Combining a watch, a discreet and delicate object, with a car, often a supercar, a hypercar or a racing car, remains one of the most formidable challenges for watchmakers. Roger Dubuis, if ever there was one, has a complete arsenal to create watches capable of meeting this challenge. The brand put all its skills into designing the Excalibur Spider Flyback Chronograph Lamborghini Verde Mantis, so that it could live up to the Lamborghini SC63 that inspired it.
The Lamborghini SC63, an extreme racing machine
The Lamborghini SC63 is a prototype LMDh (Le Mans Daytona hypercar) racing car. Each of these words is a giant, flashing red flag when it comes to cars. Put them all together, and you get a 671-horsepower machine that weighs just over a ton and sounds like the birth of a mid-sized star.
A watch worthy of the Lamborghini SC63
Unsurprisingly, Roger Dubuis did not skimp on resources for the Excalibur Spider Flyback Chronograph Lamborghini Verde Mantis, compensating for the absence of sound with a very (very) noisy aesthetic. The watch measures 45mm wide by 17.13mm thick, and while there are no official specifications for lug-to-lug length, you can expect these triple lugs and bracelets to scalloped wristbands are as excessive on many wrists as the SC63 would be on any public highway.
Functionality preserved despite extreme aesthetics
The overall functionality isn't too bad, as you get more or less easy-to-find hour and minute markers, and even a fixed bezel with large decimal digits. The tachymeter scale has been relegated to a flange ring around the largely non-existent dial, with graduations starting at 500 in a very Lamborghini manner of optimism and exaggeration. Cool.
The main hands are openwork, which remains a characteristic of Roger Dubuis on the one hand, and an Achilles heel on the other, because they camouflage quite effectively against a very busy background characterized by largely similar shapes. The design of the hands is so compromised that it's almost as if it was done on purpose, drawing attention away from plebeian matters like time and towards more flamboyant horological executions.
A highly decorated and Hallmark of Geneva certified movement
The Roger Dubuis Excalibur Spider Flyback Chronograph Lamborghini Verde Mantis is certified Poinçon de Genève, like most Roger Dubuis watches produced today. This certification concerns the entire watch head, and not just the movement.
The RD780 caliber, equipped with a flyback chronograph and a “cryptic date” readable in its window at 6 o'clock, is ready to measure this average speed of 500 km/h. As the brand explains, all watches in the Excalibur Spider range are “extremely skeletonized”, and it is true that the closer you look, the more you will discover new levels, floors, bridges and spaces integrated into this Manufacture caliber 10.7 mm thick.
Roger Dubuis is proud of the fact that the RD780 caliber features 16 distinct finishes, all made in-house, including those “suitable for Poinçon de Genève certification”. These finishes are meticulously applied to every surface of every component of every caliber, creating a captivating interplay of matte and polished surfaces. This meticulous process reinforces the play of light which has become the trademark of Geneva Haute Horlogerie.
An equally spectacular case and back
The substance is not the simplest either. In fact, there's a lot going on, from the openworked lugs and the little spring revealed inside the easy strap change system, to the openworked chronograph pushers and polished screw heads, to the oscillating weight inspired by car wheels.
The case is made from C-SCM carbon, complemented by a brushed ceramic bezel and what appear to be titanium pushers and crown. Since this is a flyback chronograph, you can start the chronograph on the Roger Dubuis Excalibur Spider Flyback Chronograph Lamborghini Verde Mantis, then stop, reset and start it again simply by pressing and releasing the reset pusher. Most regular mechanical chronographs won't do anything if you try this – a few others will simply break.
An extreme timepiece worthy of the Lamborghini SC63
Those who have considered the wild look and sound of the Lamborghini SC63 LMDh – with its poison-frog-like green and red livery, stunning performance and epic tone – may understand why it's Roger Dubuis who dared to take on the challenge of creating a wristwatch capable, within the strict limits of its genre, of reproducing a similar battery of the senses. And in that it has certainly succeeded, to the point where pairing a traditional watch with this car now seems strange.
The Roger Dubuis Excalibur Spider Flyback Chronograph Lamborghini Verde Mantis is priced at $107,500 with taxes. An extreme and spectacular watch, like the Lamborghini SC63 which inspired it, and which will undoubtedly appeal to lovers of fine watchmaking and exceptional automobiles. Roger Dubuis once again pushes the limits of watchmaking creation with this extraordinary piece!
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