Roger Dubuis' SIHH 2017 Novelties

Excalibur Spider Pirelli - Double Flying Tourbillon

In conjunction with Pirelli, a company known for making racing tires, Roger Dubuis has released the new Excalibur Spider Pirelli. The most noticeable feature of the watch is the beautiful double flying tourbillon. RD's new watch, similar to most of their others, is designed with bold colors, blue in this case. Limited to just 8 pieces, the Excalibur Spider Pirelli is just one of the new Excalibur watches released that will be released before 2019. For this particular watch, RD has created straps with rubber inlays made from Pirelli tires used in actual races. Similar to nearly all of their other Excalibur watches, the 365-piece movement (caliber RD105SQ) is highly skeletonized. The nearly hidden power reserve indicator (at 9 o'clock) is inspired by fuel gauges in race cars and the second tracks (both tourbillons have one) are styled after speedometers. The case is 47mm and made from DLC-coated titanium. The watch is priced at 280,000 CHF (~$278,000 USD). Buyers will also receive a two-day VIP motorsports event as guests of Pirelli.

Excalibur Spider Pirelli - Automatic Skeleton

This watch is similar to the watch above in that it is another limited edition to celebrate the partnership with Pirelli, but this watch is more boring. It's got no double tourbillon and is less exclusive, limited to 88 pieces as opposed to 8. It is smaller (it has a 45mm case). Not to mention that the Calibre RD820SQ is far less complicated and is composed of only 167 pieces. Owners of the watch will be invited to high-end local Pirelli events after they purchase it. 

Excalibur Spider Carbon

For this watch I shamelessly stole photos from ablogtowatch's hands-on article because they show the features of the watch so much better than other photos do. The 28-piece limited edition has a case and bridges made out of carbon (this is the first time a movement has been made from the material). The rest of the watch is made from DLC-coated titanium. According to them, the rigidity of T700 carbon will increase the precision of the watch. If I had to guess, this watch will be incredibly light even at it's 44mm size. The movement is the RD509SQ. The watch will be priced at 180,000 CHF (~$179,000 USD). Once again, the ablogtowatch article I took the photos from is linked above (don't sue me pls). 

Excalibur Quatuor Cobalt Micromelt®

Before you get too excited, the watch is priced at 390,000 CHF (~$388,000 USD). The most noticeable feature of this watch is the presence of four balance wheels. They are joined together by five differentials in order to average the rates, which should improve accuracy, though it essentially functions in the same way as a tourbillon. The 590-piece RD101 Quatuour movement has a 40-hour power reserve and four balance wheels that each beat at 4 hz (28,800 BPH). Given that the ticking of a watch is the sound of the escape wheel colliding with the gems of a pallet fork, the presence of four balances means this watch should be much louder than others. The 48mm case (which is a whopping 18,38mm thick) is cobalt chrome, which is produced using a process termed MicroMelt. The process starts with the metal being melted and atomized to produce a powder, which is blended and poured into canisters to produce dense bars. This process ensures homogenous density throughout the watch, which means the metal will be stronger.

​Excalibur Spider Automatic Skeleton

I haven't found much information on this watch, but it is an 88-piece limited edition crafted out of rose gold. 

Excalibur 36 automatic

This watch is by far the most boring, it's strictly built for fashion and showing off wealth. They say it's a unisex watch. I don't necessarily agree, but it's still a nice watch I guess. The 36 mm Excalibur Essential 36 Automatic has a black DLC-coated titanium case topped by a bezel set with 48 blue sapphires.