The Geneva Motor Show will take place just before Baselworld 2017, and one of the most eagerly anticipated cars at the show will be Italdesign’s new hypercar. Founded by Giorgetto Giugiaro, Italdesign is a design and engineering company with a long history, and this will be their first foray into making a proper car. To commemorate the occasion, Italdesign has also teamed up with Roger Dubuis to create the new Roger Dubuis Excalibur Spider Italdesign Edition watch.
But before we talk about the watch, here’s a little history about Italdesign. The main thing to know is that Italdesign is responsible for some of the greatest-looking cars in the history of the automobile. For example, Italdesign designed the fantastic-looking Maserati MC12 and the sexy Alfa Romeo Brera. Going further back, they were also the firm behind the DeLorean DMC-12 – surely one of most recognizable cars in the world – and also the first generation Volkswagen Golf and Scirocco. It is an enviable CV of car design.
And now, Italdesign wants to make cars proper. Heading this effort will be a new company called “Italdesign Automobili Speciali” and they will be primarily focused on making extremely limited edition cars. Now, since this is particularly relevant to the watch and an interesting development in itself, let’s talk a bit more about Italdesign’s newest car. At the time of writing, this car doesn’t have a proper name yet, but we do know that it looks absolutely bonkers, and it will be super fast. Thanks to an all carbon fiber chassis and a massive naturally aspirated 5.2-liter V10 engine, the unnamed supercar will be able to hit 60mph in just 3.2 seconds. The car will hit speeds of over 205mph. Only five units will be made.
Now, let’s talk about the watch. The Roger Dubuis Excalibur Spider Italdesign Edition watch is clearly based on Roger Dubuis’ Excalibur Spider Single Tourbillon watch. That watch is notable because features a highly skeletonized dial that shows off Roger Dubuis’ Geneva Seal-stamped caliber RD505SQ to its fullest.
The Roger Dubuis Excalibur Spider Italdesign Edition watch is no different but features a few aesthetic cues that make it stand out. Since Italdesign is based in Italy – and obviously emphasizes its Italianness – the watch features the colors of the Italian flag with red, white, and green accents, as Italdesign has made a signature of their brand. We will note, this also more or less matches the car’s color scheme.
The 45mm-wide multi-layer carbon case, for example, features a white ceramic bezel marked with red liquid ceramic. The DLC-coated titanium crown comes with red vulcanized rubber. On the dial, the flange features red minute markers and even a tiny Italian flag at 11 o’clock. The white gold hour and minute hands also feature red tips filled with white SuperLuminova. And finally, the black rubber strap, for instance, features red, white, and green stitching. It wouldn’t be a stretch to call the Roger Dubuis Excalibur Spider Italdesign Edition watch patriotic!
The highly skeletonized dial leaves nothing to the imagination, as the caliber RD505SQ is exposed in all its glory. There is a large flying tourbillon with a tourbillon carriage in the shape of the Celtic Cross at 7 o’clock, and all plates and bridges are circular-grained and coated with NAC treatment. The caliber RD505SQ is hand-wound and has a single barrel that offers a power reserve of 60 hours.
Certainly, the Roger Dubuis Excalibur Spider Italdesign Edition watch is a good match for Italdesign’s new hypercar. Both are Italian and both are produced in extremely limited units. The Roger Dubuis Excalibur Spider Italdesign Edition watch will be limited to just 8 pieces, which is curious because Italdesign’s new hypercar is, as I mentioned earlier, limited to 5 units. Wouldn’t it make more sense for the watch to be available in the same number as the car? In any case, each Roger Dubuis Excalibur Spider Italdesign Edition watch is priced at $169,000. rogerdubuis.com
