Roger Dubuis Carves Merlin Into the Case Flank of the Knights of the Round Table Metamorph

You might maybe know Roger Dubuis for other things, but the only thing I keep track of is how many Knights of the Round Table watches they can put out. And, it's a lot. Dozens. Love to see that there are enough filthy rich people out there to buy things like this. This latest one, the Metamorph, is part of a three-watch run devoted to Merlin, after the Omniscient and the Enchanter. This is all a bit silly, but in a good way. The theme of this watch is shapeshifting: in the legend Merlin turns himself into a white stag, and it moves the themes from the dial to the engraved case as well.

The case is 18k pink gold, 45mm wide and 16.87mm thick, and much of that height comes from a sapphire ring set under the notched bezel so you can see the knights from the side. The right flank has a recessed panel engraved by hand in low relief, showing Merlin as a man and as the stag. The left flank gets more knights, the middle one killing a dragon. The crown is shaped like a sword hilt. Water resistance is 30 meters, but come on.

The dial is a green forest built from 57 hexagonal columns of different heights, mixing polished pink gold, clear glass and glass tinted by CVD, with green Crystalium inlays as the floor. It's busy. And very green. But it's all about the knights. Each is sculpted by hand in pink gold, 6mm tall, carrying its own weapon, with Arthur at 12 o'clock holding Excalibur. The pink gold hands are skeletonized and filled with green Super-LumiNova, paired with gold markers on the outer ring.

Inside is the in-house calibre RD821, an automatic running at 4Hz with 48 hours of power reserve and the Poinçon de Genève hallmark. Through the caseback you get a skeletonized gold rotor patterned after stained glass, which suits the theme. It comes on a green calfskin strap with a pink gold triple-folding clasp and quick-release bars.

The Roger Dubuis Knights of the Round Table Metamorph is limited to 28 pieces. Price is on request, but previous non-engraved versions went for something close to $400,000. Don't expect this one to be cheaper. See more on the Roger Dubuis website.