Roger Dubuis is a compelling and celebrated name in watchmaking today. Its namesake founder worked at Patek Philippe and Longines before creating the manufacturer in 1995. In its 30 years since that moment, the company has evolved tremendously, shifting away from traditional themed watches that were inspired by those mid-century days at Patek and Longines, closer to a level of avant-garde, ultra-modern aesthetic, and complexity, which has been the brand’s blueprint during the 21st century. 2025 marks 30 years of Roger Dubuis, and to celebrate the occasion, the brand has returned to a complication that the man and the brand are known for, the chronograph. The watch in question, the Excalibur Spider Flyback Chronograph.
This edition of the chronograph stands as the fifth generation for the brand. Self-proclaimed as ‘skeletonized to the extreme’, this new entry takes the Spider aspect of its name very seriously, with a skeletonized calibre, case, and hand set speaking directly to the brand’s commitment to forward-thinking design. Rendered in a 45mm pink gold case with black DLC titanium chronograph pushers (also skeletonized), along with the signature triple lug design and notched bezel, which is complete with a 0-60 scale, gives this edition a strikingly sporty look. While the architecture and geometry of its externals are conversation-worthy alone, it’s the dial and technicality of this watch and calibre that commands the limelight.
Built entirely around an integrated movement designed from the ground up, every component here serves both purpose and spectacle, granting the watchmaker full creative license to shape not just how the watch functions, but how it feels and looks in motion.
At 6 o’clock, the column wheel takes centre stage, delivering a satisfying, buttery pusher response while engaging the chronograph’s start, stop, and reset. Realized in stainless steel and finished with an exacting poli zinc decoration, it gleams as brightly as it functions. The drama continues at 3 o’clock with the patent-pending 120° Rotating Minute Counter, a kinetic display that turns elapsed minutes into a theatrical performance, while the Second Braking System (SBS) quietly refines and stabilizes the sweep of the chronograph seconds hand to reduce flickering to near perfection.
Roger Dubuis’ tilted balance wheel, shimmering with diamond-coated silicon components, provides the horological heartbeat at 9 o’clock, as the 45mm pink gold skeletonized case and supercar-inspired rotor act as a reminder that this is as much high-octane design as it is haute horology.
I first went hands-on with this watch a couple of months ago with Roger Dubuis, and let me tell you, this is a real spectacle. Mechanically, it is a marvel, marrying proprietary innovation with nods to the past. It has an exceptionally unique and maximalist wrist presence with the pink gold elements transcending into the dial and thus movement beautifully, but one of the lasting impressions of this piece centres around its relationship to depth. Now, this is something we see a lot of in the industry, be it sunken registers, raised chapter rings, or applied markers, but few pieces take it to this extreme. Not only are the lugs, case, and rotor skeletonized, but so are elements of the movement. Combined with the multi-layered dimensions of the calibre, the Roger Dubuis Excalibur Spider Flyback Chronograph is like watching a 4D movie when the rest of the industry is in 2D.
Limited to just 88 pieces, an ode to the founder’s lucky number, this anniversary Dubuis is one for the history books.
Price and Specs:
More details at Roger Dubuis.
