Not all images were able to load for printing. Please close the print window and try again. Buci Opens a New Chapter with the Singular Nouvelle Collection
French indie brand Buci returns with its second collection, as a creative and singular take on the dress watch.
Founded in 2022 by Nousseïma Baraket, Buci approaches watchmaking through the written word, taking ideas from books, poetry and different forms of writing. Its debut Garde-Temps collection established this identity, followed by collaborations with seconde/seconde/ and Revolution Watch magazine. With Nouvelle, its second collection, Buci turns to the short story, using the passage of time and the small details of everyday life as the starting point for a new compact watch with fresh creativity in the design.
The stainless-steel case of the Buci Nouvelle is compact and unisex-oriented, as it measures 36mm in diameter and 9.88 mm thick. The case combines polished and satin-brushed surfaces. The oval, concave bezel, already a signature of Buci’s first watches, is more defined here and flows into the lugs, while the fluted mid-case takes its inspiration from the layered edges of book pages. A domed and recessed sapphire crystal with anti-reflective treatment protects the dial, and an exhibition caseback reveals the hand-wound movement. Water resistance is rated at 50m.
The textured dial is inspired by blotting paper and is available in two executions. Essentiel uses a luminous tone that recalls aged paper, while Contemplation takes a deeper blue associated with the quieter hours of night.
The numerals are hand-painted in a deliberately irregular style by a Parisian calligrapher. Their varying proportions form a crescent-shaped composition, providing each hour its own character. At 9 o’clock, the recessed small seconds subdial with crosshairs indicates time passing and the watch running. Super-LumiNova on hands and indices serves its practical purpose. Once every hour, the hours and minutes hands align to form the shape of a fountain-pen nib, yet another visual reference to writing that is the creative foundation for the collection.
Nouvelle is powered by a manually wound Sellita SW219 (a hand-wound version of the SW200, itself an ETA 2824 alternative), an Elaboré-grade movement with an operating frequency of 28,800 vibrations/hour and approximately 42 hours of power reserve. The watches are worn on interchangeable calfskin straps featuring quick-release spring bars. Colour options include grained cream, grained blue, smooth brown and grey nubuck. The straps measure 18mm at the lugs and taper to 16mm at the buckle, which is made from brushed and bead-blasted 316L stainless steel.
Buci supplies Nouvelle in a book-shaped box, accompanied by a notebook to record personal moments and observations. The Nouvelle collection is limited to 300 individually numbered pieces and will be available for pre-order through Kickstarter from September 25 to November 15, 2026. The launch price during the campaign is EUR 1,550 and will later be EUR 1,850.
The Buci Nouvelle collection watches can be experienced at the Toronto Timepiece Show on September 26–27, We Love Watches in Paris on October 9–10, Windup Watch Fair in New York on October 16–18 and Spring Sprung Sprang in Singapore on November 14–15. More details at buci-paris.com.
Sponsored post: This article is sponsored by Buci Paris. However, it reflects the writer’s opinion and has been written in accordance with MONOCHROME’s editorial policy.
