Roger Dubuis have had a good, throwback anniversary year with their emphasis on bi-retrograde goodness, but just in the dying moments of 2025 they’re back to their usual bombastic form with the new Excalibur Orbis in Machina Central Tourbillon.
A central tourbillon might not sound like the most cutting-edge thing around, but it’s a surprisingly off-kilter idea. The tourbillon cage surrounds the balance, which is naturally off-centre in most movement architecture. So moving the tourbillon to the middle means completely upending the way the movement is laid out.
Omega were the first to do it and only a handful of watchmakers have bothered since; MB&F with their Aquapod, Hysek, a couple of Franck Mullers and a handful more over the years. One of the more recent was last year’s Roger Dubuis Orbis in Mechanica and it is, in my opinion, the best of the lot.
That’s because the Orbis lives up to its name, leveraging that central tourbillon as its second counter and laying the time out on concentric discs around it. It not only looks great but is surprisingly easy to read for something without traditional hands – in the same way an Urwerk is easy to read once you get used to it.
The movement powering the entire ensemble is the RD115 skeletonised manual-wind movement, with a substantial (for a watch with this many moving parts) 72-hour power reserve. It’s as impeccably finished as the Geneva Seal dictates.
So far so similar to 2024 and in fact if you want to know a bit more about the experience of reading it, you can check out our review on the original Orbis. The big change here however is the new DLC titanium case. Given it measures 45mm across and was previously as substantial chunk of precious metal, this update is far, far more wearable. It’s still not diminutive by any stretch of the imagination and still not designed for smaller wrists, but it is much more comfortable.
Strangely enough for a material that’s far less expensive than the original’s rose gold, the new 2025 Orbis is actually more limited – to 28 pieces rather than 88. It’s also only available from Roger Dubuis boutiques, though given their numbers that’s understandable. As for price, it’s £195,000.
Given the amount of watchmaking on display, it’s probably not a surprise that there’s not too much in it between the 2024 rose gold Orbis, which was £208,500 and this. The materials aren’t what make these watches exclusive; it’s the haute horology. And while I’ve been happy to see Roger Dubuis go back to their bi-retrograde roots, the Orbis might just be their opus.
Price and Specs:
More details at Roger Dubuis.
