Dominique Renaud established yet another brand and releases his first watch – the Pulse60, with a movement beating at a slow 1 Hertz.
Commentary with Press Release information.
Commentary on the new Dominique Renaud Pulse60
The Dominique Renaud Pulse60 retails at CHF 49,000 in titanium and CHF 59,000 in pink gold and titanium. Prices are before taxes.
Commentary
Interesting new release from Dominique Renaud. The Pulse60 features a very slow beat movement – only 7200 bph, or 1 Hz. The idea for this slow beat is that this drastically reduced number of impulses translates to a lower shock to the escapement. Thus impulsing the balance only 7200 times an hour, the balance is unperturbed less than a higher beat movement, where the impulse is delivered say 28,800 times an hour, each impulse delivering a shock and disturbance to natural rhythm of the balance wheel.
But this is not a new concept. In 2013, I wrote about Martin Braun and his Antoine Martin Slowrunner. Basically almost exactly the same idea. But Martin’s balance is even larger, the AM36.001’s balance with its blue silicon balance spring is a whopping 24mm. As a comparison, the ubiquitous ETA 2892 measures 25,6 mm in diameter for the whole movement. The Pulse60 uses a 20mm balance wheel. AM36.001 movement. The humongous 24mm balance wheel and blue silicium balance spring beating at precisely 1Hz, i.e. one full beat per second. As this coincides with the natural rhythm of a regular person’s heart beat of 60 bpm, it has a strangely calming.
The Pulse60 is the same, but totally different aesthetic approach to the movement as well as the dial. The Slowrunner has the giant escape wheel displayed at the case back.
The Pulse60 is a rather more conventional cutout to reveal a large portion of the wheel. But the use of sub-dials for the hour and minutes is the same on both designs. But the Pulse60 utilises a very large amplitude for the balance wheel, greater than 360° by using a special design for the escapement.
The Slowrunner is notoriously poor in its timekeeping capabilities. The watch is only able to manage a chronometry in the order of minutes a day. Dominique Renaud does not reveal the chronometry of the Pulse60, and this is definitely something I will be asking him when we meet next.
Aesthetically, the Pulse60 will have its fans. It looks very futuristic. The design obsoletes the bezel, and makes the domed crystal disappearing into the case middle. And the lugs too, emerge from the case, making the entire watch feel like and also look like a monoblock. This styling is mildly reminiscent of recent Greubel Forsey (alumni from Renaud et Papi, where Dominque Renaud was one of the two principals) releases, like the Convexe S2 Balancier.
BTW. In 2010, the Gronefeld brothers (also Renaud et Papi alumni) introduced their One Hertz. But it is merely a seconde morte design, with a conventional balance beating at 3Hz (21,600 bph).
Release information
Key takeaways
- The haute horlogerie brand Dominique Renaud is launched, presented in preview at the Time To Watches fair in Geneva (April 14–19, 2026).
- In April 2026, the Dominique Renaud brand unveils the Pulse60, a name that evokes 60 beats or oscillations per minute. The Pulse60 inaugurates a new Dominique Renaud movement built around a radical approach to low frequency.
- The Pulse60 also features a large 20 mm high-inertia balance wheel, ensuring exceptional stability. Dominique Renaud has also rethought the regulating organ to allow amplitude greater than 360° without knocking, opening up an unprecedented adjustment zone and improving static rate stability.
- The design of the Pulse60 showcases these innovations through a continuous, fluid aesthetic. An opening on the dial side reveals the large balance wheel, while the streamlined caseback highlights the unprecedented architecture of the escapement.
- The Pulse60 will be available from April 2026 through all authorized retailers, priced at CHF 49,000 excluding taxes in Titanium and CHF 59,000 excluding taxes in Pink Gold and Titanium.
- Haute Horlogerie Dominique Renaud (HHDR) is born. After several years of development, this independent structure is now unveiling itself and establishing itself as a new structuring player in contemporary haute horlogerie, capable of sustainably bringing forth brands and disruptive projects.
- HHDR is inspired by the pioneering drive of Dominique Renaud, an emblematic figure of modern watchmaking. It embodies a unique method, signature and vision.
- HHDR also announces the installation of its teams and operations in a founding
- location in Tolochenaz, at the heart of the Swiss watchmaking arc.
Dominique Renaud, disruption through evidence
“Form ever follows function.”
Louis Sullivan, The Tall Oaice Building Artistically Considered (1896).
A new brand
The Dominique Renaud brand, unveiled in April 2026, is the second expression of HHDR. “Through this watchmaking signature, Dominique Renaud now presents the most accomplished version of his work as an inventor and designer.” (Michel Nieto, CEO of HHDR)
Dominique Renaud here expresses a powerful watchmaking principle that determines the form—disruptive and minimalist. The formal clarity and sense of purity make a Dominique Renaud watch feel self-evident. The watchmaking language deployed here could only be expressed within a new kind of envelope. “A Dominique Renaud can be recognized from afar: its architecture and the unique spectacle of its display illustrate a truly distinctive watchmaking stance.” (Michel Nieto)
With each new creation, the Dominique Renaud brand will lay claim to this exploratory watchmaking that transcends established codes and privileges the total coherence of function determining form.
The expression of a singular figure
Historical legitimacy: Dominique Renaud is the legendary designer behind dozens of prestigious complications created for illustrious maisons. He was a pioneering movement specialist who developed complications for major houses. He became a key figure in the industry through the mythical Renaud Papi manufacture, later sold to Audemars Piguet. Collective spirit: Dominique Renaud never designs alone. He shares, listens, tests, challenges, and co-builds. Like any great watchmaker, Dominique Renaud cultivates a collaborative, experimental and humble approach to his craft.
Watchmaking inventor: Dominique Renaud is a watchmaking inventor who looks to the world for inspiration. Nature and the mountains are an essential source of creativity for him. Like any inventor, he prepares a future that he alone can see. That is what makes him fundamentally nonconformist. Dominique Renaud rethinks, questions and reinvents the very foundations of movement. “Dominique Renaud’s creations will continue to pave the way for a new approach to watchmaking excellence.” (Michel Nieto)
The Pulse60
Features
At the heart of the Pulse60 is a completely new movement, the Dominique Renaud BUA2024 — for Balancier Ultra Amplitude with a development that started in 2024.
Exploring the extremes of frequency
“By exploring the extreme regimes of watchmaking, I sought to show that it is possible to move beyond standards, and even rethink the balance-escapement interaction.” (Dominique Renaud)
Dominique Renaud is known for having pushed the limits of the regulating organ, notably with a very high-frequency, low-amplitude balance: 12 Hz for just 30 degrees, whereas the industry average lies between 2.5 Hz and 5 Hz. This radical approach already illustrated his spirit as an explorer and inventor. That experience forms the basis of Dominique Renaud’s current reflection: understanding through practice what frequency truly changes in the behavior of a movement.
“One way of solving watchmaking challenges is to tackle a problem through its exact opposite.” (Dominique Renaud)
Rather than continuing to explore high frequency, he became interested in the benefits of the lowest one possible in contemporary mechanical watchmaking: 1 Hz. Here, the balance oscillates only once per second—60 beats per minute, equivalent to the resting frequency of a human heart. Where high frequency sought precision through multiplying events, low frequency seeks accuracy through mastering rhythm.
By bringing watchmaking frequency back to that of living beings, Dominique Renaud goes beyond a technical choice: he reconnects watchmaking with our humanity, introducing a notion of time that is embodied rather than abstract.
This bold low-frequency approach drastically reduces the number of impulses and shocks in the escapement over a given period, thereby limiting the disturbances that pollute the natural motion of the balance. The second becomes a structuring unit of time, paced by the balance’s single to-and-fro motion, around which the entire movement is organized.
A large balance wheel to master the second
To fully harness this low frequency, the movement relies on a very large 20 mm balance wheel with high inertia, in the spirit of the massive balances found in marine chronometers. Once in motion, this balance tends to maintain its movement and resists variations in torque or minor shocks far better. Its significant moment of inertia acts as a mechanical “buaer”: small disturbances represent only a tiny fraction of the total energy stored in the oscillation, so their influence on the rate becomes negligible.
Like a tightrope walker
This balance can be compared to a tightrope walker crossing a wire: the longer the pole, the more stable the center of gravity becomes and the less the disturbances throw it off balance. With a short pole, each disturbance would have a much greater impact and would force the balance to correct its position constantly. This large balance acts like a long mechanical pole, stabilizing the rate over the second: it absorbs small variations, smooths out irregularities, and turns each tick-tock into a slow, broad, controlled beat.
Ultra-amplitude: far from the limiter
In most conventional movements, the geometry of the balance, roller and impulse pin imposes a strict amplitude limit; beyond a certain angle, “knocking” occurs, when the balance swings too far and strikes the back of the pallet fork, causing the watch to gain time.
Dominique Renaud has therefore completely rethought the construction of this ensemble so as to allow amplitude greater than 360° without knocking, whereas a traditional coaxial architecture is mechanically constrained well below that threshold. This newfound freedom in the design of the regulating organ opens an amplitude range previously unexploited in a wristwatch.
“Imagine a movement as a car engine: the Pulse60 would be an engine whose operating range lies far from the redline.” Dominique Renaud
This can be illustrated by the metaphor of an engine. A traditional movement functions like a limited engine whose normal operating range already lies close to the red zone: at the slightest increase in load, the engine hits its limiter—the watchmaking equivalent of knocking.
With a theoretical maximum amplitude of around 700 degrees, the Pulse60 functions like a better-protected engine whose operating range lies far from the redline. Even when available energy is at its maximum or in the event of disturbances, the amplitude remains within a safe zone, thereby protecting rate regularity.
A vision of the ideal oscillator
This large amplitude is not merely a geometric feat; it directly aaects the way the balance is regulated. By increasing the freedom of the oscillation, the balance remains free for longer and over a greater distance before and after the impulse. Within this expanded interval, its motion is governed more by its own dynamic laws than by interactions with the escapement. The relative influence of each impulse therefore decreases, helping to make the rate more stable and less sensitive to micro-variations.
As a result, the number of disturbances experienced by the balance is reduced to a minimum. The resulting static rate stability is remarkable, with each position benefiting from more controlled behavior. This stability makes it possible to optimize the simulated average rate by having a better positional stability of the watch.
Aesthetics
The Pulse60 had to make such innovations visually crystal clear, and pay tribute to this mechanical exploration.
The case is inspired by a search for continuity and the absence of edges: a domed crystal, the disappearance of the bezel and the absence of lugs all facilitate a borderless integration with the strap. Its construction is composed of three parts, with a central container and sections integrated into each side of the strap, once again underscoring true mechanical ingenuity.
At launch, the watch comes in 2 versions and 3 colorways: titanium, or a bi-material pink gold and titanium version. The grey or black dials of the titanium version feature a opaline base with diamond-cut openings, while the bi-material version presents a guilloché dial that interprets a traditional technique in a modern way. The case features a circular satin-brushed top evoking pieces from the 1970s, a period dear to Dominique Renaud, as well as polished flanks that create a sharply contrasting profile.
The integrated strap, developed specifically for the Pulse60, is secured by an interchangeable system that is both invisible and easy to use.
The Pulse60 display includes an hour/minute dial at 12 o’clock, a seconds counter at 9 o’clock with a natural dead half-second made possible by the 1 Hz frequency, which corresponds to one to-and-fro motion of the balance per second. A unique feature is the patented regulating system that has been positioned outside of the the balance wheel and which makes it possible to admire the spectacle of this large low-frequency balance wheel in an unobstructed way.
The Pulse60 display also includes a torque indicator at 3 o’clock, which takes information on the remaining power directly from the barrel, a system Dominique Renaud had already worked on during the Renaud Papi era.
Finally, the open back of the Pulse60 presents a streamlined arrangement of elements using simple forms: circle, half-circle and straight lines. In the upper part, the crown wheel and ratchet; in the lower part, an openworked escapement line highlights the particular architecture and an oaset double roller system.
Dominique Renaud Pulse60 Specifications
Case Grade 5 Titanium / Pink Gold and Grade 5 Titanium • Dimensions: 40 mm x 44 mm • Thickness: 12 mm (with sapphire crystal) • Domed sapphire crystal with anti-reflective treatment • Caseback: flat sapphire crystal with anti-reflective treatment • Water resistance: 3 ATM / 30 m
Functions Hours and minutes on the 12 o’clock counter • Natural dead half-second on the 9 o’clock counter • Torque indicator on the 3 o’clock counter
Movement Diameter: 33 mm • Balance frequency: 1 Hz / 7,200 vibrations per hour • Balance diameter: 20 mm • Hairspring diameter: 15 mm • Regulation system with oaset index assembly (patented technology) • Power reserve: 4 days
Strap Interchangeable rubber strap with push-button system • Delivered with a pin buckle and a triple-folding clasp.
