Roger Dubuis Excalibur Guide: Geneva Seal, Double Tourbillons and What to Buy



Roger Dubuis makes the loudest high quality replica watches in Geneva, and it does so with the city's most conservative credential stamped on every single movement. That contradiction — radical design, orthodox certification — is the thing to understand about this maison. If you have been searching for a Roger Dubuis Excalibur overview that explains what you are actually paying for, this is it.

From Roger Dubuis the Man to Roger Dubuis the Maison

The story starts in 1995, when Roger Dubuis — already 57 years old and a veteran of the Geneva watch industry — co-founded the brand with designer and entrepreneur Carlos Dias . Rather than easing toward retirement, Dubuis set out to build a manufacture that could do everything in-house, at a moment when the industry was consolidating around a handful of groups.

The maison grew quickly on the strength of complicated, hand-finished movements. Richemont acquired a stake in 2008, giving the brand industrial backing without softening its aesthetic. Today the manufacture sits in Geneva, and it makes one claim that no other brand can match.

The Poinçon de Genève: A Guarantee Almost Nobody Else Offers

The Poinçon de Genève (Geneva Seal) is a state-administered certification stamp applied to movements assembled and finished within the Canton of Geneva, subject to strict rules about how every surface — including those nobody will ever see — must be decorated and chamfered. It is expensive to obtain and difficult to maintain, which is why most brands certify only a fraction of their output.

Roger Dubuis certifies 100% of its movements . That is the single most important fact in this article. It means a skeletonised, carbon-cased, Lamborghini-branded watch designed to look like a hypercar intake has, underneath the theatre, a movement finished to a standard that would satisfy a traditional Genevan purist. You can read the technical requirements on the official Poinçon de Genève page .

We go deeper on the certification criteria, including why it covers the reverse side of the movement, in our explainer on the Roger Dubuis Geneva Seal and what it guarantees .

Excalibur: Anatomical Watchmaking

The Excalibur collection is the house's main stage, and its design language is unusually coherent: a fluted bezel with three distinct lugs echoing the notches of a Celtic cross , a broad sword-hand, and — on most references — a movement so heavily skeletonised that you read the architecture rather than a dial.

Roger Dubuis calls this anatomical watchmaking : bridges shaped like structural members, wheels exposed like gearbox internals, and no surface left where decoration is possible. It is maximalist by design, and it is genuinely difficult to manufacture, because skeletonising a movement increases the number of hand-finished edges exponentially.

The Skeleton Double Flying Tourbillon

The house signature is the Roger Dubuis double tourbillon luxury replica watches — two flying tourbillons rotating in opposition, linked by a differential that averages their rates to improve chronometric consistency. It is an audacious construction and one of the very few genuinely recognisable complications developed in the 21st century.

The complication has appeared in multiple executions, including the Cobalt Chrome-cased variant (an alloy almost never used in watchmaking) and white gold references with fully skeletonised bridges. It remains the reference most collectors associate with the brand's technical credibility.

Sports Collaborations: Lamborghini, Pirelli and the Spider Line

Roger Dubuis has run the most sustained motorsport programme in haute horlogerie. The partnership with Lamborghini Squadra Corse produced watches that take their cues directly from the marque's V12 engines — strut bars across the movement, hexagonal motifs, and cases shaped to echo a Huracán or Aventador intake.

The Excalibur Spider Pirelli is the more interesting of the two programmes to wear. Its strap is cut from rubber taken from Pirelli tyres that have actually won motorsport events — each strap carries the compound's race pedigree, and the colour coding references Pirelli's tyre compounds. It is the rare brand collaboration where the partner's material genuinely ends up on your wrist.

The Excalibur Spider line more broadly is where the maison pushes weight reduction: titanium, carbon and cobalt cases, skeletonised movements, and a flying tourbillon that sits open at 7 o'clock. If you are weighing aesthetics against wearability, our comparison of Roger Dubuis vs Richard Mille swiss replica watches breaks down how the two brands' philosophies diverge — materials science versus finishing certification.

Knights of the Round Table: The Collector's Reference

Perhaps the most collectible line, the Excalibur Knights of the Round Table places twelve hand-crafted miniature knights — each individually sculpted in precious metal — around a circular dial, standing guard over hours and minutes. It is a piece of miniature sculpture as much as horology, produced in very small numbers, and it is the reference that most often appears in serious collections rather than dealer inventory.

Roger Dubuis Price Guide

Roger Dubuis occupies a lower rung than Richard Mille at the top end, while remaining firmly in six-figure territory for its halo pieces.

Entry Excalibur automatic

Excalibur 42 Automatic

Motorsport / Spider

Excalibur Spider Pirelli, Lamborghini

Double flying tourbillon

Excalibur Double Tourbillon

Haute complication / limited

Knights of the Round Table

Figures are approximate retail indications at the time of writing and vary by market, material, edition size and currency. Confirm current pricing with an authorised Roger Dubuis boutique.

The entry point is the notable part of this table. At roughly a third of the price of an entry Richard Mille, an Excalibur 42 gets you a Geneva Seal-certified movement in a recognisable case — which is why the Roger Dubuis price range is so frequently described as undervalued relative to its finishing.

Is Roger Dubuis a Good Investment?

This is where the brand's story is less flattering. Roger Dubuis watches have, historically, depreciated more steeply on the secondary market than its closest rivals. Limited editions and complicated references — particularly the double tourbillons and Knights of the Round Table — hold up best, while standard automatic Excaliburs lose value fastest.

Our analysis of whether Roger Dubuis is a good investment looks at resale patterns across references. The practical advice: buy because you want to wear a Geneva-certified skeleton movement with genuine motorsport provenance, not because you expect appreciation.

Who Should Buy One

Roger Dubuis suits a specific collector: someone who wants visible, aggressive, contemporary design and who cares that the invisible parts are finished to a state-certified standard. If your taste runs to understatement, this is the wrong brand. If you want a watch that reads across a room and can still be turned over to show hand-chamfered bridges, there is nothing quite like it.

Two adjacent brands worth understanding before you decide: Richard Mille replica watches for sale for the materials-led alternative at a higher price, and HYT liquid watches for the most radical experimental take on time display on the market.

Frequently Asked Questions

Is Roger Dubuis a luxury brand?

Yes. It is a Geneva-based manufacture founded in 1995, part of the Richemont group, and one of the few houses to submit 100% of its movements for Poinçon de Genève (Geneva Seal) certification.

What is the Roger Dubuis Geneva Seal?

The Poinçon de Genève is an official certification of origin and finishing quality for movements made in the Canton of Geneva. It governs chamfering, polishing, assembly and decoration standards — including on hidden surfaces — and Roger Dubuis applies it to every movement it produces.

What is the double flying tourbillon?

Two independent tourbillons, each rotating in its own cage, connected by a differential that averages their rates. The averaging effect is intended to improve overall rate stability in different positions.

Does Roger Dubuis still work with Lamborghini?

The motorsport collaborations have been central to the Excalibur Spider identity for years, with the Lamborghini Squadra Corse and Pirelli programmes producing some of the line's most recognisable references. Check current collections for the latest releases.

Final Thoughts

Roger Dubuis is the answer to a question nobody asked: what would happen if a traditional Genevan finisher decided to build watches like a motorsport engineer? The result is loud, occasionally overwhelming, and technically more serious than its styling suggests. For collectors who have outgrown understatement, that combination is hard to beat at the price.

Thinking about adding an Excalibur to your collection? Tell us which reference you'd pick in the comments. https://www.prowatchduo.co.uk