Roger Dubuis Shows Technical Prowess With The New Monovortex™ Split-Seconds Chronograph

At Watches and Wonders last year, Richemont group-owned Roger Dubuis showcased its Excalibur Monobalancier and the Knight of the Round Table. The avant-garde collection was made with cleaner lines and the iconic Roger Dubuis star was placed above the barrel. At this year’s Watches and Wonders, being held in Geneva, the luxury timepiece maker has once again shown its technical prowess with an all-new piece, the Monovortex™ Split-Seconds Chronograph.

Known for its Hyper Horology, the brand strikes up an immediate association with some of the finest brands in the world, such as Lamborghini and Pirelli. The new timepiece may not be in any partnership, but it is as mighty as any collab piece. This ground-breaking watch not only controls the forces of gravity, but also highlights the emphatic ingenuity of Roger Dubuis by reinventing both the tourbillon and the oscillating mass, each associated with one of the most complex traditional fine watchmaking complications: the Split-Seconds Chronograph.

The new 47 mm watch is made of hyper-tech MCF (Mineral Composite Fibre), solely developed by the master timepiece maker. This material is 2.5 times lighter than ceramic and 13% lighter than carbon. The pink gold bezel gets a red 60-minute numeral and pink gold numerals on the outer periphery of the dial. The timepiece has a Conical Monovortex™ Tourbillon, positioned at 9 o’clock, with a 360° trajectory, protecting the precision of the watch. Roger Dubuis has placed a power reserve indicator at 6 o’clock with a visible barrel.

 After years of profound research and more than eight months of technical optimisation, the Turborotor Cylindrical Oscillating Weight now sits at 12 o’clock. This component is positioned vertically, so that the entire force of gravity pushes down on the design like a spinning barrel. Moving to 3 o’clock, there is a tripartite hand; 0,3,6,9 on the edge of the dial are fixed and represent the ones place while the 0-1-2, closer to the pink gold indicator, represents the tens place; and 0, 1 and 2 accurately rotate past the 0-9 digits on the right. The watch has a 500 km/hr tachymeter scale in red.

The Monovortex™ Split-Seconds Chronograph is powered by RD114 Calibre. The movement is made using a double column wheel system, enhanced with a Rotating Minute Counter, known as the 120° RMC. The watch gets the spilt second pusher at 2 o’clock in pink gold with red accents. The tachymeter moves from left of the dial to right with the speed difference shown in kilometres. 

Turning the watch over showcases the skeleton caseback revealing the entire complication. The watch comes on a perforated bi-material strap.

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