Trilobe Une Folle Journée
The Trilobe Une Folle Journée upholds the Maison’s use of revolving rings to impart time, but embraces a new three-dimensional design language that implores the wearer to look and then look again. In his own inimitable style, Mark McArthur-Christie explains why this timepiece should worry the watchmaking’s old guard.
Trilobe Les Matinaux
Back in 2018, the Vallée de Joux’s dry cleaners must have been rushing to book holidays in Mustique the day Trilobe launched Les Matinaux, the first watch powered by its new X-Centric calibre.
Gautier Massonneau
Just imagine various senior watch industry figures spitting out their breakfast coffee as they realised what new-kid-on-the-block Gautier Massonneau had achieved from a standing start. Worse, the guy wasn’t even a watchmaker – he’s an ex-infrastructure financier! We’re predicting another bumper year for the Vallée’s cleaners and pressers with the advent of the remarkable Trilobe Une Folle Journée, launched at Watches and Wonders 2022.
Trilobe Une Folle Journée – indicating time with three rings
Watch faces are usually a relatively flat affair. Dials might have a bit of interest where subdials are recessed or there might be a scale on an angled rehaut but, by and large, things are planar. One could almost see Trilobe sensing the potential for making a three-dimensional dial with their earlier watches but now they’ve gone and actually done it with the Journée.
Where, traditionally, hands move around a static dial – or series of dials – on this watch everything except the case moves. Technically, there isn’t really a dial, but there aren’t really hands either. Instead, time-telling gets taken care of by three rotating titanium rings; one for hours, one for minutes and one for running seconds. And there’s a single pointer – a tiny red triangle – from whence one reads the time.
The rings are actually part of the movement. If you look carefully, you can see that the hour and minute rings are linked by tiny titanium pillars to toothed wheels that are powered by the movement’s gear-train. The ring gears themselves run on low-friction ruby bearings, while the seconds wheel runs from a central pinion and is mounted on a transparent disc. Together, the wheels form a skeletonised, three-dimensional dome that sits in turn under the dome of the crystal.
The titanium rings get their colour from a diamond-like carbon (DLC) coating and you have a choice of two colours for your Journée; black or blue.
Trilobe Une Folle Journée – Grade 5 titanium
Trilobe has chosen Grade 5 titanium (rather than the more usual Grade 2 stuff) but they might have regretted it more than once; it’s a devil to work with. The metal destroys CNC tools and has a nasty habit of catching fire while you’re actually doing the machining. In fact, according to Gautier Massonneau, while the Journée was being prototyped, the mill used to machine it caught fire. Suitably inert on your wrist, you get the benefits of lightness, resistance to tarnish and a wonderful ability to take a shine.
Not only are the rings titanium, so is the 40.5mm case. That combination of reasonable size and light metal means, despite the nearly 18mm depth, it doesn’t feel like you’re wearing a discus. Case finishing is top-flight, too, with alternating brushed and polished surfaces. The centre of the barrel is brushed and its top and bottom are polished; snugging the case down visually.
The caseback is a brushed titanium ring (seeing a theme here yet?) holding a clear sapphire display disc. It’s good to see the caseback is held on not with a single thread, but with six screws. No gasket shear here, thanks.
Trilobe Une Folle Journée – 50m water resist
If you look carefully, you’ll see a clue to the way Trilobe thinks a little differently about things. It’s a 50mm water-resistant case, so you’d expect the usual straight “50m water resist” wording. Not here. Yes, the wording’s there but it’s next to a tiny engraved duck. And there’s a modesty too; rather than plastering a name or logo over every flat surface, Trilobe has engraved its name on the caseback ring, the movement backplate and put its logo on the crown. That’s it. So you get a duck but no crowing. Yes, I’m getting my coat this very minute.
The whole thing is topped with a domed sapphire crystal that’s been multi-layered with anti-reflective coating. Domed crystals are quite the thing, but there isn’t always an obvious point to them. Here there very much is a point; that crystal echoes the dome of the three movement timekeeping rings.
Calibre X-Centric³
Inside is the same 196-part movement you’ll find in every Trilobe – the Calibre X-Centric³, self-winder. The technical details don’t tell anything like the whole story, but it’s just under 6.5mm thick and comes in at a diameter of just over 35mm. There are 48 hours of power reserve, all driven from a micro-rotor and the balance runs at a 28,800 vph (4 Hz) clip.
Micro-rotor
The micro-rotor is worth its own mention. For a start, it’s one of the few micro-rotors that’s bi-directional. Micro-rotors can be a bit of a pain as, unless you’re pretty active, they can fall short on power generating movement. But this one winds both ways, so you double your energy. Where the time rings need to be superlight titanium, a rotor needs some heft, so this one is made of much heavier tungsten. Even so, Trilobe recommend that you give your new watch at least 13 hours of wear before you call it fully-wound. Alternatively, 71 turns of the crown should see the mainspring properly powered-up. The other significant benefit of a micro-rotor is that, because it’s integrated into the movement plate, you can get away with a much thinner watch.
X-Centric movement – designed by Jean-Francois Mojon
Trilobe had the X-Centric movement designed for them – you won’t see it popping up anywhere else. It’s Jean-Francois Mojon’s work and is made by le Cercle des Horlogers in Les Hauts-Geneveys. Described as ‘brutalist’, it’s not a pretty movement but it is a remarkable one. Where most makers are perlaging and Geneva-striping for all they’re worth, Trilobe has gone for minimalist black ‘arthradec’ graining against which the movement’s gears stand out in polished silvery form. It manages to be functional but good to look at too.
The whole plot is secured to your wrist with a choice of a black or blue alligator strap (to match the DLC coating you chose for your timekeeping rings). And, given that almost everything else is titanium, you’ll not be too surprised that the strap’s pin buckle is too.
Trilobe Une Folle Journée – closing thoughts
The name for the new watch translates as ‘a crazy day’. That might be the only thing I’d change. There’s absolutely nothing crazy about this watch. It’s done something very rare indeed in Watchworld and provided a new perspective on time-telling. What’s more, it’s done in a way that’s clear, simple and usable. Not only that, Gautier Massonneau has achieved this without saddling his customers with second mortgages in order to enjoy his watches. The Trilobe Une Folle Journée comes in at a €21,500. No, that’s not missing a zero. Now, if the shock of that doesn’t get some more dry cleaning business through the door, I don’t know what would.
Further reading
Technical specifications
- Model: Trilobe Une Folle Journée
- Reference: UFJ01NA (black) / UFJ01BA (blue)
- Case: Grade 5 titanium, diameter 40.5 mm, height 17.8mm; water resistance 5ATM (50m), sapphire crystal to the front and exhibition case back
- Functions: Hours, minutes, seconds subdial displayed by rotating rings and fixed indicators
- Movement: X-Centric³; automatic movement; frequency 28,800 vph (4Hz); 33 jewels; power reserve 48 hours; 196 components
- Strap: leather with a pin buckle
- Price: €21,500 including taxes (RRP as of 25.8.2022)