A Look Inside the Unmistakable World of Roger Dubuis

The craft of watchmaking has been around for centuries, but — fortunately for anyone who loves complex mechanical watches — the world’s top brands continue to redefine what’s possible. At Roger Dubuis, a Swiss luxury watch brand known for its maximalist creations, pushing the limits of horology has always been the order of the day. The brand’s eponymous founder was a master watchmaker whose knowledge of traditional Swiss savoir-faire was matched by his desire to create bold-looking watches. Three decades later, these dual ideals — traditional craftsmanship on the one hand, expressive 21st-century design on the other — continue to shape every piece bearing his name. From the skeleton dials and tourbillons of the Excalibur series to the 12 micro-sculpted knights on the dial of the Knights of the Round Table collection, the unmistakable looks and technical feats of Roger Dubuis watches have earned the brand a global following.




When Roger Dubuis CEO David Chaumet visited Vancouver to inaugurate the brand’s second Canadian boutique, we had the opportunity to ask him a few questions.
How do you explain Roger Dubuis to someone who has never heard of the brand?
Roger Dubuis creates high watchmaking timepieces with an expressive design. Our Maison was born in the mid ’90 by two men who were passionate about traditional Genevan watchmaking, the art of complications, and pushing the boundaries of watch design. Those values guide us today in everything we create: we build our movements in-house, committed to both performance and craftsmanship while designing watches with a distinct, daring touch.
What piece in the current lineup best embodies what Roger Dubuis is all about?

Most definitely the Excalibur Biretrograde Calendar that we presented a few months back at Watches and Wonders Geneva. The timepiece was created to celebrate our 30th Anniversary and encapsulate what Roger Dubuis is about. It is a calendar complication, with a biretrograde display — a reference to the love for complications Mr. Roger Dubuis had, and to the retrograde system he co-patented in the ’80s. And it holds the Geneva Seal!
Roger Dubuis just opened its second boutique in Canada. Why is the company so invested in its Canadian customers?
We believe that the Canadian culture resonates well with our Maison in its modernity, anti-conformism and creativity and we have seen a strong interest of Canadian clients in our expressive watches. Hence why we decided to expand in that country.



What do you think draws clients to the Roger Dubuis brand?
The fact that we offer a different way of doing high watchmaking and that we are living watchmaking! Our clients are passionate about the technicality and complexity of watchmaking, while looking for more expressive timepieces. It is the wish for something different that draws you to Roger Dubuis.
What novelties are you most excited about for 2025?
I am excited about what timepieces like the Excalibur Grande Complication and the Excalibur Biretrograde Calendar represent, and the possibilities they open for us. For example, the Excalibur Grande Complication holds our second in-house Grande Complication calibre, gathering a perpetual calendar, a minute repeater, and a tourbillon. Each one of these complications had a special meaning for Mr. Roger Dubuis. He loved the perpetual calendar and minute repeater because they are extremely difficult to make, and as a patient master watchmaker, he always enjoyed the challenge of building complicated movements. The watch also includes a biretrograde display for the day and the date, a system that adds extra complexity to the movement. We were able to create a very technical timepiece, following the codes of traditional Geneva watchmaking, and filled with Roger Dubuis expressivity.

What are the technologies that the brand is known for?
What defines us is that technology is put in every step of the creation of a timepiece. For example, we are working quite well with cobalt chrome, a material traditionally used in metallurgy that has an incredible shine and silvery-grey colour and shows a high resistance to scratches. After a few creations where the case of the watches was made in cobalt chrome, we just launched a beautiful Monobalancier where both the case and bracelet are made of this material. The result is pretty impressive.
Roger Dubuis is synonymous with bold looks and large cases… How do Roger Dubuis fans work these pieces into their wardrobes?
When you love a piece, you just wear and live it… as simple as that!
Learn more about Roger Dubuis watchmaking here.

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