Trilobe Une Folle Journée Enters Its Second Generation With a Paris-Built Calibre

Trilobe has never been especially interested in telling time the conventional way.

With the second-generation Une Folle Journée, the French independent keeps its floating, sculptural display intact, but gives the watch a more assertive case and a manufacture movement built around the brand’s growing Paris-based watchmaking ambitions.

It’s still unmistakably Trilobe, only now the mechanics and the architecture feel more closely aligned.

At a glance

• Trilobe has introduced the second-generation Une Folle Journée with a new barrel-shaped case and integrated lugs.
• The watch retains its three-dimensional display, with counterclockwise hour, minute and seconds discs rotating around a fixed pointer.
• The titanium version is priced at EUR 23,500 excluding taxes, while the rose gold price has not been disclosed.

A sharper case for Trilobe’s most theatrical display

The defining change is the case, which moves away from the earlier round profile and into a barrel-shaped form with integrated lugs.

There’s a family resemblance to Trilobe’s Trente-Deux collection, although the Une Folle Journée case is described as sharper and more angular, without protective shoulders.

It’s offered in grade 5 titanium or 18k rose gold, with satin-brushed surfaces, polished accents and a fluted crown.

The case measures 40.3mm across and 47.4mm lug to lug, which keeps the footprint relatively contained despite the watch’s dramatic vertical construction.

Its 18.25mm thickness is largely driven by the highly domed sapphire crystal, which is 10mm thick and essential to the watch’s sense of depth.

That crystal is made in Japan using a traditional flame-fusion process, then shaped and polished in Switzerland.

The floating rings remain the main event

The second-generation Une Folle Journée keeps the brand’s signature way of displaying time, developed from Gautier Massonneau’s original idea of replacing central hands with off-centred rotating rings.

Hours, minutes and seconds all turn counterclockwise around a fixed pointer, creating a display that feels more like a kinetic sculpture than a conventional dial.

Three off-centred rings appear suspended in space, supported by nine polished titanium columns.

Each titanium disc combines a hollowed, polished cornice with a concave satin-finished inner ring in DLC.

The small seconds indication sits at the centre of the arrangement and is carried by a transparent sapphire disc, reinforcing the impression that it’s floating in the void.

It’s a theatrical construction, but not a new complication for its own sake.

The appeal is in the way Trilobe turns a simple reading of hours, minutes and seconds into something spatial, architectural and recognisably its own.

The X-Nihilo calibre moves the watch closer to Paris

The other major update sits behind the sapphire caseback.

The first-generation Une Folle Journée used the X-Centric calibre, a micro-rotor movement produced by Le Cercle des Horlogers.

This new version uses Trilobe’s X-Nihilo calibre, an automatic manufacture movement first seen in the Trente-Deux collection.

The movement has been developed in-house, with components including bridges and plates partially produced by Trilobe near Paris as the brand works toward greater integration.

Assembly takes place in Trilobe’s atelier in central Paris.

Technically, the X-Nihilo uses a central rotor, a balance wheel with timing screws, a 4 Hz frequency and a 42-hour power reserve.

The visual language is deliberately modern, with sharp stepped bridges that reference antique French watchmaking without drifting into nostalgia.

Finishing includes sandblasted and brushed surfaces, diamond-polished bevels and black-polished screws.

Three versions and a more complete identity

The collection launches in three versions, each fitted to a new colour-matched striped rubber strap with a spring-loaded folding clasp.

The blue and black editions use a rhodium-plated mainplate for a cooler, more technical appearance.

The grey version adds warmth with a 5N gold-plated movement treatment.

That choice matters because the Une Folle Journée is as much about visible structure as it is about timekeeping, with the front and back both designed to reward close looking.

In titanium, the second-generation Une Folle Journée is priced at EUR 23,500 excluding taxes and is part of the permanent collection.

The rose gold version has been announced, though its price has not been disclosed.

Details & Specifications

The second-generation Une Folle Journée is likely to appeal to collectors who already understand Trilobe’s refusal of traditional hands, but it also makes the case for the brand’s next chapter as a more vertically integrated Parisian independent.