The Bold Dream of Geneva: Roger Dubuis Celebrates 30 Years of Audacity
Roger Dubuis at 30: A Legacy Written in Bold Time
Some stories in watchmaking begin quietly, with modest ambitions. The story of Roger Dubuis never did. From the moment the Maison opened its doors in Geneva in 1995, it declared itself something different: a dream distilled into mechanics, a watchmaker’s fantasy given form. Today, thirty years on, that dream is still very much alive—burning brighter, bolder, and perhaps even wilder.
The Watchmaker Who Looked Up
Every myth has its origin. For Roger Dubuis, it was a village clocktower, its hands tracing the sky as a boy looked up and wondered how time itself could be captured. At fifteen, he began an apprenticeship, already marked by an almost obsessive pursuit of excellence. His diploma watch—Calibre 208—was not just praised, but sealed with the Poinçon de Genève, that ultimate stamp of horological nobility.
But Dubuis was never content with repeating the past. He restored historic watches with reverence, yet in the same breath imagined timepieces that broke all conventions. Tradition and audacity—two forces that might repel each other in lesser hands—became, in his, a magnetic fusion.
A Theatre of Complications
If Haute Horlogerie is a language, Dubuis spoke in complications. Perpetual calendars, rattrapante chronographs, minute repeaters, tourbillons—he approached each not only as a challenge of engineering, but as a stage for expression.
The Excalibur Grande Complication of 2009 remains almost operatic: a flying tourbillon, minute repeater, and linear perpetual calendar, every note hitting with precision and drama. But the tourbillon became his obsession—sometimes single, sometimes double, sometimes multiplied until gravity itself seemed mocked. In 2013, he unveiled the Excalibur Quatuor, four inclined balances working together in a feat of audacity that was pure Roger Dubuis: equal parts genius and theatre.
A Design That Dares
Where others chased restraint, Roger Dubuis chose expressivity. The cases were never conventional, the dials never quiet. From the playful geometry of the Sympathie to the skeletonized drama of the Excalibur, every watch was a proclamation: time is not just measured, it is performed. Even the materials whispered rebellion—Murano glass, titanium, and carbon composites found their way into a world long ruled by gold and steel.
From Legends to Supercars
Storytelling, too, became part of the Maison’s DNA. With the Knights of the Round Table, miniature figures hand-carved in micro-sculpture circled the dial like guardians of time, transforming myth into horology. Later, partnerships with Lamborghini Squadra Corse and Pirelli Design brought the language of motorsport into the atelier: straps made with racing rubber, calibres that echoed the roar of supercars, cases that wore speed itself as inspiration.
The 30-Year Celebration
At Watches and Wonders 2025, two anniversary pieces marked this milestone. The Excalibur Grande Complication, limited to only eight creations, united three of watchmaking’s holiest complications: the tourbillon, minute repeater, and perpetual calendar, all housed in a case that felt like sculpture. Alongside it, the Excalibur Calendrier Bi-Rétrograde returned to Roger Dubuis’ very first patent—his beloved retrograde display—reinterpreted with modern elegance in a refined 40mm form.
Both watches are not just commemorations—they are bridges. One to the past, saluting the genius of a man who refused compromise. The other to the future, reminding us that Roger Dubuis’ vision is still alive, restless, and hungry for new horizons.
The Spirit of Hyper Horology™
Thirty years on, Roger Dubuis still does what it always promised: shock, seduce, and inspire. The Maison calls it Hyper Horology™, but in truth, it is something deeper: the transformation of time into spectacle. Every watch is a statement, a performance, a reminder that audacity can be beautiful when executed with mastery.
For collectors and dreamers alike, Roger Dubuis is not simply a brand. It is a question posed in metal and movement: what if time itself could be daring?
The answer, after three decades, is clear. It can. And it is.
Discover more at www.rogerdubuis.com
