The Trilobe Trente-Deux, One of the Very Good Surprises of GWD

Some watches truly need to be seen in person and worn on the wrist to be fully understood and appreciated. A flat digital rendering or a simple image doesn’t do them justice. You could easily argue that this is true for most timepieces, but in reality, there are occasions where you know the watch is going to be good. This wasn’t the case with Trilobe‘s latest creation, the Trente-Deux collection, its first entry in the highly competitive integrated sporty-chic category. I was sceptical at first when I saw the official images… Not that I didn’t want to like the watch, but I didn’t understand it. But now that I have seen it and worn it, I can say that there’s really something special going on. And my colleague Xavier, who elected it as part of our GWD Top 10, won’t disagree with me.

The Trilobe Trente-Deux (thirty-two in English) is a very important new collection for the brand. It’s the first model to compete in the highly coveted integrated sports watch category. However, it features a brand-new movement developed, manufactured, finished, and assembled in France, near or in Paris. Trilobe is a relatively young brand, founded in 2018 by Gautier Massonneau. The first collection, named Les Matinaux, French for “The Morning Ones” (referencing a poetry collection by René Char), featured a series of rotating discs and three stationary pointers to display the hours, minutes and seconds. It was powered by a nice movement, the calibre X-Centric (designed with JF Mojon and produced by Le Cercle des Horlogers).

Trilobe goes fully Parisian

Trilobe was born in Paris and has chosen to establish its operations in the City of Light for good. Already present in the Opéra district, a few steps away from Place Vendôme, Trilobe has established a watchmaking workshop in the heart of Paris to assemble its watches: Les Matinaux, Nuit Fantastique, L’Heure Exquise and Une Folle Journée. This location marks a return to the cradle, just steps from the Palais Royal, of French horological excellence.

This watchmaking studio was the first step in a long-term strategy. This is where the watches are conceived, designed, modelled and prototyped. But it is also where the watches are assembled, finished, and tested, and where maintenance and repairs are handled in-house.

But recently, Trilobe went many steps further with the creation of its own manufacture, based in Ivry-sur-Seine (about 20 minutes from Paris). This new location, equipped with multi-axis machining centres and turning machines (wheel production), enables the production of complex components, such as bridges, mainplates, wheels, pinions, oscillating weights… In short, most of the crucial components of a movement.

Trilobe’s first manufacture movement, the Calibre X-Nihilo

The result of the creation of this new manfacture near Paris is now materialised by an unprecedented movement, the Calibre X-Nihilo, the brand’s first movement, conceived, designed, developed, prototyped, (mostly) machined, decorated, and assembled in-house. Most of the parts of this movement (about 80%, according to the brand) are produced near Paris, with elements such as the mainspring, hairspring or jewels sourced from suppliers in France, Germany or Switzerland. As mentioned, the bridges, mainplate, most of the wheels and the rotor are produced by Trilobe.

The Calibre X-Nihilo is, on paper, a classic automatic movement with a central rotor, running at a 4Hz frequency and boasting a power reserve of 42 hours (a bit on the short side, if you ask me). The tailor-made balance wheel features four chronometric regulation screws for precise adjustment, ensuring long-term stability. What sets it apart isn’t really evident on the specification sheet, but is to be appreciated by the looks. The movement, with a large diameter (35.2mm) that fills most of the caseback, features a pleasantly sharp architecture, blending modernity with a certain brutalist design and finish, and a hint of traditionalism.

The movement is wound by a largely openworked rotor that allows an uncluttered view of all elements underneath, such as the geometric, sharp barrel bridge, the stepped balance bridge (somehow reminiscent of antique British movements) and the main plate. The Calibre X-Nihilo also places a strong emphasis on textures and reflections, with a matte-grained mainplate serving as a canvas for the “open island” on the side, where the balance wheel beats. The large bridge combines a strongly brushed surface with polished bevels, black polishing on screws and concave, diamond-polished surroundings for screws and jewels. The movement is almost entirely 5N gold treated, giving it a warm, almost antique look.

The Trilobe Trente-Deux in the metal

Having a nice movement is one thing… But a watch is first and foremost an object to be worn on the wrist and to be appreciated for its design and comfort. So what about the Trente-Deux? As said, I wasn’t hooked at first sight, until I saw the watch last week during Geneva Watch Days 2025. Trilobe’s 32 is a watch within the codes, a watch that answers the current wishes for versatile sporty-chic watches with an integrated bracelet, a watch that will be fighting against some long-established models (Rolex Land-Dweller, AP Royal Oak, VC Overseas, GP Laureato, Chopard Alpine Eagle, PP Nautilus and Cubitus, and more), but also more recent models introduced by independent watchmakers (Moser Streamliner, Parmigiani Tonda PF, Czapek Antarctique, Speake Marin Ripples). This is, without a doubt, one of the toughest categories.

However, Trilobe comes with strong arguments and its own personality, starting with a nicely designed and proportioned stainless steel case. The watch feels novel compared to the rather classic cases found on Les Matinaux or Nuit Fantastique, yet it embraces classic codes of the sporty-chic genre. The middle case is tonneau-shaped, with satin-brushed surfaces and polished accents on the edges, a rounded crown inserted between guards, which are echoed by a lateral “ear” on the left side for a consistent shape. The bezel is textured, as is often the case in the category, with a fluted pattern that combines mirror-polished ridges and microblasted grooves.

The watch is also pleasant to wear, with relatively compact dimensions. The diameter is 39.5mm, with a decent thickness of 10.15mm (it would have been good to sit under 10mm, though) and a short length of 46.2mm. Despite its shape, the case is soft and pleasant to wear, and nicely hugs the wrist, even on my 16.5cm wrist (as photographed). Water-resistance is 50m, enough but not spectacular.

The connection between the Trilobe Trente-Deux and other members of the collection is clear on the dial, as it relies on the same display as the Nuit Fantastique. This wandering off-centred display is based on a series of concentric discs, with the hours positioned at the periphery, rotating in a counter-clockwise direction and aligning with the static trilobe logo at noon. An 8-shaped element on the left side indicates the minutes and seconds. The minutes advance clockwise in the smaller upper section. These appear in 5-minute increments and are indicated by the tip of a triangle. The seconds glide past the wider base of the triangle, also displayed in 5-second intervals.

Available in grey or blue, the dial has been slightly reimagined for the Trente-Deux, with more depth and character. The centre of the dial is sunray-brushed and the circular chapter ring, satin-brushed and mirror-polished, frames this central section. The hour and minutes discs are grained, while the seconds wheel combines azurage and Clous de Paris guilloché.

The Trilobe Trente-Deux is worn on an integrated steel bracelet, with each satin-brushed and bevelled link gradually narrowing for a refined and fluid taper. The thin polished interlinks are said to echo Trilobe’s pointed shape. The bracelet is, like the case, soft and pleasant to the touch, and has suppleness. It is closed by a spring-loaded double-folding clasp, without push-buttons (the same clasp is used by Richard Mille and MB&F). Unfortunately, there’s no micro-adjustment system and no quick-release device to change to a rubber or leather strap.

Availability & price

The Trilobe Trente-Deux is an appealing new contender in the ever-growing sporty-chic integrated watch category. It elegantly combines classic codes of the genre with the distinct personality of the brand, including its attention to detail and original, slightly poetical display of the time. In addition, the introduction of a manufacture movement mostly made in Paris is a strong signal from the brand, which is willing to move forward. It’s a watch that I enjoyed wearing and looking at.

That said, the watch isn’t perfect – some elements, such as the lack of micro-adjustment, should be addressed – and it does come at a price. Part of the permanent collection, it retails for EUR 21,000 including taxes, or EUR 17,500 as export price. This brings it in line with other heavy contenders, even though the Trilobe Trente-Deux has an undeniable appeal and sense of quality (both inside and outside). For more details, please visit trilobe.com.