letter to the brand’s classic aesthetic codes. The symmetrical dial, the narrowing retrograde scales, and the small seconds subdial at 6 o’clock all echo designs from the 1990s. Even the historic font used for “biretrograde calendar” is a deliberate callback to the Much More model from the early 2000s.

Powering this watch is the RD840 automatic movement, visible through a sapphire caseback. The oscillating weight mirrors the design of the original, while a handwritten inscription — “C’est une montre actuelle, inspirée mais pas soumise au passé...” ( “This is a watch of today, inspired but not restricted to the past, projected into a future that belongs to us.”) harks back to the very philosophy the manufacture is founded on.