Chef Nobu Matsuhisa spotted wearing a Roger Dubuis

Nobu Matsuhisa, the celebrated chef and restaurateur whose Nobu brand spans over 50 locations worldwide, was photographed wearing a Roger Dubuis Excalibur Spider Pirelli in black DLC titanium — a watch that matches his reputation for bold, boundary-crossing creativity. The sighting, captured during what appears to be a Nobu Malibu event, shows Matsuhisa proudly displaying the timepiece, its red and black color scheme unmistakable even at a glance.

The Roger Dubuis Excalibur Spider Pirelli is the product of a deep partnership between the Geneva manufacture and Pirelli, the legendary Italian tire company. The case is crafted from titanium with a black DLC (Diamond-Like Carbon) treatment, providing exceptional scratch resistance and a matte industrial aesthetic. Red rubber inlays — sourced directly from Pirelli's motorsport-grade material — are integrated into the case flanks and strap, giving the watch its unmistakable racing DNA. The skeletonized dial is essentially absent: what you see is the full architecture of the in-house RD505SQ caliber, a manually wound, flying tourbillon movement decorated to Poinçon de Genève standards and visible from both sides.

From a collector standpoint, the Excalibur Spider Pirelli occupies a singular niche. Roger Dubuis produces the Excalibur Spider family in very limited numbers, and the Pirelli editions — with their authentic motorsport rubber and branded co-engineering — carry particular desirability among watch collectors who also follow Formula 1 and endurance racing. The transparency of the movement, combined with the aggressive DLC case geometry, makes this one of the most visually dramatic skeleton watches produced in the sub-$100,000 tier.

Nobu Matsuhisa is no stranger to precision craftsmanship. As the architect of Nobu cuisine — a fusion of Japanese technique and Peruvian ingredients that redefined contemporary fine dining — he has built a global empire grounded in meticulous attention to detail. It is fitting that he gravitates toward a watch brand that similarly refuses compromise, built on an entirely in-house manufacture philosophy unusual even among high-end Swiss independents.

At a retail price of $75,000, the Roger Dubuis Excalibur Spider Pirelli sits at the entry point of serious complication collecting. On the grey market, strong demand from sports-luxury crossover collectors keeps values relatively firm, with pre-owned examples trading close to or at retail depending on condition and box-and-papers status.