Roger Dubuis

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My view on the Roger Dubuis Pulsion Chronograph

I would like to come back to one of the most interesting watches of the past SIHH. I use the word "interesting" because it describes well my feeling about it. It is not my fav watch of the SIHH, it is not my fav Roger Dubuis novelty but it plays a very important role in the strategy of the brand.

This watch is the Pulsion Chronograph.

Why it is so important?

The Pulsion Chronograph is currently the most affordable watch of the Dubuis new line of the collection and the consequence is that it has to become the flag bearer, the key stone of this Pulsion line. I would say that the success of this watch may decide the future of the line, if additional pieces would join it (I'm clearly thinking about a 3 hands Pulsion watch).

The Pulsion Tourbillon:





The only other Pulsion watch available is the Pulsion Skeleton Flying Tourbillon available in PG in a LE of 188 pieces and in titanium, not the same price tag, not the same purpose with its exclusive design.

With the the Pulsion line, along with the Velvet one, Roger Dubuis completes the new organization of its collection based of 4 pillars.

The first pillar is the Excalibur line, maybe the one which symbolizes the best the last years with its daring if not excessive atmosphere. The Excalibur watches are powerful and big watches even if this year a more reasonable step was taken. I will come back to this in another post.

We could appreciate in 2011 the elegance of the Monegasque line  which has found its roots in the iconic Sympathie case. It is without any doubt the refined side of Roger Dubuis.

The Velvet line is dedicated to ladies and set watches. Roger Dubuis team worked a lot on the different shapes (case, dial, bezel) which all together create a sort of eye-deceiving effect... we don't know if the watches are round or tonneau shaped!

And the last... the Pulsion line. What is its purpose?

I would say it is not that obvious for me to answer but my feeling is that its objective is to fill the gap between the Excalibur and the Monegasque lines, to meet the expectation of customers who want a Roger Dubuis piece with the daring attitude of the Excalibur mixed with a quiet atmosphere coming from the Monegasque. Of course, it seems to be a quite narrow path especially with clients who don't want mid-water options from their fav brands. And here we touch the most difficult task for Dubuis: to manage to occupy a subtle space between two other lines, to define a "sportive and elegant" line but at the same time to propose watches with their own features and personalities.





And I bo believe that Roger Dubuis managed to do it thanks to a great job done a specific part of the watch which is not that often on the foreground of the stage when we present a watch: the sapphire crystal.
The idea behind this crystal is to cover the whole watch. It also plays the role of the bezel thanks to its engraved luminescent numerals. The crystal is screwed down on the case and the effect which is given by this trick is similar in a sense to the HM2 SV by Max Büsser & friends. When you look at the side of the Pulsion chronograph, you are clearly able to see the different layers of the architecture and of course, a large part of the screws.
It is the reason why the Pulsion chronograph is so special: it attracts the light and it can get a very brilliant side. The crystal also contributes to the dynamic design.

The architecture of the Pulsion Chronograph. You will notice the shape of the pushers:





The case has a sportive shape but it is also less radical than the Excalibur one. We can see between the two lugs a slightly prominent part which gives us the feeling that the "3 lugs" case of the Excalibur was softened to make this Pulsion case. But there are a lot of differences between them.





The case diameter is 44mm which is quite big. but hopefully the lugs are very curved to improve the comfort on the wrist and to reduce the feeling of size.

The movement of the Pulsion chronograph is the RD680. We know very well this movement because it was introduced with the Monegasque in 2011. It is an automatic micro-rotor caliber with tungsten micro-rotor. It has  a 4hz frequency and around 50 hours of power reserve. It features a semi-instant 30-minute counter.

RD680 movement in the Monegasque case:



I love its lay-out and even if it doesn't reach the impressive beauty and the excellence of the RD78, its finishings remain flawless and it deserves its Geneva seal. But again, I was more attracted by its lay-out than by its finishings by themselves.

We can also take advantage of it... dial side and well, this is the point which least convinced me. Actually, I don't like half-open dial. I like them when they are solid, I like them when they totally open but half-open is not a good idea in my point of view. The readability of the watch is not improved and the dial spoils a bit the interest brought by the crystal. Moreover due to the presence of the tachymeter scale, everything becomes a bit confusing. But if you love hidden details... this watch is for you!





Frankly speaking, I would have much prefered a Pulsion chronograph with a solid dial. On the other side, the indexes and hands are beautiful with perfect finishings.

Pushers and crown are easy to operate and as I said before, the watch is very comfortable on the wrist. So don't expect bad surprises on a daily wear: you won't be disappointed by it.









3 Pulsion Chronograph  are available: Titanium, Black Titanium and Pink Gold. My fav version is the Titanium one due to its colour and because Titanium matches perfectly the crystal creating beautiful shades of light.

My conclusion is that thanks to the nice use of the crystal, Roger Dubuis managed to create a new chronograph with its own personality in a very crowded segment: the elegant and sportive chronographs. But I would have prefered it with a solid dial to better take advantage of the crystal and to get a more timeless design.

I would like to thank a lot the Roger Dubuis team for the warm welcome during the SIHH.