Roger Dubuis to introduce a pioneering novelty at a never seen before venue
A famous Italian track near Sant’Agata Bolognese (not far from the Lamborghini headquarter) had been temporarily closed for us to be able to enjoy the adrenaline rush of some Lamborghini super cars (Huracán Performante and Aventador S)! But not enough – the gala dinner afterwards was held right in the middle of the production lines of Lamborghini! Once again we experienced a journey for a long time to remember.
The production line of Lamborghini (left)
The Gala-Dinner was hosted in Lamborghini’s production line (right)
The special occasion for this adventures rendezvous in North-Italy was Roger Dubuis and Lamborghinis novelty presentation resulting from their new collaboration: the Excalibur Aventador S. A watch which calibre is inspired by the Aventador S engine and the brand-new Huracán Super Trofeo EVO. Surely one of the best Italian performance car brands and a pioneer at the forefront of contemporary Swiss Haute Horlogerie have teamed up and shared all their individual skills in design and technology for a quite unique watch.
The Roger Dubuis Excalibur Aventador S
The resulting two models not only feature materials that are used for Lamborghini cars, but they also implemented visual elements from the engine! For the first time ever a multi-layered carbon and C-SMC carbon has been used on the orange-liveried watch (limited to 8 pieces).
The Aventador S in orange is limited to 8 pieces
Gravity Compensation System
One feature we want to point out especially: We would gently call Roger Dubuis a gravity hunter. A few years ago the brand introduced the Quatuor – equipped with four spiral balances and five differentials in one watch to minimize accuracy loss caused by gravity. The new Excalibur Aventador S has a Duotor which has been developed for this series exclusively. It’s simply the smaller version of the Quatuor, but with the same power! It is a world premiere, patented by Roger Dubuis and able to work more efficient then a tourbillon complication! With it’s four spiral balances and five differentials it runs with a frequency of 4×4 Hz (115’200 vph). The result: it makes this movement more precise and with an almost instant correction. It only takes a blink to compensate the speed fluctuations caused by gravity – for what a tourbillon needs one whole minute! That’s a striking achievement.
Roger Dubuis Duotor – more efficient then a Tourbillon
Just like the longitudinal placement of the Lamborghini engines tailored to the design of the streamlined car itself, the calibre has been shaped that same way. To enhance this view, the double balance wheel is inclined at a similar angle, supported and highlighted by holders shaped like triangular wheel suspension assemblies (see the picture).
The caliber tailored to the design of the Lamborghini engine. The sprung balance is disposed at an angle
To make it all more visible, it is easiest to see the similarities between car engine and watch calibre in our pictures: double triangle strut bars (picture left), engine cover décor (picture in the middle), differentials (picture right).
Double triangle strut bars (left)
Engine Cover Decor (middle)
Differentials (right)
From spring 2018 onwards, Roger Dubuis will become one of the main sponsors of Lamborghini Super Trofeo (the legendary Lamborghini one-make series). Next to the Roger Dubuis new Excalibur Aventador S, Lamborghini’s brand-new Huracán Super Trofeo EVO (V10 engine, 620 hp) will hit the track.
Lamborghini Huracán Super Trofeo EVO (V10 engine, 620 horsepower)
The Excalibur Aventador S is available in two versions. The yellow carbon case version with rubber strap is limited to 88 pieces (180.000 CHF) and the orange C-SMC carbon case version with Alcantara strap is limited to 8 pieces (200.000 CHF).
Roger Dubuis Excalibur Aventador S in yellow (left)
Roger Dubuis Excalibur Aventador S in orange (right)
Since its establishment in 1972, Porsche Design’s watch collection has been steadily growing. The 1919 Collection, which was first introduced in 2015, is dedicated to the Porsche car series. This year, the new collection is inspired by the famous 911 series that Professor Ferdinand Alexander Porsche designed 54 years ago! The design and technology of…
In 2017, OMEGA introduced a series of new watches from their popular Seamaster Aqua Terra collection. To pay a special tribute to them, OMEGA hosted a glamorous gala-dinner at the prestige Palazzo Pisani Moretta in Venice, the place where the Seamaster history began. The Palazzo Pisani Moretta in Venice Not everyone is aware of the…
Vacheron Constantin is kicking off the week in style with the release of six new watches from its most esteemed department, Les Cabinotiers. Les Cabinotiers is home to the brand’s master watchmakers, whose role is to produce bespoke timepieces for only the most special of client requests. As is the case with these latest novelties,…
At the British Museum in London, not too far along from hallowed halls housing Egyptian mummies and Ancient Greek amphoras, there is a Clocks and Watches Room, with artefacts dating from 1300 AD to the present. From decorative domestic clocks to marine chronometers, curators strive to chronicle the story of timekeeping within a few square…
Shortly after the watch community started to calm down again, BREITLING CEO Georges Kern comes up with the next surprise. A collection that at first sight doesn’t seem to fit to the usual look of BREITLING watches, as the ‘Premier’ line is simple and elegant. No slide ruler, no oversized bezel as we know them…
It is such a thing with time. If you would travel through the universe with the speed of light and return to earth after a few years, you would have aged less then the people living on the planet earth. Surely such a flying object is not realistic, but since the rapid development of Aviation…
The Hamilton story starts in 1982 in in the U.S. city of Lancaster, Pennsylvania. At a time when the country further extended their infrastructure with rail transport, also the number of accidents increased, as time keeping was not always precise enough. Hamilton made itself a name with accurate pocket watches and became famous as "The…
Like almost every year, OMEGA also in 2018 introduces a Speedmaster Special Edition. This year they celebrate 50 years of the Apollo 8 mission and surprise with a new skeletonized Moonwatch movement for their famous ‘Dark Side of the Moon’ watch. 50 years of Apollo 8 mission – the anniversary watch Speedmaster Dark Side of…
Building the thinnest watch in the world is undeniably one of the most competitive and impressive record chases in modern day horological engineering. Whilst many brands have produced thin watches, only a few brands have ever been truly in competition for the trophy – predominantly Bulgari, Richard Mille and Piaget. In this article, I will…
Victor Lance Vescovo is a special person in many ways. While visiting the Greek island of Mykonos for the 75th anniversary of the Omega Seamaster, Swisswatches met this titan of a man; slender as a whip, with a white beard and long white hair held scraped back with a hair tie, he looks like a…
In 1972, Audemars Piguet launched its Royal Oak, which is considered the first luxury sports watch to have been made of steel. In 1976, Patek Philippe followed suit by introducing its first Nautilus. Over the years, the hype surrounding both models has led to a lack of availability at any official retailer, let alone the…
The clear readability of all functions on the dial of his watches has always been very important to watchmaker Louis-Abraham Breguet. The dial was consistently designed to dedicate each feature of the watch enough space to pay sufficient attention to its function. These usually were focused on hours, minutes and seconds. But what to do…
The Big Bang – the watch that disrupted traditional notions of luxury timepieces upon its launch in 2005 and has since become a permanent fixture in Hublot’s product portfolio – celebrates its 20th anniversary this year. A journey marked not only by the collection’s longevity, but also by its continual evolution in both design and…