We take a closer look at the Roger Dubuis Excalibur Huracán Performante. RD is known for the attention to detail to match the iconic Lamborghini supercar it takes its inspiration from, so we examine if this is worthy of your attention.
Roger Dubuis Excalibur Huracán Performante
Roger Dubuis’s on-going collaboration with the Italian supercar company – Lamborghini. Love the car or hate it, and likely you will have the same feelings for the Roger Dubuis inspired creations. The RD Avantedor S is one such watch, and the Excalibur Huracán Performante reviewed here is another.
This year, two new Roger Dubuis / Lamborghini collaborations were introduced. The first the Excalibur One-Off timepiece is inspired by the recently unveiled Lamborghini SC18 Alston supercar. And the second is the subject of our exploration – the Huracán.
Two Excalibur Huracáns were proposed, one the 88 piece limited Edition, with the Performante (this review) as a regular edition.
The case, dial and hands
The Excalibur Huracán Performante case is a complicated affair of titanium affair measuring 45mm in diameter. The shape is nominally round, with a very highly stylized fluted titanium bezel with black lacquered markings. The lugs are long and extends from the case sides, and feature a hollowed out interior which looks sleek and echoes the aesthetic codes of their automobile alter ego. The use of yellow elements over the black rubberized case and bezel provides an excellent contrast and striking visuals.
The dial is skeletonized to look the car it was inspired from. And within the load bearing support structures which aesthetically mimic many of the structures of the car, the space opens up shows the hexagonal honeycomb signature of the supercar.
The indices sit within a titanium ring which are perforated to reveal the applied rhodium plated hour markers in-filled with white Superluminova. The ring is also perforated between the hours, to reveal a minute track below.
The hands are javelin shaped, and are 18K black PVD coated gold hands with black transfers and white luminous SLN tips, aluminum grey varnished second hand.
Visible on the dial side at 12 is a strut-bar designed to hold the balance bridge. The design cue is the strut-bar found on the V10 engine of the Lamborghini.
The date is displayed via a cryptic disc which reveals the date through a dedicated aperture at 6.
The movement: RD 630
The movement is the RD630, which Roger Dubuis stated was developed specifically for the partnership with Lamborghini Squadra Corse. We are not quite sure what the relationship in the technical development stretches to, as Lamborghini are not exactly watchmakers. And the RD literature does not elaborate.
The design of the bridges which take visual and architectural curs from the automobile. This makes for a unique layout of the bridges. What is also interesting in this movement is that it looks unique to RD, and is based on a balance wheel which is angled at 12°. As far as we know, this is the first inclined balance wheel we have encountered which is not within a tourbillon regulator. RD does not explain the benefits of the incline, and only offers that this is a signature of their collaboration efforts with the Italian carmaker.
The 360° oscillating weight also draws inspiration from the car, and is modeled after the rim of the Huracán supercar. It rotates very rapidly, and RD claim to create a captivating optical illusion – suggesting the high speed revolution of the car’s wheel. In our hands-on, it rotates like a regular rotor, and not particularly spectacular other than the aesthetics of the spokes reaching out to the ring structure of the rotor. No doubt the ring is eccentrically weighted.
Finissage is hard to judge from the lightly smoked rear sapphire case, with texts emblazoned across, but we think its at a high engineering level, perhaps similar to what a car might be finished to. We do not see the classical finishing techniques of haute horlogerie being applied.
Competitive Landscape
If we look at the world of watches with inclined balances, we found none! And with the Roger Dubuis Huracan is priced at US$52,500, while not inexpensive, it is possibly the only and by inference, the least expensive watch with an inclined balance.
To give a general sense of the unique-ness of the inclined balance, we might take a look at Greubel Forsey, who possibly started the inclined balance. Their inclined balances are all equipped with a tourbillon regulator with the exception of the Greubel Forsey Double Balancier à Différentiel Constant (CHF 350,000), but this watch is made ultra complicated by using two inclined balances driven by a differential. Given this fact, we can safely eliminate them from this landscape.
The Candaux DC6 is another with an inclined balance, but it too has a tourbillon regulator, and hence also out.
So it would seem the RD is unique. If you know of another watch with an inclined balance, please let us know in the comments section.
Concluding thoughts
Overall, the watch certainly has some wrist presence. Not only with its impressive dimensions, but also with the clever use of yellow and white accents over a black base, and the skeletonizing work done to mimic the key elements of a super fast racing car.
And at US$52,500, the Excalibur Huracán Performante does not seem excessively priced. We take this in the context of the giddying world of high performance supercars in Singapore, where the Huracán is a vehicle whose price pushes in excess to million dollars. In a loud, aggressive and somewhat brash sense, the watch works. This is not a watch for those seeking to be discreet. Indeed it is true to the Lamborghini spirit, an automobile which strikes an emotion not only visually but is just as loud aurally.
Excalibur Huracán Performante Specifications
Case: Skeletonized, Ø45 mm, Titanium with Titanium container overmolded with black rubber, fluted Titanium bezel with black lacquered markings, Titanium with black rubber crown, sapphire crystal with anti-reflective treatment glass, Titanium, sapphire crystal case back.
Thickness: 13.3mm Water resistance: 5 BAR (50 m)
Strap: Bi-material strap with black rubber base and grey Alcantara® inlay, black and yellow stitching. Back of the strap featuring the Pirelli P Zero Trofeo™ R tyre-pattern design .
Buckle: Titanium black DLC, adjustable folding buckle
Dial: Skeleton dial with black lower flange and NAC plated upper flange, Rhodium plated indexes filled with white luminous SLN, 18K black PVD coated gold hands with black transfers and white luminous SLN tips, aluminum grey varnished second hand.
Calibre: RD630 caliber, Automatic 12° balance
Production: no limitation
RD630 Calibre: Automatic 12° balance
Features: 12° balance, double barrel, air intakes, life cell protection unit, strut bars
Functions: Hours, Minutes, Seconds, Date
Decorations: Skeleton movement, main plate is shot-blasted and NAC coated. Bridges are shot-blasted or trued-up and NAC coated.
Number of parts: 233 components
Jewels: 29
Diameter: 16’’’
Thickness: 7.78mm
Frequency: 4 Hz (28’800 vph)
Power-reserve: 60 hours
