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Roger dubuis double tourbillon by JBF review

Dr Fun Socks

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So you must of heard of the age old question, whats better than a tourbillon?



Well its obvious if you think about it:



Two tourbillons!




So here it is, the big dog! Officially the most expensive rep on the market at the time of review. I know jbf are working on a triple axis tourbillon, which obviously im going to have to get because i have a problem, but im hoping (preying) that its either cheaper than this one or my lottery numbers, that i dont actually play, come in.



Im not going to go into the brands history, that’s available in my review of the bbr single tourbillon found here:




https://forum.replica-watch.info/fo...ubuis-excalibur-tourbillon-by-bbr-full-review




Admittedly, this review wont be as thorough in comparison with the gen, mainly because its bloody hard to find pictures of the gen! Its a rare bird, and unsurprisingly people who can afford a £250k watch don’t feel the need to post pictures of it on their instagram everyday.




So instead, all i can offer is many pictures of mine. Big thanks goes out to dadog13, without him I wouldn’t have the watch. I know his is in the post and he is also very excited to get it, i just happen to live closer to the guy we got them from :) enough waffle, down to the good stuff.




The gen:



The roger dubuis RDDBEX0250. Yeah the one in the picture is gold and has a different reference number, but im trying to save the few pictures of the white gold/white dial combo for a slight bit of comparison!




The rep(s)

So there are actually two factories producing the watch at the moment. JBF and BBR. I really like BBR’s watches as you probably guessed from my previous review. But the fly in the ointment here was the tourbillon positions. They just look a tiny bit low (too much dial at the top of the tourbillon cages). Yeah i know its super anal but i made a comparison picture, and both myself and dadog13 agreed JBF was the way to go. The fact it was also cheaper, well thats just icing on the cake. They’re both wrong at the end of the day, your not getting a super rep of this watch. Just pick the one you like most and enjoy it!









Neither of the factories have a working retrograde minute function like the gen. Apparently this is the reason a lot of people weren’t rushing out to swap their family car for a fake watch. Id hazard a guess that the price is more of an issue but what do i know! I would also like to say i did not pay $5000 for a rep. Is it worth $5000? Thats your call!




So thats the bad point out of the way onto the good stuff! Gen pics are on top, incase you couldn’t tell...




The dial

Not a lot to complain about here. The engravings are all nice and tidy, printing is good and all preset. Only noticeable difference i can see, and it took me a while to notice, is that the two sets of squares at 3 and 9 line up on the gen, but are slightly offset on the rep. Slight sunburst is there, hard to capture but its definitely there.


















The case




I mean its pretty close! Im not smoke and i have no idea if the cg’s are correct, but it looks good to me. The shape of the bezel teeth appears slightly off but it really doesn’t matter. Its well polished in all the right places, and brushed in the rest.








Case back




Deco plates are crap, we all know it. Still slightly more interesting to look at than the back of an asian tourbillon movement. I havent taken this one apart but i have taken an ap tourby apart, see below. Its got decoration, a fake pr indicator, not a lot else to say. If anyone says the fake pr is a deal breaker, we’re going to have disagree on that bs....



Stop complaining about deco plates, ive seen prison cells that are more visually appealing than this!








The strap




Its kind of thick which im hoping is adding to the stiffness, because with the state of the world at the movement, im not going to be able to get a custom strap made any time soon. It does the job though, its a decent length (adjustable from 7-7.5” give or take). Definitely not as nice as the bbr strap which i love and probably wont change, but its wearable for now. Ill give it a few days wrapped around a cushion to soften up and report back.








The clasp




Its a very nice clasp! Works well with the watch, nice and secure when it shuts. Still prefer the style of the bbr single tourby one, but i have no idea what the gen for this watch looks like. Its well finished and it stops the watch from falling off. What more do you need!












The tourbillons!




Finally, you’ve read all the crap above this, time for the good stuff! A word of warning, when i got the watch this morning and wound it up, only one tourby sprang to life... you have to give the watch a little rotation to make the other one jump into play. Is this the case with all double tourbys? No idea. I only own this one and i don’t know anyone else with one! Regardless the both work, and if you particularly wanted to you could go about aligning the two tourbillon arrows using some good timing. One of my only requirements from qc was that the arrow in the cage lined up with the screw on the cage. 7 watches later we just gave up and accepted the watches with them slightly out of line. Is it as noticeable in real life as it is at 21x zoom? Or course not. But I’ll probably get them lined up when i get the watch serviced. The actual balance wheels on the rep are slightly larger than on the gen, i actually prefer that slightly. Hard to put into words why but it just looks cool! Yeah the part that frames the cage isnt quite as nice as gen, and the finishing is no where near a £250k watch, but guess what, its not £250k! No macros of the gen sorry :(


















Overall




Its not for everyone, thats for sure. There are a number of factors that will stop people wanting to get one. But im telling you now, one watch nerd to another, if you do get one, you will not regret it! As with most roger dubuis watches, it wears a lot smaller than the dimensions sound on paper, 47mmx14mm!




Heres a bit more watch porn just to round out the review :)











 

Breitluc

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Dr Fun Socks

Amazing review bud! What a lovely watch (and car).

If JBF releases that triple axis tourbillon I will definitely get one. #watchporn How did you get this information tho?
 
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jm_brc_7057

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Thanks for the review mate! It's really appreciated that you took the time to do it. So often many of us buy a watch, enjoy it, and "forget" to give back to the community. This is so rare and special, that if you didn't do the review, possibly nobody would've.

What a lovely collection of RD's you have btw. I'm not into RD. And also as you said - it's pretty expensive, which is understandable given the double tourbillons.
 
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Dr Fun Socks

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Amazing review bud! What a lovely watch (and car).

If JBF releases that triple axis tourbillon I will definitely get one. #watchporn How did you get this informatie tho?

dadog13 aka the oracle told me about the triple axis tourbillon. Also, totally not my car haha! Im just lucky to do a few jobs in places with cars like that! If i could afford a koenigsegg i would also be able to afford the gen of this watch :)
 
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jm_brc_7057

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dadog13 aka the oracle told me about the triple axis tourbillon. Also, totally not my car haha! Im just lucky to do a few jobs in places with cars like that! If i could afford a koenigsegg i would also be able to afford the gen of this watch :)

Mate, do you know which brand/watch are they making the triple axis tourbillon?
 

Glaude

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Very nice review ! Thanks for taking the time !

What would be the cherry on top is a little short video of the double tourby working .... :)
 
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Dr Fun Socks

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Thanks for the review mate! It's really appreciated that you took the time to do it. So often many of us buy a watch, enjoy it, and "forget" to give back to the community. This is so rare and special, that if you didn't do the review, possibly nobody would've.

What a lovely collection of RD's you have btw. I'm not into RD. And also as you said - it's pretty expensive, which is understandable given the double tourbillons.

Glad you enjoyed it mate! I also appreciate the time and effort put into your reviews, they are a great read! As you say, its nice to give something back to the community, especially with the rare watches not too many members will own. Submariner reviews (or at least a couple of pics) are a dime a dozen. Its the reps that push the horological boundaries that interest me :)
 
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NF1965

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Nice review and nice watch buddy. Enjoy it I know you have been really waiting for this.
Please keep us informed on the “triple axis tourbie “ as I for one will have to get one.
Cheers
N
 

jm_brc_7057

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Glad you enjoyed it mate! I also appreciate the time and effort put into your reviews, they are a great read! As you say, its nice to give something back to the community, especially with the rare watches not too many members will own. Submariner reviews (or at least a couple of pics) are a dime a dozen. Its the reps that push the horological boundaries that interest me :)

Yeah and this one really does. What brand/watch will the triple axis be?
 

dadog13

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Dr Fun Socks thank you for the extensive review, just what I needed while waiting for mine to arrive. I will try to find some photos of the gen that I have saved on my computer and send it over to you. Maybe it will help you to extend furthermore the comparison with the rep which, as you mention in your review, is not that important at all.

Enjoy your new watch!
 

Dr Fun Socks

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Yeah and this one really does. What brand/watch will the triple axis be?

I have no idea yet mate. If i hear anything ill let you know! Very excited to see what it is. As long as it isnt that jacob & co twin turbo furious crap ill get it :)
 
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Dr Fun Socks

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Dr Fun Socks thank you for the extensive review, just what I needed while waiting for mine to arrive. I will try to find some photos of the gen that I have saved on my computer and send it over to you. Maybe it will help you to extend furthermore the comparison with the rep which, as you mention in your review, is not that important at all.

Enjoy your new watch!

Mate if you’ve got the pics send them over and ill fire up the light box!
 

jm_brc_7057

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I have no idea yet mate. If i hear anything ill let you know! Very excited to see what it is. As long as it isnt that jacob & co twin turbo furious crap ill get it :)

Thanks mate! Yeah maybe it is a JLC gyrotourbillon type of watch. That's maybe more likely. I don't know :D just guessing hehe.

I can understand why you paid so much for this watch, it really pushes the technical boundaries of reps. I would be willing to pay this kind of money for a functional minute repeater.
 
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THXuk

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great write up, thanks for the detail.

I keep debating about the new version of the Excaliber 42mm that recently came out. I just want to handle one in person before deciding, but options limited, even in London, well now anyways...
 
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Dr Fun Socks

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Thanks mate! Yeah maybe it is a JLC gyrotourbillon type of watch. That's maybe more likely. I don't know :D just guessing hehe.

I can understand why you paid so much for this watch, it really pushes the technical boundaries of reps. I would be willing to pay this kind of money for a functional minute repeater.

For the record, i didnt even pay half of the rrp. Im not rich haha! I just appreciate horology. For the price i paid, im very pleased with it!

Yeah its got to be something along those lines, there arent that many people making 3 axis tourbillons. Maybe a grubel forsey? I know a lot of brands use funky shaped crystals to fit the sphere in so that will be another challenge.
 
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Dr Fun Socks

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great write up, thanks for the detail.

I keep debating about the new version of the Excaliber 42mm that recently came out. I just want to handle one in person before deciding, but options limited, even in London, well now anyways...

Just get it mate you wont regret it. There are two roger dubuis ad’s in london, id say your spoilt for choice once they re open.... you can come and see mine if your worried about going to the ad but they’re really nice and friendly there, especially bond street.
 
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Tig990

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Beautiful! Thanks for the review. Who are you getting it serviced by? I was under impression one of the issues with a tourbillon rep is that you can't realistically get it serviced due to the complexity of the movement.
 

Dr Fun Socks

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Beautiful! Thanks for the review. Who are you getting it serviced by? I was under impression one of the issues with a tourbillon rep is that you can't realistically get it serviced due to the complexity of the movement.

Glad you liked it mate! Ive got a rep friendly watch smith in the uk, i don’t want to go posting his details on the web but pm me if you want and ill send his number.
 

Tig990

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That's brilliant, unfortunately I'm state-side, but it's good to know that there are watchsmiths in existence that would be able to service a replica with a tourbillon movement