Roger Dubuis unveiled the Roger Dubuis Excalibur 42 Automatic Skeleton watch collection last year that added a micro-rotor based automatic movement. I wouldn’t go so far as to suggest that these skeletonized Roger Dubuis Excalibur watches are now “affordable,” but the core experience in a very wearable and attractive package is now available at a price that is a lot easier to stomach.

The luxury watch industry is not by default concerned with making timepieces that you actually want to wear. Of course, there are dozen and dozens of beautiful and extremely comfortable timepieces out there, but you should not assume that a watch has necessarily been designed with ergonomics and comfort in mind. Recall that watch brands are selling luxury objects, first and foremost, and often times consider things like legibility, wearability, and overall comfort almost as an afterthought. I don’t say this to suggest that Roger Dubuis is a frequent culprit of these practices, but rather that avant-garde and showy watches like the Excalibur collection can often fit into these “nice to look at, but ultimately not wearable” categories. At 42mm wide, the Roger Dubuis Excalibur 42 Skeleton Automatic already feels much more comfortable than many of the collection’s larger members that come in 45mm-wide cases. That size is, for example, what you’d find on your wrist if you bought an Excalibur with a double tourbillon. Even those aren’t unwearable, but at 42mm wide, the Excalibur doesn’t actually wear small, but rather has a very “grand appearance” on the wrist.

In black-coated titanium, I also got the impression that this is a very stylistically diverse “showy” watch. The monochromatic color palette lends itself well to a variety outfits, and for the most part, this Roger Dubuis Excalibur 42 Automatic Skeleton is probably the most versatile watch of its type that Roger Dubuis has produced. That is even in comparison to the carbon or gold versions of the same watch.

The wider lugs and thin bezel help the watch feel its largest, while on the wrist it is even thin enough to fit under sleeves. For this model, Roger Dubuis has opted for a totally matte finishing over the entirety of the black DLC-coated titanium surface, while “shininess” comes in on the movement itself. Finishing up with the case, it is water resistant to 30 meters, and has a proprietary strap connection system for the nicely made and tapering black alligator strap. The strap is connected to a matching black DLC-coated titanium folding deployant. I will end by saying that the case and strap together make for a very lightweight timepiece whose lack of mass aides in the comfortable wearing experience.The reason anyone will get the Roger Dubuis Excalibur 42 Automatic Skeleton watch is because of the movement. Here, Roger Dubuis is at their best, and the name of the in-house movement in this watch is the caliber RD820SQ. The RD820SQ bears the prestigious Seal of Geneva – which is not only an indicator of its manufacture in the canton of Geneva, but also one of aesthetic and performance quality. Roger Dubuis claims that each caliber RD820SQ requires about 530 hours of manufacturing with 170 of those hours being dedicated to areas relevant to satisfying the requirements for the movement to bear the Seal of Geneva.

The RD820SQ is made up of 167 parts and offers just the hours and minutes with the self-winding automatic rotor. Thoroughly skeletonized and open for the eye to view, this type of mechanism is perfect for those people who want to understand how basic mechanical movements work. One of my favorite things to do with the watch is simply hand-winding it because you see exactly how that action winds the mainspring barrel. Even the barrel itself is skeletonized so you can see the spring slowly tightening as you winding it up.While hand-winding the watch, you can see the transfer of power from the keyless winding system to the gears which include the detachable transmission from the automatic winding system. These gears then transmit power to a gear that directly winds the mainspring. You can then see how power from the spring is released to the regulation system which then doles out small yet consistent amounts of power to the great train that moves the hands. It is all quite simple but wonderfully visible on either side of the skeletonized movement through the pieces of sapphire crystal.

Roger Dubuis ensures proper visibility via use of effective amounts of antireflective (AR) coating on the sapphire crystal as well as finishing on the movement which is attractive but that does not cause glare. The deep gray finishing exists over traditional forms of decorating such as perlage and beveled edging. You also see the iconic “star bridge” design over mostly the mainspring barrel assembly. Even the automatic micro-rotor has some skeletonization to it.

One thing that you should be aware of is that, given the relative lack of metal between the movement and the user, you can hear a lot of what is coming from the movement. Some people like sounds from a movement, and others do not. Wind the movement, and you’ll hear a “whine” coming from the gears. Move the watch around, and you’ll hear the rotor moving about. Of course, you will also hear the rapid ticking from the escapement if the watch is close enough to your ear.The RD820SQ movement also operates at a modern 4Hz (28,800 bph) and has 60 hours of power reserve. I sort of miss having a running seconds hand, but I wouldn’t call it a deal-breaker. Roger Dubuis actually has a special customization department whereby customers can have some of the skeletonization and bridge work custom-made with their initials or other imagery. This might be reserved only for their more high-end products such as tourbillons, but I believe if you really want it, they could do some bespoke work on the movement of the Roger Dubuis Excalibur 42 Automatic Skeleton as well.

Around the periphery of the open area to view the movement is a traditional ring of applied hour markers along with printed minute markers. This is combined with properly sized hands whose design I happen to like quite a bit. Dauphine in shape, the hands are slightly skeletonized themselves and also contrast-finished with polishing on one side and satin-finishing on the other. This makes them look cool, and also enhances legibility to a large degree.

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