Roger Dubuis has been building Arthurian legend into its Knights of the Round Table collection since 2013, but Excalibur The Metamorph Merlin may be one of its most convincing pieces of storytelling yet. The third and final watch in the current Merlin trilogy moves beyond the wizard’s omniscience and sorcery to his power of transformation, with the white stag at the centre of the story.
There is a wonderfully obscure medieval precedent for that choice. In the prose Lancelot-Grail tradition, Merlin appears before Julius Caesar in the guise of a stag before changing again into a wild man. The British Library’s French manuscript Add MS 10292, dated 1316, actually illustrates the episode on folio 160v. So the stag in this timepiece fits perfectly, as a precise retrieval from the stranger edges of Merlin literature.
Beyond the sculptural dial of the Excalibur The Metamorph Merlin, the 16.87mm pink-gold case is water-resistant to 3 bar; the RD821 runs on 33 jewels beneath the open caseback; the calfskin strap and triple-folding buckle are interchangeable via Roger Dubuis’ Quick Release System.
The dial turns the idea into architecture. Fifty-seven individually worked blocks using glass, pink gold, green CVD coatings and Crystalium rise at different heights beneath the sapphire crystal, suggesting the density and broken light of a forest floor. Around them stand 12 six-millimetre pink-gold knights, individually finished and given their own stance. Their circular arrangement has its own historical resonance. When Wace first introduced the Round Table to Arthurian literature in the Roman de Brut of 1155, its purpose was surprisingly practical: Arthur’s barons disputed precedence, so the circular table removed the highest seat. Roger Dubuis’ knights, each occupying an equal position around the dial, return neatly to that original concept.
The hand-engraved pink-gold case carries the Arthurian narrative beyond the dial for the first time: Merlin appears both as the white stag and as the scholar with his book, while five knights occupy the opposite flank. Completing the engraving of a single case takes around six weeks.
The métiers d’art continue onto the 45mm pink-gold case, hand-engraved for the first time in the collection. Merlin appears with a book and again as the stag, while five knights occupy the opposite side. Completing the engraving for a single watch takes around six weeks. Sword-shaped crown guards reference Excalibur, while the green crown draws the eye back into the forest.
Inside is the automatic RD821: 172 components, a 4Hz frequency and 48-hour power reserve. Fourteen finishing techniques contribute to its Poinçon de Genève certification, while the 360-degree oscillating weight takes its cue from medieval stained glass.
Only 28 pieces will be made. The result feels unusually coherent for such an elaborate object. From prophet to wild man to white stag, Merlin was defined by transformation. Here, Roger Dubuis turns that shifting identity into the watch itself.
Author: Julia Pasarón
If you like this watch, you may be interested in discovering the Roger Dubuis Excalibur Moonlight, released only a few months ago.
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