Jamie Weiss
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Roger Dubuis celebrated its 30th anniversary at Watches and Wonders 2025 with a surprisingly restrained Excalibur that represents a new entry-level for the brand.It’s still a luxurious, complicated watch, with a pink gold case, mother-of-pearl dial and a new in-house movement with bi-retrograde day and date displays.At 40mm, it’s also now the smallest watch in Roger Dubuis’ range.Roger Dubuis is a somewhat misunderstood brand. Founded in 1995 by the esteemed ex-Patek Philippe watchmaker, Roger Dubuis gained a cult following in the early 2000s thanks to its unique meld of traditional Genevan watchmaking and a modern, playful flair, with retro-modern designs like the Sympathie emblematic of the house. However, in the years since Mr. Dubuis’ retirement and the brand’s acquisition by luxury conglomerate Richemont, the brand’s aesthetic departed drastically from Dubuis’ original vision, eschewing traditional aesthetics for lambastic, contemporary forms: early Roger Dubuis and modern Roger Dubuis watches look almost nothing alike.But is that set to change in 2025? At Watches and Wonders this year, the feeling from the Roger Dubuis booth was that the brand is poised to change direction as it celebrates its 30th anniversary. There was an eagerness to emphasise its history of producing truly radical and complicated watches as well as its eye-catching designs, as demonstrated by the litany of impressive historical timepieces exhibited at the booth, including Dubuis’ matriculation watch (a highlight of the fair for me). Their latest watch, too, the Excalibur Biretrograde Calendar, might be something of a turning point: a new entry-level offering from the brand that looks to elevate Dubuis’ signature complication, biretrograde displays.First of all, I say “entry-level”, but something that has remained consistent throughout Roger Dubuis’ history is that it has never been an affordable brand. However, this is an 18k pink gold watch with a complicated in-house movement – it was never going to be cheap. What is interesting is that it ‘only’ has a 40mm case: this makes it the smallest watch in RD’s current range and sizes it more in line with some of the brand’s earlier pieces.Speaking of the movement, it’s a new calibre called the RD840, which has an automatically-wound 60-hour power reserve, beats at 4 Hz and like all Roger Dubuis watches, features Poin?on de Geneve certification. It’s not the most architecturally spectacular of all RD movements, but it has a unique design cue – a sentence in French written in cursive emblazoned around its periphery – reading: C'est une montre actuelle, inspiree mais pas soumise au passe, qui se projette dans un futur qui nous appartient. (This is a watch of today, inspired but not restricted to the past, projected into a future that belongs to us.)Again, like most Roger Dubuis watches, it’s the dial side where the action really happens. Evocative of the Sympathie, two curvaceous, arching day and date scales at 3′ and 9′ take up most of the dial – the eponymous biretrograde calendar displays – while at 12′ and 6′, you’ll find two arcs formed from mother-of-pearl. In the 2000s, Roger Dubuis was one of the first watchmakers to use pink gold and mother-of-pearl in men’s watches, making the use of this material another tasteful nod to the past.The Excalibur Biretrograde Calendar’s dial is uniquely restrained for a contemporary Roger Dubuis. The vast majority of recent watches from the brand feature skeletonised dials of some description – and if they don’t, they’re either entirely gem-set or feature miniature artwork, like the Knights of the Round Table range. So, to see a comparatively simple dial with only two small open sections using mother-of-pearl and biretrograde displays that harken back to the brand’s early glory days? It’s nothing short of a breath of fresh air.To be clear, I’m a fan of both Roger Dubuis’ early, more understated works as well as the brand’s high-tech modern creations, like their carbon fibre Excalibur flyback chronographs. Those looking for a subtle watch should find another watchmaker; Roger Dubuis has always been extravagant, and that’s the part of the market they play in. But it’s also refreshing to see the brand pay more tribute to its foundational years and designs.The Roger Dubuis Excalibur Grande Complication ref. DBEX1174, which was also released at Watches and Wonders Geneva 2025.Are we likely to see the Hommage and Sympathie – or watches like them – return to the range any time soon? Probably not. Alongside the Excalibur Biretrograde Calendar, Roger Dubuis also launched the Excalibur Grande Complication, which combines a perpetual calendar, a minute repeater and a tourbillon with an asymmetrical design and two micro-rotors. Roger Dubuis will remain a singularly bombastic brand. But the Excalibur Biretrograde Calendar boasts a more refined sensibility that I’m very pleased to see the brand exhibit.Roger Dubuis Excalibur Biretrograde Calendar pricing and availabilityAvailability of the Roger Dubuis Excalibur Biretrograde Calendar has yet to be confirmed to Time+Tide: while unlike many Roger Dubuis pieces, it is not a limited edition, the nature of the brand means that it’s likely to be a limited production, relatively hard-to-come-by watch, despite its more entry-level positioning. We can confirm that it is a boutique exclusive, however. Price: A$98,000BrandRoger DubuisModelExcalibur Biretrograde CalendarReference NumberDBEX1179Case Dimensions40mm (D) x 11.25mm (T)Case Material18k pink goldWater Resistance100 metresCrystal(s)Sapphire front and backDialOpaline with mother-of-pearl and pink gold elementsLug WidthIntegratedStrap3D-scuplted calf leather, pink gold three-point folding claspMovementCalibre RD840, in-house, automatic, Poin?on de GenevePower Reserve60 hoursFunctionsHours, minutes, small seconds, retrograde day and date displaysAvailabilityTBC, boutique exclusivePriceA$98,000
03.05.25