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Insider: Roger Dubuis Excalibur Spider Carbon Skeleton Flying Tourbillon. Hands-on with an Exceptional 28-Piece Limited Edition.

Following the racing theme set by the new Roger Dubuis Excalibur Spider Pirelli Skeleton Automatic collection —the result of the partnership between Pirelli and Roger Dubuis—, comes the new Roger Dubuis Roger Dubuis Excalibur Spider Carbon Skeleton Flying Tourbillon featuring an oversized case measuring 45 mm in diameter in black DLC Titanium Carbon with highly contrasting red accents throughout the bezel, crown, strap and dial. While this watch is not part of the Roger Dubuis Pirelli collection, it is for sure inspired by auto racing and its ultra sporty look is simply perfect.


The Dial

The skeletonized dial features a honeycomb mesh design much in line with the pattern found on many sports cars' grills right in between the baseplate and the bridges. This carbon mesh allows for full view from front to back of the manual wound calibre powering this masterpiece.

Equipped with a flying tourbillon at the bottom of the dial and a skeletonized mainspring barrel with the iconic Excalibur astral design on its supporting bridge, the new Roger Dubuis Excalibur Spider Carbon Skeleton Flying Tourbillon is ultra sporty and very racing inspired looking.

The flying tourbillon at 7 o’clock is rimmed by a speedometer-like seconds counter complete with auto-inspired pointers, a cool nod to racing car cockpits and with a carriage in the shape of a Celtic cross. A red flange in the same hue as all other accents and skeletonized black PVD gold hands with red tips and supeluminova, round out the racing inspired look of this new timepiece.


The Case, Crown & Strap

The case design stays true to the cues of the Excalibur line with its round shape, triple lugs and fluted bezel. The tripartite 45 mm case features a black carbon graduated bezel and case back and a partially skeletonized titanium middle case that has been vulcanized with a red rubber. The fixed carbon graduated bezel features red rectangles and while the readability of the numbers is somewhat poor, the finish of the material is really nice with carbon fiber layers like those on the Panerai Luminor Carbotech. The case ensures water resistance to 50 meters.

The crown just like the rest of the case is made of black DLC titanium and also vulcanized with red rubber. The Roger Dubuis Excalibur Spider Carbon Skeleton Flying Tourbillon is delivered on a bi-material red strap with black rubber base and red RubberTech fabric inlay with red contrast stitching. The strap is secured by a black DLC titanium folding clasp.


The Movement

The beating heart inside this impressive Roger Dubuis Excalibur Spider Carbon Skeleton Flying Tourbillon is the manual wound calibre RD509SQ featuring multi-layered carbon baseplate, mainplate and bridges, making it twice as light as brass, this movement features a carbon honeycomb décor layer between the plate and the bridges.

This in-house manual wound movement composed of 179 parts and 19 jewels, provides a power reserve of 90 hours while beating at a frequency of 21,600 vph. The movement is fully skeletonized with the signature touches of Roger Dubuis with inner Astral-décor and with the tourbillon carriage in the shape of a Celtic cross.


On the Wrist & Pricing

On the wrist, the Roger Dubuis Excalibur Spider Carbon Skeleton Flying Tourbillon ref. RDDBEX0572 wears slightly bigger than its actual size and with very impressive wrist presence. Quite light on the wrist thanks to its titanium and carbon case, this new watch conveys the world of racing motorsports flawlessly. An impressive piece of horology that highlights the horological prowess that Roger Dubuis is very well known for.

Sticker Price CHF 180,000 Swiss Francs —approximately $186,000 USD. For more info on Roger Dubuis click here.