Royal Joaan Bin Hamad Al Thani spotted wearing a Roger Dubuis

Sheikh Joaan Bin Hamad Al Thani, one of the most prominent figures in global sports governance and Qatari royal affairs, was recently spotted wearing a Roger Dubuis Excalibur Skeleton Flying Tourbillon reference RD509SQ — a watch that represents a genuine engineering milestone for the Geneva manufacture rather than simply an aesthetic exercise in skeletonisation.

The RD509SQ is historically significant as the first Roger Dubuis creation to commit entirely to carbon construction across three distinct components: the 45mm round case, the movement architecture, and the integrated bracelet. The multi-layer carbon composite used is not a surface treatment or a decorative insert — it is structural throughout, resulting in a watch of considerable visual presence that paradoxically disappears on the wrist. The manually wound in-house calibre RD509SQ delivers approximately 60 hours of power reserve and operates at 21,600 vph. Its flying tourbillon — meaning the tourbillon cage rotates without an upper bridge obscuring the view — is positioned at 6 o'clock and is fully skeletonised, leaving the carbon-bridged movement architecture entirely exposed through both dial and caseback. Critically, the movement carries the Poinçon de Genève hallmark, a quality certification that demands 100% manufacture in the Canton of Geneva and imposes strict finishing standards on every component.

From a collector standpoint, the RD509SQ occupies a specific niche: it is not a quiet, understated piece, but its technical credentials are entirely legitimate. Roger Dubuis produces in deliberately limited numbers, and the all-carbon Excalibur tourbillon sits at the apex of the catalogue. The combination of a Geneva Seal, a flying tourbillon, and coherent monolithic carbon construction in a single reference is genuinely rare at any price point.

Sheikh Joaan's profile as an internationally active sports diplomat — he chairs the Olympic Committee and is deeply embedded in global athletics governance — places him consistently in high-visibility contexts where watch choices register. The RD509SQ, with its commanding 45mm footprint and matte carbon texture, reads clearly even at distance.

At retail, the Excalibur Skeleton Flying Tourbillon RD509SQ commands a price well into six figures, reflecting both the manufacturing complexity of the all-carbon calibre and the limited production volumes Roger Dubuis maintains. On the secondary market, values have remained firm, supported by the watch's unambiguous technical positioning and the enduring appeal of Geneva-sealed tourbillons among serious collectors in the Gulf and Asia.