Published October 9, 2026

·

See more of our coverage in your search results

With its latest chronograph, French watchmaker Pequignet pays homage to one particular genre of music that began in Parisian clubs and dominated dance and pop music through the 1990s and 2000s.

Commonly known as the French Touch, the distinct house music genre is defined by filter and phaser effects applied to samples from 1970s and 1980s disco tracks. It is exemplified by classic bangers like Daft Punk’s “Around the World,” Stardust’s “Music Sounds Better With You,” and Modjo’s “Lady.”

Pequignet’s Royal Paris Chrono BPM captures the energy of French Touch by repurposing a pulsometer scale. Originally designed for doctors to monitor patients’ heart rates, the chronograph scale is calibrated to determine beats per minute (BPM).

Of course, a pulsometer can measure the BPM of a song just as easily as the human pulse. Polished disco samples and funky bass lines set French Touch apart, but, as with any style of dance music, the drums are the beating heart of the songs.

By engaging the chronograph and counting 30 beats of the bass drum before stopping it, you can measure the BPM of any house song.

Pequignet replaced the Royale Paris Chrono’s traditional dial motif, inspired by 1960s auto racing watches, with a vibrant vertical gradient. It fades from a bright electric blue at 12:00 to a pitch black at 6:00.

According to the brand, the color scheme represents the bright neon lights cutting through the dark Parisian nightclubs. The dial is finished with a vertical brushing and features a curved trench running from 10:00 to 2:00 and continuing from 4:00 to 8:00.

A small seconds at 3:00 and a 30-minute totalizer at 9:00 are set in oversized sunken black subdials with snailed textures.

Blue-emitting Super-LumiNova fills the hour hand, minute hand and applied faceted hour markers.

The BPM scale is printed in neon blue along the dial’s black outer rim. Running along the same track, from the prime clubbing hours of midnight to 2:00 AM, are the bars on a mixing desk VU meter.

As with previous references, the Royale Paris Chrono BPM is powered by the in-house Caliber Initial automatic movement, featuring a cam-operated chronograph module developed by Dubois-Depraz. The movement beats at 4Hz and offers a 65-hour power reserve.

The decorative movement, including its skeletonized rotor, is displayed through a sapphire exhibition caseback. It is secured by six screws, which explains the watch’s modest 50m water resistance.

Pequignet’s Royale Paris Chrono BPM will be available on October 15 for $7,950. It joins the regular production Royale Paris Chrono collection.

All current promotional images show the watch on a black rubber pin buckle strap, but according to the brand, it actually comes with a black woven Cordura strap.

About the Author: Brad Lanphear is an associate editor at Gear Patrol covering watches and style. Before joining the publication, he previously wrote for Heddels and Men’s Health. Now, he’s on a never-ending quest to find the perfect pair of Japanese denim.