French excellence – Trilobe wows with new Trente-Deux

French watchmaker Trilobe has revealed a new watch that was not only designed in France, but was made there, and is even driven by an all-new movement made in Paris.

It’s called the Trente-Deux (thirty-two in English), and it’s undeniably one of the quirkier watches to arrive in 2025. Although the 39.5 mm case and integrated stainless steel bracelet are conventional enough, and the dial displays numbers spanning one to 12, everything else is a little…different.

The hour disc rotates once every 12 hours, while an arrow at the 12 o’clock position points at the current time. Although the arrow’s position relative to each hour marker gives a rough indication for minutes, more precise minutes are displayed through an aperture towards the centre of the dial. A sundial showing running seconds then sits below that.

It’s a curious piece of watch design that takes a moment to fully understand, then quickly makes total sense, as one learns to read the time by scanning downwards from the 12 o’clock position, reading first the hours, then downwards to the minutes, and again if required to the seconds.

Turn the Trente-Duex over and the unusual design continues, thanks to the unique movement being on display through a full-width, sapphire exhibition case back. Your eyes are drawn first to the huge, open rotor spinning around the circumference of the movement, before noticing how much of the movement is hidden within a square-sided box.

The use of 5N gold gives off a lovely warmth, while the movement is smartly punctuated by shining red rubies, and the open-worked oscillating weight and balance wheel sit on a grain-finished plate.

Shunning the idea of “Swiss Made” being the be-all and end-all of luxury watchmaking, the Trente-Deux proudly displays “34 jewels/ Paris - France” on the rear of its movement, in a font inspired by vintage Parisian street signs.

The in-house movement, known as the X-Nihilo calibre, has a power reserve of 42 hours and a thickness of 7mm. The watch comes on a stainless steel bracelet with double folding clasp, the dial is protected by a sapphire crystal with multi-layer anti-reflective coating, and water resistance is 50 metres.

Available to reserve now, the Trilobe Trente-Deux is offered with dials of sunray blue and sunray grey. Both are priced at €16,500 (£14,300).