If you’re unsure where Trilobe fits within the watchmaking ecosystem, you’re not alone. This Swiss watchmaker is also French; it produces in-house movements but they don’t have hands; it targets mature collectors but with an original flair; it’s fiercely independent but it has its own square at Watches & Wonders. Trilobe enjoys mixing things up – you never really know what to expect, with the possible exception of the latest clue. The brand has just moved to new premises in Paris, where it is gradually establishing capabilities in a range of artistic crafts. Translation: Trilobe will be focusing much more on finishing and creation.
A number of elements point in this direction. The proprietary development of Trilobe’s new X-Centric calibre already hinted at a focus on bringing mechanical production in-house. After mechanics, aesthetics are the logical next step. We saw the first signs with the Nuit Fantastique, whose dial with its off-centred guillochage inside a grained hours ring demonstrated a desire to appropriate some traditional motifs from haute horlogerie. The approach was confirmed with the limited series developed for the Dubai Watch Club, decorated with unusual mashrabiya guilloché motifs. So what’s next?
New workshop, new in-house skills
Given this burgeoning creativity, it’s natural that Trilobe should want to bring certain fields of expertise in-house, to give itself more freedom. Having its own artisans on-site, or even in workshops next door, makes it possible to build closer ties, share ideas and concepts, and speed up production times.
This new home is in the centre of Paris, Avenue de l’Opéra, just a few metres from Place Vendôme and Rue de la Paix, the vibrant heart of the City of Light’s jewellery quarter. This is where Gautier Massonneau, the brand’s founder, draws his creative inspiration. We’ve already seen the first product of this new strategy: the unique piece unveiled for the Only Watch auction, based on the Kintsugi technique. Not many people realised it at the time, but this piece, announced eight months ago, was the first sign of Trilobe’s artistic independence. It was decorated in Paris: Trilobe worked with some components initially destined for scrap (hours, minutes and seconds rings, dial, base plate), their artisan then draped them with gold leaf sourced from a Parisian art book illuminator. A Swiss made watch, coated in gold in Paris.
The Folle Journée Haute Joaillerie followed suit. The jewellery exterior was entirely designed and executed in Paris, either at Trilobe’s creative studio in Avenue de l’Opéra, or in the capital’s top gem-setting workshops just a stone’s throw away on Rue de la Paix. The circular and suspended setting of the gemstones took several months to develop, a process that was made far easier by the geographical proximity of the people involved.
Finally, the art of pure watchmaking has not been forgotten. Trilobe’s new Paris workshop is also home to a number of watchmakers, who oversee the completion of the pieces. Given that the new premises are by no means full, it’s entirely possible that other crafts will be brought in to complete the repertoire of the brand, which for many years has signed its movements, created by the Cercle des Horlogers, with the legend “Paris – France”.
