Limited editions in the world of luxury watches are quite commonplace. When you start talking about watches that are a limited release, and limited to a particular country, things sometimes get interesting. This often takes the form of a watch that is available only through a boutique that resides in said country. That is precisely what we have going on here with a new iteration of the Roger Dubuis Exalibur Spider Americas Edition available exclusively through the Roger Dubuis New York boutique.
Yes, that’s right, watch fans – this is an American-only watch (USA! USA!). Well, ok, anyone can buy it, sure – but they will have to travel over to New York to pick one of the twenty pieces up. Should you find yourself in that position, you will be getting not only the very scooped-out “spider web” look of the hand-wound RD505SQ calibre (which also looks like stars to me), you will also have a flying tourbillon whirling away on your wrist. With extremely skeletonized watches, like we have here with the Roger Dubuis Exalibur Spider Americas Edition, I am frankly amazed at the work done on the dial and case.
By that, I mean how tidy-looking things are kept, all while keeping the “interesting” bits exposed, and tucking everything else away in layers under the structure that still remains. The tiny machines are amazing, and then when you constrain yourself with these sorts of limits, that does certainly elevate things a good bit. Unfortunately, it also afflicts the watch with something that hits a lot of these skeletons – reduced legibility.
That said, you are likely not going to mind having to stare at a watch like the Roger Dubuis Exalibur Spider Americas Edition for a bit longer in order to tell the time. And who knows, maybe in person, those white-filled tips on the hands (one presumes lumed as well) are easier to pick out in the 45mm case than the pictures suggest. I just know that the rest of the hand being dark as it is will make it tricky. Yes, it blends thematically with the movement/dial, but I could certainly go for some contrast – say, fully red hands.
Speaking of color, that was another somewhat odd choice in my book for a USA-exclusive watch. This version of the Roger Dubuis Exalibur Spider features red and yellow accents – I would have figured something more to the red, white, and blue scheme could have been executed. Expected? Sure, but it could be done well (in fact, swapping yellow for blue on this watch would do it), and seems like a miss on this particular version. Then again, there must be a reason for it, and I’m sure those who are more well-versed in the world of Roger Dubuis will let me know in the comments below.
I also have to call out that, for all the airy-ness of the design, it still comes in at a fairly hefty 13.75mm thick – guess all those gears have to hide somewhere (hint: it’s vertically). That aside, for those who want an amazing bit of timekeeping architecture on their wrist, the 20-piece edition of the Roger Dubuis Exalibur Spider Americas Edition is available at their New York boutique at a price of $167,500, at Roger Dubuis 545 Madison Avenue, New York. rogerdubuis.com
Tech Specs from Roger Dubuis
- Reference: Excalibur Spider Americas Limited Edition, RDDBEX0549
- Case: Skeleton case, 45mm, Titanium
- Thickness: 13.75 mm
- Dial: Skeleton
- Red and yellow black DLC titanium skeleton flange
- White Roger Dubuis transfers
- Titanium screws with SLN
- Skeleton hands in gold
- Black DLC treatment with SLN
- Water Resistance: 5 BAR (50m)
- Strap: White rubber
- Clasp: Titanium adjustable folding clasp
- Calibre: Hand-wound calibre, RD505SQ
- Production: 20 pieces
- Certification: Poinçon de Genève
