The Power of Trois: The New Trente-Deux Collection Features Trilobe’s First-Ever In-House Movement

If you attach any credence to numerology, the number 3 represents creativity, communication, charisma, optimism, and other very positive qualities. That number, and those sentiments, seem particularly apt behind this new collection offered up by French watchmaker Trilobe during Geneva Watch Days.

First, the brand’s name, Trilobe, refers to having, well, three lobes. In watchmaking, this word can be associated with the three pillars of timekeeping: hours, minutes, and seconds. The watchmaker’s signature design approach, however, typically challenges our preconceived ideas of how those time-telling pillars should manifest with unexpected, artful executions.

Furthermore, the brand’s logo is a rendering of the famed trefoil, a name given to a small, clover-like European plant with a distinctive leaf shape that has been symbolically used in everything from medieval heraldry to playing cards.
 

For the recent Geneva confab, the Parisian watchmaker took all this “three-ness” and combined it with its artful dial design language, some appealing stainless steel sportiness, and, most significantly, the brand’s very first in-house movement to deliver the first two 39mm Trente-Deux watches.

Thus, Trilobe has established a new collection, one that the brand believes is its new “manifesto of independence,” communicating its commitment to inventiveness and excellence.

The new X-Nihilo Calibre manufacture movement was, you guessed it, three years in the making. And the warm, 5N gold-toned movement is just as unexpected and artful as the signature off-set dial execution, which we first saw in the Nuit Fantastique.

Delivering 42 hours of power reserve, the movement sports an openwork tungsten rotor so that you can focus on the kinetics of an isolated, magnified balance wheel (which is visible via the exhibition caseback). Supported by a classic bridge, this balance wheel has four chronometric regulation screws for better, more precise adjustment and to ensure long-term stability.
 

Furthermore, to protect the movement from major shocks, the X-Nihilo’s rotor is equipped with a system of safety pins.

For the eye-catching dial, the number three comes into play, once again. The large central portion of the dial slowly rotates along an outer Arabic chapter ring, using the trefoil logo as an indicator “arrow.” Even the hour markers are slightly off-kilter, with 11 and 12 o’clock splitting the difference of the top of the dial.
 

Elegantly stacked on the left side of the dial, a smaller, circular aperture shows the minutes passing from a hidden wheel, with a larger, circular seconds wheel (with bigger indices for the critical 15-second interval) slightly overlapping the minute aperture. This design allows both wheels to share the single curved indicator. So, when the big “60” intersects the aperture, the next minute is perfectly situated and aligned.
 

With the minutes and seconds stacked to the left, and the minimalist trefoil running the entire arc for the hours, this gives abundant dial real estate on the right side to drink in the lovely sun-ray dial, which comes in either deep blue or somber grey.

brand, previous executions were of a more classically elegant flavor. The intriguing dial approach of the Trent-Deux timepieces is framed by steel construction that is every bit indicative of a modern sports watch.

A ribbed bezel, protected crown, left-side case flange to balance the crown area, and integrated steel bracelet all provide a familiar, effective presentation for the unique dial mechanics.
 

Lastly, its tapered bracelet, with its thin connecting links and double-folding clasp, adds a supple nature to the inherent rugged sportiness of its satin-brushed, mirror-polished, and micro-blasted mix of steel components.

Priced at €16,500, you can find out more about the new Trente-Deux collection by visiting Trilobe’s website. What else can we say except “three cheers!”