Ready To Race With The Roger Dubuis Excalibur Spider Flyback Chronograph In “Lambo” Verde Mantis

What is green, loud, and low and will go around the Indianapolis Motor Speedway on Sunday, September 22nd, for hours on end? Well, any ideas? It’s the Lamborghini SC63 hybrid racing car prototype! The number 63 “Lambo” in striking Verde Mantis, piloted by Italian drivers Matteo Cairoli, Andrea Caldarelli, and former French Formula 1 driver Romain Grosjean, will compete in the IMSA TireRack.com Battle on the Bricks endurance race this weekend. I’m not sure if any of the drivers will wear a watch during the six-hour race, but if they want to wear something matching, there’s the Roger Dubuis Excalibur Spider Flyback Chronograph in the race car’s livery ready to take a stint on their wrists.

The high-octane partnership between Roger Dubuis and the Italian race team Lamborghini Squadra Corse started in 2017 and shows no sign of slowing down — very much like an endurance race, really. In the old days, an endurance race like the 24 Hours of Le Mans was all about keeping the car in one piece. Modern-day long-distance racing, like the TireRack.com Battle on the Bricks six-hour race held at the famous Indianapolis Motor Speedway, is a constant full-gas racing affair. Many prestigious brands do close battle hour after hour, making the FIA World Endurance Championship and the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship some of the most exciting types of motorsport.

Roger Dubuis Excalibur Spider Flyback Chronograph

The Roger Dubuis Excalibur Spider Flyback Chronograph (DBEX1102) donning “Lambo” Verde Mantis perfectly matches the race car and how it is driven around the race track. The car goes flat out whenever possible, trying to set the fastest lap time. The watchmakers at Roger Dubuis built the Excalibur Spider Flyback Chronograph in the same spirit; it tries to push the boundaries of watchmaking.

We’ve covered the introduction of the exuberant carbon fiber chronograph before. In this article, we focused on the technical aspects and history of the automatic caliber RD780, the brand’s fifth in-house chronograph caliber, comprising 334 parts and proudly carrying the prestigious Poinçon de Genève, signaling watchmaking excellence. But thankfully, one of the 88 boutique-exclusive watches was available to try. Unfortunately, an endurance test was impossible, but a short “spin” around the boutique was.

Putting on the Excalibur Spider Flyback Chronograph

What is the first thing you’ll notice when you pick up the 45 × 17.13mm Excalibur Spider Flyback Chronograph? The lack of weight. The quite massive case is executed in carbon fiber, and just like a race car made with plenty of the stuff, the dimensions don’t correlate with the overall weight. Once you get ready to put the watch on your wrist, it becomes very hard not to notice and consequently focus on the RD780 on full display because there’s no dial it can hide under. The in-house movement is simply stunning to behold. So instead of slipping your hand through the rubber strap with the folding clasp, you’ll find yourself putting the watch closer to your face and inspecting its front and back.

Some of the highlights include the balance wheel at 9 o’clock, which is tilted at a 12° angle, the five-arm rotor inspired by Lamborghini’s five-spoke wheels, and the level of finishing of the different bridges.

Wearing the Excalibur Spider Flyback Chronograph

Once on the wrist, the contrasting black and green colorway is not as prominent as when the watch is in front of you in the display. When you look at the large Excalibur Spider Flyback Chronograph frontally, much of the green rubber strap disappears to the back of the wrist. That’s a good thing because the case and what’s inside it deserve all the attention they can get. A strap should not steal their thunder. The triple-lug design of the Excalibur works well in technical C-SMC carbon fiber. The combination of material and design makes the lugs look like a purely functional result of high-tech engineering. It’s much like how a race car looks the way it does because function trumps form in the pursuit of performance on the track.

Race vibes can also be found in the watch’s horological functions. The most striking example is the 120° Rotating Minute Counter (RMC) at 3 o’clock. The chronograph’s minute counter includes a patent-pending hand consisting of three parts. The three parts of the hand carry the 0, 1, and 2, and that hand rotates past the 0 to 9 digits, making it act as an analog 30-minute counter. The outcome is an easy-to-read, intuitive counter with a very complex construction. Not functional but very much in the spirit of the SC63 is the Y-shaped bar on the dial, illuminated with Super-LumiNova. This detail mirrors the headlights of the race car.

Car vs. watch

Interestingly, the Lamborghini endurance racer and the Roger Dubuis watch use traditional means to produce energy and combine them with modern technology. The Lamborghini SC63 is outfitted with a 3.8-liter twin-turbo V8 engine with extra power coming from the battery, which is charged through regenerative braking and the internal combustion engine.

The watch’s RD780 “engine” also has traditional components, such as a vertical clutch that allows the gearing to go up and out in one swift, direct movement as the column wheel turns. But there’s also the innovative, patent-pending Second Braking System (SBS). This component decreases “flicker” and stabilizes the chronograph seconds hand.

Final lap

In an ideal world, I would try out the Lamborghini-inspired Excalibur Spider Flyback Chronograph while racing around a circuit for hours and hours. In a slightly less ideal world, I would wear it for 24 hours straight while operating the chronograph in the pits of the Lamborghini Iron Lynx team during the iconic Le Mans 24-hour race. And then there’s my world. In my world, I got to spend 30 minutes with the watch inside the Roger Dubuis boutique. It was a bit like driving a go-kart indoors instead of piloting a high-power race car on a demanding circuit like the Indianapolis Motor Speedway. Still, wearing an impressive piece of avant-garde Haute Horlogerie is fun and interesting in whatever setting.

The price of the boutique-only Excalibur Spider Flyback Chronograph (DBEX1102) is €95,833 / US$107,500 before taxes. For more detailed information on the watch, please visit the official Roger Dubuis website.