The Unique Trilobe Une Folle Journée Réconciliation For Only Watch 2023

We continue our round-up of the unique pieces created for Only Watch 2023, the fundraiser promoting research into Duchenne muscular dystrophy. Today, we are taking a closer look at the watch donated by Trilobe, an exceptional version of its Une Folle Journée model celebrating the Japanese art of Kintsugi called the Trilobe Une Folle Journée Réconciliation.

Trilobe is a young independent watch brand created by Gautier Massonneau, the son of an architect and interior designer. Trilobe timepieces eschew traditional codes and instead provide their own offbeat, contemporary take on mechanical watchmaking with unconventional time displays. This year, it will be the brand’s third participation in Only Watch. In 2021, La Réciproque, their unique clock designed with Daniel Buren, was hammered for CHF 100,000 (the estimated price was CHF 35 000 to 45 000).

For the 2023 edition of the fundraiser, Trilobe decided to celebrate Kintsugi, the centuries-old Japanese art of repairing broken pottery with lacquer mixed with powdered gold. Leaving a gold seam where the cracks were is a way to embrace imperfections. Rest assured, though, because the Trilobe une Folle Journée Réconciliation is not a broken watch fixed for the occasion! The nod to Kintsugi is made by applying gold leaf on different parts of an otherwise monochromatic black “Une Folle Journée”. Small impacts,  created by hand with a hammered effect, appear on the movement and the display rings before being gilded.

The Trilobe Une Folle Journée (a crazy day in French) is an evolution of the brand’s inaugural watch, Les Matinaux. As such, the time display is composed of three eccentric discs for the hours, minutes and seconds, rotating on the dial. Time is read thanks to three fixed pointers. More modern, more architectural, and intrinsically three dimensional, the display rings of Une Folle Journée hover above the base plate and free the view of the mechanics underneath. This compelling, unconventional display is protected under an impressive 10.2mm high domed sapphire crystal.

The micro-rotor movement driving the unconventional time display is the calibre X Centric with a 4 Hz frequency and 48 hours of autonomy. For this Only Watch unique piece, the modern matte-finished bridges and plates are decorated with gold leaf creating a striking contrast. The 40.5mm case comes in PVD-coated grade 5 titanium to complete the black monochromatic look.

The Trilobe une Folle Journée Réconciliation – Only Watch 2023 is worn on a black leather strap with a PVD-coated pin buckle. The estimate is CHF 25,000 to CHF 35,000.

For more information, please visit www.trilobe.com.

Created in 2005, Only Watch is a biennial fundraiser for research on muscular dystrophy – Association Monégasque Contre les Myopathies (AMM). Organized under the patronage of HSH Albert II de Monaco, the watches of the 10th edition will be auctioned by Christie’s on Saturday, 5 November 2023, in Geneva at Palexpo. More details at www.onlywatch.com.