The Pillars Of Roger Dubuis: From Excalibur To Velvet

Founded 1995. Roger Dubuis and Carlos Dias started with two collections, Sympathie and Hommage, balancing Geneva traditional watchmaking with avant garde design. Thirty years later, the Geneva manufacture organizes its collections around four archetypal worlds. Every Roger Dubuis movement bears the Poinçon de Genève. Their production is almost 100% certified by the Poinçon de Genève. 

PILLAR ONE 
THE BI-RETROGRADE DNA

The signature complication. The emotional core. The mechanical gesture that connects 2025 directly to 1989. Mr Roger Dubuis co-patented a groundbreaking biretrograde perpetual calendar with Jean-Marc Wiederrecht of Agenhor for Harry Winston in 1989. A world first for wristwatches. This wasn't borrowed inspiration. This was Mr Roger Dubuis' own invention, his mechanical handwriting, the complication he brought to his own manufacture when founding the brand in 1995. The original Sympathie collection launched in 1996, featuring this biretrograde mechanism. Two hands sweep across opposing arcs, displaying date and day through retrograde motion. The hands reach the end of their travel, then snap back instantly to start position. A mechanical flourish that serves both function and spectacle. Not decoration. Pure horological poetry. For nearly two decades, this complication quietly disappeared from production as Roger Dubuis decided to do skeletons in order not to hide behind a dial, all the hand-made decorations of the components of the movement. Then 2025 brought revival. The Excalibur Biretrograde Calendar reintroduced the mechanism that started everything. 40mm pink gold case. White mother-of-pearl dial. Calibre RD840. The caseback inscription reads: "This is a watch of today, inspired but not restricted to the past, projected into a future that belongs to us."

The biretrograde isn't merely a complication Roger Dubuis offers. It's the complication Roger Dubuis invented. The mechanical DNA passed from mentor collaborations in 1989 to the brand's first collections in 1996, now revived for the 30th anniversary. When you see those twin retrograde hands snap back to zero, you're watching Roger Dubuis' own contribution to watchmaking vocabulary. His signature. His legacy. His mechanical handwriting across 36 years.

PILLAR 2
EXCALIBUR COLLECTION
The signature. The icon. Launched 2005 with the Excalibur name referencing King Arthur's legendary sword. The collection defines contemporary Roger Dubuis aesthetics. Triple lugs extending from case to bracelet. Notched bezel. Star pattern bridges visible through skeletonized dials. No hiding. Pure mechanical theater. The first Excalibur models housed the RD01SQ double tourbillon skeleton movement and the RD08 minute repeater tourbillon. Both exclusive. Both statement pieces establishing Roger Dubuis as the skeleton pioneer. 2013 brought the Quatuor, Calibre RD101, the first movement using four balance springs and five orientations. A different solution to gravity's effect on timekeeping. Not a tourbillon. Something new.

The Excalibur Spider variants bring titanium cases, rubber straps, and open worked architecture. Flying tourbillons displayed without upper bridge for maximum visibility. Models range from automatic skeletons at roughly $60,000 to double flying tourbillons exceeding $325,000. 2017 saw carbon composite construction. Dial, movement plate, bridges, case. Entirely carbon. Partnership with Lamborghini Squadra Corse produces watches incorporating automotive materials and motorsport aesthetics. Excalibur Aventador S. Excalibur Spider Pirelli using actual Pirelli tire rubber in straps. These collaborations generate controversy. Some collectors love them.

Roger Dubuis continues making them. At Watches and Wonders 2025, the manufacture celebrated 30 years with the Excalibur Grande Complication. Eight pieces. Pink gold. 45mm case. Calibre RD118 combining perpetual calendar, minute repeater, and flying tourbillon. The minute repeater uses a tritone interval, the diabolus in musica, the devil's chord banned in medieval music for its dissonant sound. Low pitch for hours, high pitch for minutes, two tones for quarters. 684 components. All hand finished to Poinçon de Genève standards. 60 hours power reserve. The Excalibur Biretrograde Calendar accompanied the Grande Complication. 40mm pink gold case. White mother of pearl dial. Calibre RD840. The biretrograde mechanism references work Roger Dubuis co patented in 1989, which became the foundation for the original Sympathie released 1996. The caseback inscription reads: "This is a watch of today, inspired but not restricted to the past, projected into a future that belongs to us." 

VELVET COLLECTION
Launched 2012 specifically for women. Not quartz movements in jewelry cases. Automatic mechanical calibres developed in Geneva, finished to Poinçon de Genève standards, visible through sapphire casebacks, housed in cases designed specifically for women. 36mm and 38mm case sizes. Distinctive case shape with elongated Roman numerals converging toward dial center. Diamond set bezels. Calibre RD821 powers base models. The Velvet Secret Heart features biretrograde jumping date powered by Calibre RD821B. Complications treated seriously. Adjustments to six positions. Proper timekeeping despite feminine aesthetics. The Blossom Velvet series features grand feu enamel floral motifs on mother of pearl. Limited to 88 pieces per color variant. The Velvet Platinum covers entire 38mm cases in colorless baguette cut and emerald cut diamonds. Total of eight pieces produced. Six different diamond setting techniques.

PILLAR 3
KNIGHTS OF THE ROUND TABLE
Not a separate pillar but a special universe within Excalibur. First seen 2013. Twelve micro sculpted knights positioned around the dial, each 6.5mm tall. Each knight different, representing the twelve warriors who swore allegiance to King Arthur. Their swords form a circle replacing traditional hour markers. Each knight requires 2-3 full days of work. Casting followed by hand finishing. Limited to 28 pieces. 2024 Damascus titanium edition depicted knights in battle across ice covered landscape. Damascus titanium case created by welding, heating, hammering, and folding multiple titanium layers, then acid bath to reveal wave patterns. Blue Murano glass with matte bisque porcelain creating three dimensional frozen terrain. Limited to 28 pieces. 370,000 euros.

The 2025 Enchanter Merlin edition, the twelfth iteration, features 56 hexagonal columns of varying heights at dial center, ranging 0.2mm to 3.7mm tall. Materials include glass, matte and polished white enamel, white gold, polished pink gold. Nine white gold columns crowned with invisibly set hexagonal diamonds. The structure represents Lady of the Lake’s crystal palace built by Merlin to protect her. Base features ruthenium crystals evoking shimmering lake surface. White Murano glass flange with pink gold indices. Powered by Calibre RD821 automatic with central rotor. 172 components including 33 jewels. 48 hour power reserve. All hand finished according to Poinçon de Genève criteria. Caseback inscription: "Around this table, the bravest knights will gather as equals. They will set forth in search of adventure, righting wrongs, protecting the weak and humbling the proud." said by Merlin when he created the order of the Knights of the Round Table.

PILLAR 4
HOMMAGE COLLECTION
One of two original 1996 collections alongside Sympathie. The Hommage carried special emotional weight. It embodied Roger Dubuis' tribute to watchmakers who shaped his career. His mentors, his friends, the artisans who influenced his craft. One friend was Jean-Marc Wiederrecht, founder of Agenhor. Together they developed a groundbreaking biretrograde perpetual calendar for Harry Winston in 1989. A world first for wristwatches at the time. This signature complication found its way into both Hommage and Sympathie when the brand debuted collections in 1996. The collection largely disappeared from production during the 2000s as Excalibur dominated attention. 2025 brought revival. The Hommage La Placide honors Roger Dubuis himself. Limited to 28 pieces. The number echoes his student registration number 208 at École d'Horlogerie de Genève. It also recalls early days when each variant was produced in strictly limited runs of 28 examples at the atelier in downtown Geneva. The new Hommage carries Poinçon de Genève certified Calibre RD1472. Its foundation is the RD14, the brand's first in house automatic movement introduced 2004. Modern revival using both original and remanufactured components meeting Poinçon de Genève standards. The favorite biretrograde display returns, connecting 2025 to 1996.

THE DNA
Small scale production defines Roger Dubuis. Limited series dominate. Eight pieces here. 28 pieces there. 88 pieces maximum for most references. Exclusivity emerges from manufacturing reality when every movement requires weeks of hand finishing. The star pattern bridge. The triple lugs. The notched bezel. These elements don't reference traditional watchmaking vocabulary. The brand launched with biretrograde complications. Followed with double tourbillons. Stripped away dials entirely. Built movements from silicon. Micro sculpted medieval knights. Installed four balance wheels. Every collection meets Poinçon de Genève standards. Testing occurs at recognized specialist laboratories. No exceptions. Quality becomes religious commitment when you control all production in Geneva. Each archetype receives mechanical movements justified by Geneva's highest certification. Each collection proves haute horlogerie need not whisper. It can scream if properly executed.

Roger Dubuis appeals to collector's viewing horology as performance art. Mechanical movements as sculpture. Complications as spectacle. Finishing as obsession. Exclusivity as inevitability. Thirty years since founding. One standard applying to everything. 100 percent limited production. The architecture stands because it refuses compromise.