Hands-On With The Roger Dubuis Excalibur Biretrograde Calendar In Steel During Watches And Wonders 2026

Now you can get the characteristic features without the exorbitant price. Well, the Poinçon de Genève-certified Roger Dubuis Excalibur Biretrograde Calendar in steel is hardly a cheap watch, but it is the gateway to the Roger Dubuis universe. And what a way to enter the world of hand-crafted high horology it is. With its 40 × 11.25mm steel case, it can be considered sleek. The retrograde day and date indications are a historical reference point, and the various finishes on the movement enhance the horological experience. My hands-on experience with the timepiece at Watches and Wonders was interesting and offered plenty of food for thought.

From the moment the brand launched in 1995, it was never for everybody. The style, price, and limited supply meant a Roger Dubuis creation was different, costly, and hard to find. This is still the case, although the rapid evolution of exuberance, which eventually led to the creation of something RD called Hyper Horology, has somewhat cooled. The best proof of that was last year’s introduction of the historically correct Hommage La Placide with its 38mm rose gold case and fascinating deep blue dial featuring mother-of-pearl accents. Another creation that showed that less can be more, even in the wild universe of Roger Dubuis, was the Excalibur Biretrograde Calendar in pink gold. It was every inch an Excalibur with its triple lugs and notched bezel, but it had a moderately sized 40 × 11.25mm case that could even discreetly slip under the cuff if necessary. And now there’s a steel version.

Hands-on with the Roger Dubuis Excalibur Biretrograde Calendar in steel

Last year’s Excalibur Biretrograde Calendar in rose gold with white mother-of-pearl accents on the dial was very nice, but it was also a bit dressy. Now, RD does make a lot of non-dressy, very sporty watches, like the Excalibur Spider Flyback Chronograph, but these creations are large in both dimensions and price. The 42mm Excalibur Monotourbillon Titanium and the Excalibur Monobalancier Titanium are much more wearable, but these lightweight creations also “suffer” from a rather heavy price tag. Now, though, there’s the Roger Dubuis Excalibur Biretrograde Calendar in steel (ref. DBEX1209). Don’t get me wrong; the pre-tax price of €36,900 / US$43,900 doesn’t make the watch accessible to a very large audience, but it does open the door to the brand a bit further. It also does so in terms of styling.

The bracelet creates a win-win situation

Let’s start with the bracelet because, by doing so, I will also tackle a design feature I know many people struggle with — the triple lugs. The reason I liked the titanium versions of the Excalibur Tourbillon and Monobalancier so much was the titanium bracelet. The multilink design was incredibly comfortable on the wrist and easy on the eye. Also, it was perfectly integrated with the triple lugs, making them optically disappear.

Now, the Excalibur Biretrograde Calendar in steel features a relatively compact case with sharp, architectural details and polished, shotblasted, and satin-brushed finishes. There’s also a notched bezel you would expect from an Excalibur, plus chunky crown guards. But the steel bracelet matches the 100m-water-resistant watch to a tee and makes everything look and feel so very nicely balanced. The finely detailed and beautifully finished steel bracelet, which is shinier and livelier than its titanium counterpart, lends the day-date watch a sporty feel. But the dial also helps achieve that.

Just so you know, that’s “Cosmic Blue”

There’s no mother-of-pearl this time. Instead, RD gave the dial a shade it calls “Cosmic Blue” and silver accents, giving the Excalibur Biretrograde Calendar in steel its sporty, casual look. It’s detailed as well. You’ll also find the otherworldly blue hue on the concentric-engraved flange, which hosts applied rhodium-plated hour markers with white Super-LumiNova inserts. The flange also conceals the pivoting points of the two retrograde hands, creating a secretive effect. And although the dial is mostly closed, a few strategically placed openings expose some of the retrograde calendar components. To enhance visual appeal and qualify for a Poinçon de Genève certificate, the exposed and inverted components are held in place by silver-colored bridges adorned with Côtes de Genève.

The two large crescent-shaped scales for the day and date are matched to equally prominent retrograde hands. The hands look like open-worked swords and are in the same style as the even larger, even fiercer-looking white gold hour and minute hands.

Nothing says “sport” better than a few red accents, according to a majority of watch brands. Roger Dubuis is among those brands, but the cliché of red accents works very well on this steel Excalibur. You will find touches of red on the arcing retrograde scales and the tips of the hands. To let everybody know this sporty, informal creation is serious about watchmaking, the dial also reads “Biretrograde Calendar,” and the Poinçon de Genève shield takes a prominent place.

The 244-component caliber RD840

Inside the steel Excalibur Biretrograde Calendar beats the same movement as in the rose gold version. It’s the 4Hz caliber RD840, an automatic movement fully finished throughout, even the parts you will never see. You will have to take RD’s word for it, but apparently, the 244-part movement features no fewer than 14 finishing techniques.

The openworked rotor, which features a pink gold weight, winds the mainspring. When fully wound, this gives the caliber 60 hours of autonomy. The first glance through the dial is promising, and a look through the case back’s sapphire display is very satisfying.

Wearing the Excalibur Biretrograde Calendar

As I suspected, the 40mm Excalibur Biretrograde Calendar wears effortlessly. The case’s moderate proportions and the perfectly matched multilink bracelet make it happen. The Cosmic Blue color sits somewhere between dark blue and electric blue. I was afraid it would look a bit too cold and harsh, but it doesn’t; it truly has cosmic depth. It matches the brushed and polished steel case and bracelet’s informal, sporty look and feel very well.

The Excalibur Biretrograde Calendar is another example of RD’s current evolution. The brand is slowly but surely making room for sized-down watches that have a clear link to the past and show it in a contemporary way. The future could hold a 40mm Monobalancier in steel with a matching bracelet, for instance. That would be nice. But so would be a modern interpretation of the shapely Sympathie or a contemporary chronograph version of the Hommage. Just saying.

Any thoughts on the 40mm steel Roger Dubuis Excalibur Biretrograde Calendar? Please share them in the comments section below.