Roger Dubuis has a talent for making complicated watchmaking look extroverted rather than academic.
The Excalibur Biretrograde Calendar RDDBEX1209 continues that idea with a familiar house complication, a vivid Cosmic Blue dial and a 40 mm stainless steel case that shifts the Excalibur into more wearable territory.
It’s still very much a Geneva high-watchmaking object, complete with the Poinçon de Genève, but its £38,800 price makes it the most approachable Roger Dubuis watch yet.
At a glance
- Roger Dubuis has introduced the Excalibur Biretrograde Calendar RDDBEX1209 as its most accessible watch to date.
- The watch combines a 40 mm 316L stainless steel case with a Cosmic Blue dial and twin retrograde day and date displays.
- Priced at £38,800 including VAT, it brings a signature Roger Dubuis complication to a broader group of collectors.
A familiar Excalibur shape in a more wearable size
The Excalibur collection has never been shy, and the RDDBEX1209 keeps the family codes intact.
The fluted bezel, assertive crown guard and triple-lug strap architecture all remain present, giving the watch the angular stance associated with the line since its 2005 debut.
The meaningful change is scale.
At 40 mm, this model steps away from the larger 45 mm and 48 mm proportions often associated with Excalibur watches, making the design easier to imagine on a wider range of wrists.
The case is made from 316L stainless steel, a pragmatic material choice that helps explain the watch’s positioning without stripping away the visual identity of the collection.
The Cosmic Blue dial gives the calendar room to perform
Blue dials are hardly rare in contemporary watchmaking, but this one works because Roger Dubuis treats the colour as part of a layered composition rather than a simple finish.
The centre of the dial is circular-brushed, catching light through fine concentric lines, while the small seconds at 6 o’clock uses an azuré finish framed by a polished bevelled ring.
The hour and minute hands are made from white gold and follow the brand’s openworked, Dauphine-adjacent style, with brushed surfaces, truncated tips and Super-LumiNova.
Trapezoidal hour markers are rhodium plated, filled with white Super-LumiNova and set against a double-surface flange with a broad azuré treatment.
The result is technical without becoming visually cold.
The biretrograde calendar remains the main event
The watch’s most distinctive feature is its biretrograde calendar, a complication closely tied to Roger Dubuis’ identity.
Co-developed by Roger Dubuis and Jean-Marc Wiederrecht, the mechanism was patented in 1989 and has since become one of the house signatures.
Here, the display is arranged through two ecliptic counters across the dial.
The day indication sits on the left, while the date indication sits on the right, each using a dedicated retrograde hand.
The day hand travels downward through the week before snapping back to Monday, while the date hand moves upward through the month before returning to 1 after the 31st.
That opposing motion gives the dial a sense of theatre, especially because parts of the underlying cams and levers are visible from the front.
Roger Dubuis also uses symmetry intelligently, with the mirrored calendar arcs balanced by the small seconds at 6 o’clock and a snailed circle below noon carrying the Poinçon de Genève and the model text.
Finishing is visible where it matters, including anglage, Côtes de Genève, polished screws and jewels set in polished sinks.
Details & Specifications
| Brand | Roger Dubuis |
|---|---|
| Model | Excalibur Biretrograde Calendar RDDBEX1209 |
| Case size | 40 mm |
| Case material | 316L stainless steel |
| Dial | Cosmic Blue with circular-brushed centre and azuré details |
| Complication | Biretrograde day and date calendar |
| Additional display | Small seconds at 6 o’clock |
| Hands | White gold hour and minute hands with Super-LumiNova |
| Certification | Poinçon de Genève |
| Price | £38,800 including VAT |
The Excalibur Biretrograde Calendar RDDBEX1209 is interesting because it doesn’t dilute Roger Dubuis so much as edit it.
It keeps the expressive calendar mechanism, high-level finishing and architectural case language, while the steel construction and 40 mm size make the proposition feel more grounded for collectors who admire the marque but want something less imposing.
