An original vision of the micro-rotor with a platinum flywheel in the center.

The new brand Renaud Tixier combines two very well known surnames in the world of watchmaking. The first man behind the name is Dominique Renaud, the co-founder of Renaud & Papi (later Audemars Piguet Renaud Papi) who co-authored complicated models for Audemars Piguet.

The second partner is thirty-year-old Julien Tixier, whose name has already popped up in a number of extravagant projects. Renaud and Tixier have previously worked together on the Tempus Fugit model.

It displayed the watch owner's predicted life expectancy, calculated with the help of the President of the Swiss Academy of Engineering Sciences Dr. Benoît Dubuis (former dean of EPFL), and also featured a perpetual calendar built to accurately tell the time until the year 9,999.

This watchmaking duo have also equipped the Furlan Marri Secular Perpetual Calendar watch with a calendar that doesn't need adjusting until the year 2400. The first model Renaud and Tixier have created for their own brand moves away from calendar complications, and focuses on advancing the micro-rotor.

This popular component begins its new life on the first day of the week: the RTVI2023 movement is housed in a model its creators have named Monday. The gold rotor has grown an auxiliary mechanism which is dubbed the "dancer”. This mechanism consists of a platinum flywheel — an annular weight with a spring in the middle.

The increased inertia due to the rotating flywheel makes the rotor less prone to shocks, while the auxiliary mechanism is equipped with its own original safety device in the form of a spring that operates like a notched clamp.

The advancement largely remains at the level of art for art's sake. They don't provide a precise measurement of power reserve at Renaud Tixier, but state that it exceeds 60 hours.

The movement developed with the help of movement constructor Alexandre Bugnon and watch prototypist Sebastien Rousseau also displays its character on the dial side. A window at 9 o'clock reveals a view of the reverser gears in the micro-rotor winding mechanism.

The movement has titanium bridges which can be seen through a transparent caseback made of sapphire crystal. It's housed in a case measuring 40.8 mm x 11 mm available in rose gold or white gold with short sloped lugs. The new brand plans to release 60 watches by the end of this year.