Hello everyone and welcome back to IWS! For those of you who were there, thank you again for attending the first edition of Milan Watch Week, held at Martini Terrace in Milan, it was crazy!
Among the brands that caught the most attention we find Trilobe, a maison that defies watchmaking conventions with a unique design and a completely unique way of reading time. Thanks to the event in the fashion capital, we had a chance to see these watches up close and chat with the brand managers with whom we got to know this young company better. Let’s discover it together.
The beginnings of Trilobe
Trilobe is a very recent brand that entered the watchmaking world in late 2018 with a very specific idea: to make watches in which the way the time was read was different and, above all, directed toward simplicity. That’s exactly how Gautier Massonneau, founded the brand in Paris, collaborating right from the start with someone who has a fair amount of watch experience. I’m talking about Jean-François Mojon, former director of research and development at IWC, who brought to the company that crucial experience and know-how to turn the founder’s idea into reality.
Gautier was born in an environment steeped in design and creativity, thanks to his architect parents who passed on in him a passion for form and aesthetics, certainly helping to fuel his desire to found his own watch brand. Indeed, the reference to the world of architecture is often present in Trilobe’s creations and also in the name, which, in fact, means trilobe or trefoil and refers to a particular architectural element used very frequently in the French Gothic style.
Trilobe’s collections
Let us now look at the models produced so far by the Parisian brand.
Trilobe Les Matinaux
The first collection produced by the trilobo brand was Les Matinaux, a series of models in which from the very beginning one can see the innovative spirit of breaking out of traditional watchmaking patterns. This watch, as is very often the case when it comes to independent brands, was born tied to a story and not as an ordinary object or accessory.
There is usually a thought and feeling behind it that wants to be externalized through details on the dial or other details. The name “Les Matineux” refers to, and pays homage to, a poem by French poet and surrealist artist René Char. The goal was to create a harmonious product that could embody beauty and, above all, be a source of freedom and rebellion against traditional watchmaking canons.
The case, available in 38.5 and 40.5 mm diameter versions, is made of stainless steel and rose gold; what immediately jumps out at you, observing of instead the dial, is the fact that there are no hands. Time, in fact, is represented by three rotating rings.
In particular, the outermost one represents the hours, the one in the center the minutes, and the smaller one shows the passing of the seconds. As I mentioned earlier, the reference to architecture is very present within the brand’s collections and, in this case, we can see how the seconds wheel depicts the rose window of the Saint Chapelle in Paris, leaving a glimpse of the plate underneath treated with a rhodium bath to achieve this silver color, a real treat.
Looking again at the brass dial with sunray finish, we can see the presence of 3 small trilobes arranged in a non-linear way. These have the function of making it easier to read the time, and the non-linear arrangement is intentional, to give it that unique and special touch.
Trilobe Nuit Fantastique
Another collection we got a close look at at Milan Watch Week was the Nuit Fantastique or “fantastic night.” In this watch we notice a dial with a more minimalist clous de paris guilloché finish, in which we recognize the brand name of the maison at twelve o’clock, given the total absence of lettering. The ring, which in the Les Matinaux collection indicated the minutes, in this case is hidden under the dial and is visible thanks to an opening at eleven o’clock.
This bold and innovative design, serves the main purpose of Trilobe: to provide quick and easy time reading. Looking at the watch, in the upper image, very simply we can state that the hour ring indicates 12 o’clock, thanks to the trilobe. The minute ring indicates 15 while the seconds are 40, so the time will be 12:15 and 40 seconds. Really intuitive don’t you think?
Trilobe Une Folle Journée
With this collection, the most surprising and undoubtedly most complex, even from a design point of view, Trilobe shows its ability to make innovative and different watches, showing itself capable of creating truly original pieces. The great novelty present in this watch lies in the fact that it has the 3 rings representing the hours, minutes and seconds, elevated. This was possible after a great deal of effort on the part of the brand in trying to study how to make it, given the difficulty in making it. In order to make the rings “suspended,” they were made of DLC titanium, which gave properties of extreme lightness and hardness.
When viewed from the front, the upper sapphire crystal might look flat, but it is not. In fact, the latter has been made with a curved shape, under which the seconds, minutes and hours ring appear in descending order of height, as if floating in the air. Thanks to the skeletonized dial, we can see the underlying movement, the X-Centric caliber.
Trilobe’s X-Centric Caliber
In order to actually realize Gautier’s initial idea, thus showing the time in a completely different way, Trilobe watches needed a different movement. Thus the X-Centric caliber was conceived, which comes across as innovative and distinctive, also featuring an aesthetically pleasing appearance on both sides due to the presence of mirror polishing and satin-finishing. The movement is self-winding, in which the micro-rotor allows constant winding of the mainspring and guarantees 48 hours of power reserve. This caliber is developed entirely in Switzerland, thanks to a collaboration between Trilobe and Cercle des Horlogers based in La Chaux-de-Fonds. This movement is used on all watches made by the brand to date.
Conclusions
We have been fascinated by the watches of Trilobe, a brand that, in a short time, has managed to make a distinctive mark in the world of watchmaking. With its innovative design and unique approach to telling time, the house proves that it is possible to combine tradition and modernity in a bold way. If you, too, love the art of independent watchmaking, these timepieces are definitely worth a closer look
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