A Closer Look: Roger Dubuis Excalibur Monotourbillon Dr. Woo Episode III

Just last week, Swiss watch brand Roger Dubuis released its third watch in collaboration with tattoo artist and designer Dr. Woo. The new Roger Dubuis Excalibur Monotourbillon Dr. Woo Episode III is a three-dimensional masterpiece with artistic engravings on everything from the case to the dial and even the movement components. It is the culmination of a distinctive thought process on behalf of both partners, as well as a highly technical mastery of the arts.

The watch represents a journey inside deep space, and the artistic elements of it reflect Dr. Woo’s single-needle style of inking. In fact, Dr. Woo, whose real name is Brian Woo, has made a name for himself in the tattoo art world thanks to his single-needle designs that have attracted celebrity clients like Drake, Miley Cyrus, and Cara Delevingne, among others.

Dr. Woo, though, considers himself a designer more so than a tattoo artist, which is just one faction of his multi-faceted work. He has had design collaborations with brands such as Converse, Sacai and Japanese brand Neighborhood.

In a private interview, he said he enjoys the Roger Dubuis collaboration because it allows him to explore time. “A lot of what I do in my design language has to do with a bit of the unknown mystery. I love space, I love the uncertainty. We know so much about everything, but we don’t know a lot about the beyond and wonderment is something I feel like we lost with so much information and digital assets that we have access to,” explains Dr. Woo. “And for this watch, I feel like we wanted to delve more into the unknown part of space and time, so it has a lot of different dimensions and black holes and it’s a little bit wonkier and more distorted. It is more of an interdimensional idea”

As mentioned, the Roger Dubuis Excalibur Monotourbillon Dr. Woo Episode III is the third in the partnership that witnessed the unveiling of the first watch in 2021 with a philosophical space flight executed on the Excalibur Monotourbillon with symbols that implied time is our most valuable asset. In 2023, they followed up with a ceramic Excalibur Monobalancier featuring a cosmic design of the sun, Earth, and moon, anchored by Woo’s signature spider, rocket, and symbolic language.

Now, these three elements – the spider, rocket and symbols – are once again taking center stage. In typical Dr. Woo style, the look is monochromatic and minimalistic – offering great geometry indicative of pen and ink sketching. Roger Dubuis and Dr. Woo drew inspiration from the Whirlpool Galaxy—a real spiral galaxy, also known as Messier 51a)—that is 31 million light-years away and is known for its dramatic, star-forming arms that were captured by the James Webb Telescope in 2023.

This intriguing cosmic galaxy, which Roger Dubuis internally calls the Tourbillon Galaxy, serves as the creative backdrop for the newest Excalibur Monotourbillon timepiece, whose complex mechanical tourbillon is constantly in motion.

The signature rocket is on the sapphire crystal in pink gold metallized format, along with a “We come in peace” saying etched into the trails of the rocket ship. Woo’s spider, a signature not only in the Roger Dubuis collaboration, but also in his own art, is engraved at 10:00 and filled in with black ink to recall the artist’s style. Then, beneath the surface of the crystal and positioned at 9:00, are three metallic nebulas or clouds of dust. Nestled neatly between 10:00 and 11:00 is a spiral-shaped laser-engraved object intended to represent a black hole.

The caseback of the watch also reveals the same black hole, filled in with black ink and surrounded by a spiraling checkerboard motif. The objective: to combine the concepts of warped time and deep space. Surrounding the center motif on the case back are the words: “Let’s work together to uncover the mysteries of the cosmos and unlock the secrets of the universe. To whoever finds this message, know that we are seekers of knowledge and explorers of the unknown.”

The 42mm Roger Dubuis Excalibur Monotourbillon Dr. Woo Episode III watch is crafted in 18-karat pink gold and titanium. It boasts a bi-color bracelet whose center links are engraved with Dr. Woo’s mystery symbols.

Beating within the watch is the in-house-made mechanical RD515 caliber with flying tourbillon escapement (that compensates for errors in timekeeping due to the effects of gravity on the wrist). The lower cage of the tourbillon at 7:00 on the dial is crafted in titanium, while the bridge is shaped with three arms to recall the spiral inspired by the Tourbillon Galaxy. The movement consists of 193 individually hand finished and assembled parts and carries the Poinçon de Geneve (Seal of Geneva) Hallmark—attesting to its meticulous haute horology craftsmanship.

The Roger Dubuis Excalibur Monotourbillon Dr. Woo Episode III is being made in a limited edition of just 28 pieces and retails for $180,000.

“Time is the one asset you can never get enough of, and it’s the only thing you can’t put a value on,” says Dr. Woo. “For me, balancing family and the creative lifestyle and more, time is definitely about distorted moments. My mind and body doesn’t run on a singular path of time, so in some ways you so into a sort of hyper-transported dimension. It’s really cool, and it’s what we are trying to express.”

As to the art of tattooing — just one medium in his stable, Dr. Woo says his job is to interpret moments in time for the customer.

“The challenge, I think when it comes to tattooing, is actually the collaboration. I am lifting up an idea and fleshing out a concept for somebody else to make them happy. The flavoring and the spices and the recipe are mine, but the dish is theirs.

Some watch enthusiasts will get a tattoo based on their watch or the movements. But there have been people who are more interested in marking time, in interpreting so many milestones. With tattooing the idea is to symbolize a moment in time. In life, when you look back at time, it’s so much shorter than the experience that it took to get there. The way to map those out to tell the story has been interesting and challenging.”

(Portions of this article by Roberta Naas first appeared in slightly different format on Forbes.com.)