No hands here. Three rings turn counterclockwise around a single fixed pointer under a sapphire dome 10.2 mm tall: hours on the outer ring, minutes in the middle, seconds on the smallest, all of it floating over the movement’s mainplate. The second-generation Une Folle Journée keeps that patented layout and rebuilds nearly everything around it, from the barrel case and cut-to-fit rubber strap to Trilobe’s own X-Nihilo calibre, designed and assembled at the brand’s Paris atelier.
The first generation ran on the X-Centric, a bought-in calibre from an outside specialist. This one’s movement is Trilobe’s own work, and the case trades the old round profile for a barrel shape with integrated lugs. The silhouette came from the Trente-Deux, the collection that also donated the movement.
Trilobe Une Folle Journée Blue
2nd-generation barrel case in grade 5 titanium · X-Nihilo manufacture calibre, 42-hour reserve
Price: $26,150
Where to buy: More details at Trilobe
A barrel case built around the dome
Grade 5 titanium is the standard case material, with 18k rose gold offered alongside it. On paper, the 40.3 mm diameter and 47.4 mm lug-to-lug length keep the footprint compact. Paper specs only go so far, though, since the case stands 18.5 mm thick and nearly all of that height is crystal, a dome rising 10.2 mm before it curves back down. A divers’ watch would wear that height differently: the barrel case tapers at both ends, and the dome carries the eye upward instead of outward.
Mirror-polished surfaces alternate with satin brushing, the crown works as a push-button, and the sapphire caseback keeps the new calibre visible from behind, with water resistance rated at 5 bar, roughly 50 meters. The crown’s fluted edge matches the case’s machined lines.
Rings that float on nine columns
Three rings sit off-center and turn against the clock’s usual direction, each one read against the fixed pointer.
Nine polished titanium columns hold the stack above the mainplate, so the rings read as separate instruments, stacked in the round under the dome, and they never sit still long enough to read like a normal dial. Reading the watch takes a beat to learn, because a glance lands on one number at a time instead of three sets of hands at once.
Blue and Black run over a rhodium-plated mainplate, while Dune swaps in a 5N gold plate under gray rings. None of it hides behind a dial, because there isn’t one: the mainplate is the dial, and the movement’s finishing does the decorating.
A manufacture calibre replaces the bought-in one
X-Nihilo is the bigger change here. It’s an automatic calibre with an oscillating weight, built from 267 components with 37 functional jewels, and it beats at 28,800 vibrations per hour with 42 hours of reserve. At 35.2 mm across and 7.49 mm thick, it fills the case the way a movement designed for one watch should.
X-Centric, the first generation’s engine, came from Le Cercle des Horlogers, an outside movement specialist with a strong pedigree. Owning the calibre outright is a different claim: Trilobe designs, builds and assembles this one in its own Paris atelier, down to details like the 5N gold coating that develops a natural patina over time.
The calibre itself arrives fresh off the Trente-Deux, where it debuted as the brand’s first fully in-house movement, and putting it under the rings gives this second generation an engine with a longer life ahead of it than the display alone would need.
Cut-to-fit rubber, one price for titanium
Each version wears a striped rubber strap matched to its rings, closed by a double folding clasp. Trilobe cuts it to size from a wrist measurement with the order, in small, medium or large.
Titanium pricing is $26,150 before tax, the same across Blue, Black and Dune, and the rose gold version’s price hasn’t been disclosed. It’s a permanent collection piece, sold through Trilobe’s own site and boutiques, with a two-year warranty behind it and free shipping and returns.
That money sits in serious company: a manufacture Speedmaster or a well-specced Fifty Fathoms lives in the same bracket, and both read the time the normal way. The Trilobe spends its budget differently, on a patented display and a Paris-built movement, and the comparison settles on whether the rings charm you or confuse you.
Who this lands for
Buy it if the first generation’s looks hooked you but the bought-in movement held you back, because that objection is gone now. Skip it if 18.5 mm of height sounds like a lot, since the dome is the design and there’s no thinner version coming. At $26,150, the money buys Paris manufacture credibility. It also buys the strangest time display in its class.
| Case | Grade 5 titanium or 18k rose gold, barrel shape with integrated lugs |
| Diameter | 40.3 mm |
| Lug to lug | 47.4 mm |
| Thickness | 18.5 mm |
| Crystal | Domed sapphire, 10.2 mm dome height, ARDUR anti-reflective coating |
| Caseback | Sapphire |
| Water resistance | 5 bar (50 m) |
| Display | Three off-center rings for hours, minutes and seconds around a fixed pointer, patented |
| Movement | X-Nihilo manufacture calibre, automatic, designed and assembled in Paris |
| Jewels | 37 functional |
| Components | 267 |
| Frequency | 28,800 vph (4 Hz) |
| Power reserve | 42 hours |
| Strap | Striped rubber, color-matched, double folding clasp, cut to fit |
| Price | $26,150 before tax (titanium) |
Trilobe Une Folle Journée Blue
40.3 mm barrel case under a 10.2 mm sapphire dome · Three off-center rotating rings read against a fixed pointer
Price: $26,150
Where to buy: More details at Trilobe
The rings still turn the wrong way on purpose, and everything holding them up is new.
