Roger Dubuis has been working with Japanese street artist Hajime Sorayama — known worldwide for his Sexy Robot creations — to make a limited edition of its signature Excalibur Monobalancier watch.
On a brainstorming creative meeting in Switzerland, the artist was invited to think the unthinkable for a special version of the Excalibur.
The result is a watch described by Roger Dubuis as hyper performing, hyper inspiring, and hyper hypnotic. “The result is modern art for the wrist,” the company says.
Roger Dubuis had already modernised the Excalibur earlier this year with a focus on clean cut lines on both case and movement to create a heightened sense of depth on the dial, above which the signature star now levitates freely above the barrel.
Mr Sorayama developed this redesign with his own expressions in the form of more curved lines and a polished titanium finish for the case and bracelet.
He also redesigned Roger Dubuis’ micro-rotor to create a hypnotising optical illusion as it spins.
“The Excalibur Sorayama MB is a perfect blend of two worlds, with Roger Dubuis’ and my signature both recognisable at first sight. I’m thrilled we were able to bring such a hyper expressive timepiece to life. By pushing our limits, we’ve created a distinctive moiré and a singular masterpiece,” the artist says.
Having accepted the radical design, Roger Dubuis watchmakers set about elevating the engineering of the timepiece.
They managed to increase the power reserve of the RD720SQ automatic movement to 72 hours while optimizing the micro-rotor to minimize vibrations and doubling the balance wheel inertia to improve stability and make it less sensitive to shocks.
Only 28 are initially being made, and go on sale first in Japan before the rest of the world gets a shot.
Why am I thinking Zenith Defy?