SIHH 2018:

Roger Dubuis Revs Up New Pirelli and Lamborghini Limited Editions


Roger Dubuis announced two big motorsports partnerships in 2017, both with iconic Italian brands — one with Pirelli, renowned manufacturer of racecar tires; the other with racing team Lamborghini Squadra Corse. This week at SIHH 2018, the Geneva-based brand revealed the latest new timepieces springing from these automotive alliances: the Excalibur Spider Skeleton Automatic Pirelli and two new executions of the Excalibur Aventador S.

Roger Dubuis Excalibur Spider Pirelli - soldier
The Roger Dubuis Excalibur Spider Skeleton Automatic Pirelli eschews the hallmark Pirelli colors in favor of a stark, black-and-white look.

The newest edition of the Roger Dubuis Excalibur Spider Pirelli Automatic Skeleton — following up the red, blue, and yellow-highlighted models introduced earlier this year — is designed to evoke the look of racetrack tarmac with its black DLC titanium case and white highlights (another model is available with blue highlights), including the numerals on the bezel and the contrast stitching on the strap. The 48-mm case features the fluted bezel emblematic of the Excalibur collection and the overmolded black DLC crown with white rubber coating, along with the triple openworked lugs that anchor the watch to its bi-material strap — here, as on preceding Pirelli models, boasting an exterior surface constructed of rubber from actual Pirelli tire rubber from race-winning cars over an interior layer made of a softer rubber enhanced with a Pirelli tire tread pattern.

Roger Dubuis Excalibur Spider Pirelli Automatic skeleton - back
The Roger Dubuis Caliber RD820SQ is powered by a micro-rotor visible from the front and back of the movement.

The skeletonized movement, Caliber RD820SQ, is designed from scratch (as opposed to being an existing movement skeletonized after the fact) and incorporates the now-familiar “star” motif seen in all the Spider models, with the tips of the five-pointed star also serving as hour pointers. It’s powered by a micro-rotor that delivers winding power (and a 60-hour power reserve) equivalent to that of a larger central winding rotor despite its reduced weight and openworked structure. Composed of 166 meticulously hand-finished components, including NAC-coated plates and bridges, the movement has been awarded the prestigious Geneva quality hallmark, the Poinçon de Genève — a distinction shared by all Roger Dubuis movements. The watch will be a limited edition of 88 pieces.

Roger Dubuis Excalibur Spider Pirelli Automatic Skeleton - angle
The star-shaped bridges in the movement serve as hour indicators.

Named after Lamborghini’s flagship high-performance roadster, the Excalibur Aventador S Pink Gold is offered in a new case measuring 45 mm in diameter and combining a multilayer carbon and titanium middle and back with a notched Excalibur bezel made of rose gold. Like its predecessors in the brand’s recently launched Lamborghini series, it is outfitted with a highly skeletonized movement, Caliber RD103SQ, which takes design cues from an Aventador S engine. Rose gold is also used for the hour indices, while the hands are made of black-coated gold with luminous SLN-filled tips. The rose-gold crown is overmolded in black rubber.

Roger Dubuis Excalibur Aventador - front
The movement in the Excalibur Aventador S is inspired by a Lamborghini engine.

The hand-wound movement, on display through sapphire crystals in the front and back of the watch, is made up of 312 components, including 48 jewels, and features a double sprung balance and power reserve of 40 hours. The movement is distinguished by engine strut bars inspired by Roger Dubuis’s Astral Skeleton motif, and evoking the look of an engine under an open hood. Echoing the performance-enhancing longitudinal placement of Lamborghini engines, the double balance wheel is inclined at a similar angle, supported and highlighted by holders shaped like triangular wheel suspension assemblies. It is, of course, also certified with the Poinçon de Geneve. This watch is also mounted on a bi-material strap with a quick-release system for easy changeability; here the materials are a black rubber base and an inlay made of Alcantara, the same material used in the cockpit seats of Lamborghi cars.  The strap closes with a black DLC-coated titanium folding buckle. The Aventador S Pink Gold is limited to 28 pieces.

Roger Dubuis Excalibur Aventador - Back
The sapphire caseback reveals decorative finishing and a double sprung balance.
Roger Dubuis Excalibur Aventador - angle
The case combines multilayered carbon, titanium, and rose gold.

The other new Aventador model, the Aventador S Blue, shares all the technical and design attributes of the Pink Gold edition, but is even more closely connected to Lamborghini DNA, with a case constructed from the same C-SMC carbon used on actual Lamborghini cars. Its bimaterial strap has a  black-and-Neptune-blue color scheme, blue rubber over-moulding on the case and crown, and blue markings on the fluted carbon bezel.

Roger Dubuis Excalibur Aventador S Blue
Roger Dubuis Excalibur Aventador S Blue

Roger Dubuis Excalibur Aventador S Blue - soldier

Roger Dubuis also announced at its SIHH press conference that it will take over as a sponsor of the Super Trofeo Championship 2018, a Lamborghini-only series of races, replacing the previous watch-brand sponsor, Blancpain. For more on the Super Trofeo, click here.

 

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  1. Those two watches are a Bold statement, I love the great craftsmanship in a watch

    Reply
  2. Debashish

    These Roger Dubuis skeleton watches look truly stunning, but reading time at a glance on these skeleton timepieces would be really tough.

    Reply
  3. Sylvio F. Bertoli

    What a waste. Pirelli and Lamborghini deserved something much better than these. Ugly design and the buyer must hope to get lucky to be able to spot the hands to determine what time it is. Unbelievable.

    Reply
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