21-04-2025
Roger Dubuis And Patek Philippe:A Tale Of Two Grand Complications
Patek Philippe Ref. 5308G Quadruple Complication.
A grand complication is the Triathlete of the watch world. To qualify, it must achieve three major feats of watchmaking all in one package. That means it should have a minute repeater, a perpetual calendar and either a chronograph or a tourbillon. Combining these functions in one super watch is a longstanding tradition in the world of high horology. Two examples of a grand complication, both introduced at Watches and Wonders earlier this month, demonstrate how modern design codes are changing a genre that has been around for more than a century. Roger Dubuis's Excalibur Grand Complication and Patek Philippe's Ref. 5308G perform similar functions, and both are contemporary expressions of the grand comp, but the similarity ends there.
Patek Philippe Ref. 5308G Quadruple Complication.
Aside from timekeeping, Patek Philippe Ref. 5308G has a minute repeater, a split seconds chronograph and a perpetual calendar. Patek Philippe is famous for all three complications, particularly chronograph/perpetual calendar combinations. The dial architecture of the iconic Patek Philippe chronograph/perpetual calendar was established in 1941 with the famous Ref. 1518, (versions of which now cost seven and eight figures at auction). It stayed much the same right up to its current perpetual calendar/chronograph model, the Ref. 5720, and most examples by other brands followed the traditional layout it established: day and month appear lined up side by side in windows at the top of the dial. Subdials at 9 and 3 provide chronograph hour and minute counters, and the date index surrounds the moonphase at 6.
The Patek Philippe Ref. 1518 set the design code for a perpetual calendar/chronograph.
The 5308G is not that. It modernizes the way we read those functions, with day, date and month set in windows that form an arc at the top of the dial. The chronograph minutes and hour counters occupy the 3 and 9 positions, but in reverse, and with a modern font, and the ice blue dial gives it a pure 2025 vibe. The dial color is the year's strongest trend in luxury watches. The 5308G also has a state-of-the-art movement with several patents, and because it adds a split seconds function to the chronograph, Patek counts that as a fourth complication, referring to it as a Quadruple Complication. It is not limited, but it is expensive, with a price tag (in Swiss francs) of CHF 1,050,000.
Roger Dubuis Excalibur Grande Complication.
The Roger Dubuis is another version of a grand complication that is even more aggressively modern, but also steeped in tradition. The first watch Roger Dubuis produced when he started his brand in 1995 was a a bi-retrograde perpetual calendar, the first time anyone had designed a perpetual calendar that way. The new Roger Dubuis Excalibur Grande Complication revives the signature bi-retrograde display and adds a flying tourbillon and a minute repeater for a full-on high-watchmaking spectacle.
Roger Dubuis Excalibur Grande Complication.
The day appears on the retrograde index at left, and the date unfurls on the right side of the dial, with month on a disk at 12 o'clock and the flying tourbillon taking position at six. The dial is openworked, not just because of the modern aesthetic, but to demonstrate its high-watchmaking finish. It is made to Geneva Seal standards, which means every inch of it is finished and decorated in some way – with brushed surfaces, polished chamfers and something called coin rentrant, which means that inner angles of the bridges are beveled and polished to perfection, a task that takes years of training. Flip the watch over, where the finish is just as perfect, and you can see the gong and hammers of the minute repeater.
Caseback of the Roger Dubuis Excalibur Grande Complication.
Despite these very traditional nuances, the Excalibur Grande Complication has a completely modern look, with its crenelated bezel, triple lugs, skeleton hands and edgy rose gold and black color scheme. It will be made in a limited edition of eight pieces, priced at $691,000.
