Watchmaking Legend Dominique Renaud Returns with a Watch That’s Taking Things Very, Very Slow

At 9:15am this morning, I received an email that made me drop everything. It was long, dense, and impossible to skim, because its message was unmistakable: Dominique Renaud had emerged from semi-retirement with an eponymous brand and a new complication.

With long-time collaborator Giulio Papi, Renaud had formed one of horology’s most sought-after complication specialists. Through Renaud et Papi, the duo stood shoulder to shoulder with elite movement makers such as Chronode, Concepto, and La Fabrique du Temps.

When maisons like Richard Mille and A. Lange & Söhne dreamed up their most ambitious complications, it was Renaud et Papi they turned to.

The firm’s influence is perhaps best measured through its alumni—a veritable hall of fame that includes Robert Greubel, Stephen Forsey, Andreas Strehler, Carole Forestier-Kasapi, and Stepan Sarpaneva, among many others. Renaud et Papi was eventually acquired by Audemars Piguet, which is where Papi currently works.

Renaud just stunned the industry with the announcement of his namesake brand, operating under the Dominique Renaud Group (DR Group) alongside Renaud Tixier (founded by Renaud and Julien Tixier). Based in Tolochenaz, just north of Lake Geneva, the group also holds a minority stake in Niton, and positions itself as a laboratory where watchmakers, designers, and engineers are encouraged to push the boundaries of mechanical watchmaking.

If Renaud’s last eponymous creation—the DR01 Twelve First—was an exercise in excess, beating at 12Hz with a price tag of CHF 1,000,000, his latest watch takes an entirely different approach. The Dominique Renaud Pulse60 Balancier Ultra Amplitude, priced between CHF 49,000 and CHF 59,000, is an exploration of slowness.

Choosing a Lower Frequency, but Solving Its Shortcomings

While most watches tick at frequencies between 2Hz and 5Hz, Renaud has never been one for convention. Since 2024, he has been developing a new caliber—the BUA2024 (BUA stands for “Balancier Ultra Amplitude”)—running at just 1Hz. In other words, its balance wheel—the metronome of the watch—completes just one oscillation per second.

Both extremes come with trade-offs. High-frequency movements tend to wear faster, demand more frequent servicing, and often sacrifice power reserve. Low-frequency movements, on the other hand, can struggle with accuracy and are more susceptible to external disturbances.

“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,” Renaud explains. “One way of solving watchmaking challenges is to tackle a problem through its exact opposite.”

His solution begins with scale. The BUA2024 features an enormous 20mm balance wheel, inspired by 18th-century marine chronometers. Designed for seafaring navigation, these high-inertia regulators were built to resist shocks and maintain stability—qualities Renaud harnesses here to smooth out errors and improve consistency.

Beyond that, Renaud and his team have re-engineered the geometry of the traditional Swiss lever escapement—reworking the interaction between the balance, roller, and impulse pin—to eliminate “knocking”, where excessive amplitude causes the balance to strike the pallet fork and disrupt timekeeping.

Introducing the Dominique Renaud Pulse60 Balancier Ultra Amplitude

Available from April 2026 through all authorized retailers, the Dominique Renaud Pulse60 Balancier Ultra Amplitude comes in a grade 5 titanium version with black or silver dial (CHF49,000), and a two-toned pink gold-and-titanium version with an engraved dial plate (CHF59,000).

This 40mm timepiece measures 44mm from lug to lug, is 12mm thick, and is secured to the wrist by an interchangeable rubber strap with folding clasp.

Its caseback’s sapphire crystal is flat, while its dial-side crystal is domed, sans a bezel so that one can admire its intriguing dial. Hours and minutes are indicated by a 12 o’clock subdial, there’s a torque indicator—Renaud’s calling card—at the 3 o’clock position, and a natural dead half-second subdial at 9 o’clock.

“Natural dead half-second” means the seconds hand jumps twice per second, which is a mesmerizing motion made possible by this watch’s super-slow frequency. The marine chronometer-inspired 20mm balance wheel takes pride of place beneath these three counters at 6 o’clock.

Packing four days of autonomous power, the BUA2024’s back too presents an enchanting aesthetic: the crown wheel and ratchet can be admired in the top hemisphere, separated by an openworked escapement line from the aforementioned lever escapement system that Renaud has redesigned into a ravishing offset double roller system.