Hands-On With A Horological Poem — The Trilobe Les Matinaux L’Heure Exquise Blue

You may have never heard of the French poet René Char (1907–1988), but I’m sure you have heard of some of his friends. He counted among them Albert Camus, Pablo Picasso, and Martin Heidegger. Char’s poems were filled with strange phrases and surreal, provocative images. Trilobe, a Parisian watch brand founded in 2018 by Gautier Massonneau, has a series of poetic-looking watches named after Char’s poem collection Les Matinaux (The Dawn Breakers, 1947–1949). The Trilobe Les Matinaux L’Heure Exquise Blue sits in that collection. Like Char’s, the watch has an optimistic, philosophical, and original spirit. Wearing it requires a bit of a different mindset. For instance, you will not ponder purely functional aspects like the advantages of a 60-click bezel over a 120-click version. Instead, you will slowly fall under the spell of the swirling numbers and the double moonphase display.

Trilobe entered the world’s watch stage six years ago with its inaugural Les Matinaux collection. The poetic watches immediately stood out thanks to their time display, which did not require hands to indicate the hours, minutes, and seconds. Instead, the watches used a “wandering” display with three rotating discs and three fixed pointers to indicate the time. For the new Les Matinaux L’Heure Exquise, Trilobe founder Gautier Massonneau took his initial creation and added a moonphase complication.

There’s rhyme and reason to the Trilobe Les Matinaux L’Heure Exquise Blue

Just as a poem needs paper, a poetic watch needs a case (and a movement, but we’ll get to that micromechanical essential later). The Trilobe Les Matinaux L’Heure Exquise Blue (LM11LB & LM12LB) uses a Grade 5 titanium 40.5 × 9.2mm case measuring 48mm from lug to lug and taking a 20mm strap. The case shows mirror-polished surfaces, satin-brushed sides, and a domed bezel with an antireflective sapphire crystal. It’s also water resistant to 5 bar. The watch’s dimensions make it easy to wear, and the water resistance helps ease your mind.

The push/pull crown at 3 o’clock allows you to operate the movement — and what a movement it is! Trilobe’s X-Centric caliber presents itself through the display case back and immediately makes an impression. The self-winding micro-rotor movement debuted in 2020, and it now features an added module for the moonphase complication. Furthermore, the caliber comprises 227 individual parts, operates at 28,800vph (4Hz), and has a 48-hour power reserve. The main visual attraction is arguably the micro-rotor made of tungsten. This small, heavy weight winds the powerful mainspring and pleases many watch aficionados. The finishing of the movement does precisely the same. The mix of color contrasts and different textures won’t leave a watch fan untouched, I presume. When you look closely at the bridges plated with black gold, I’m sure you will agree.

Poetry in motion

If you think the X-Centric caliber is poetry in motion, it’s worth looking at the dial. The movement works in wonderful ways, but the dial works in mysterious ways. And that leads me to the only quote from Char’s poetry I will share with you:

I love you, twin mysteries,
I touch upon each of you;
I hurt and I am light.

These lines are from the poem “Le Carreau” (“The Windowpane”) from Les Matinaux (The Dawn Breakers).

Strangely enough, the absence of hands was not the first thing/mystery I noticed when I unboxed the Trilobe Les Matinaux L’Heure Exquise Blue. Rather, the italic Arabic numerals in the two moving circles around the moonphase indicator captured my eyes and drew me in. Although unconventional, the watch doesn’t come across as a forced expression of extravagance. The dial, dressed in heavenly blue, invites you to solve its mystery. I never wondered how the different dial elements moved. Instead, I just embraced it and accepted it for what it was — elegantly beautiful.

Waltzing moons

The sandblasted dial with its three rotating rings — the outer one for the hours and the smaller, inner ring for the minutes — is the stage for a waltz of two moons. It takes a gear wheel with 59 cogs to evoke the orbit of the Moon around the Earth. One orbit takes 29.5 days, and the mechanism beneath the dial makes the moons reveal their age. And for those who always want to know what’s behind the magic, the moonphase disc is co-axially linked to the seconds wheel.

What I find interesting is that the Trilobe Les Matinaux L’Heure Exquise Blue doesn’t make me think about the complication much. On the contrary, the complexity of the construction is in complete service of the design. As a result, the watch’s inner workings don’t occupy the mind. The design, however, does make me think of Breguet.

Parisian DNA

The case’s relatively sober and straightforward design ensures that all the attention goes to the watch’s dial when on the wrist. After looking at it for a while, it struck me that the watch looked like something Abraham-Louis Breguet would have made if he were alive today. Is it the Parisian DNA that somehow shines through? I believe so. It’s also the proportions of the watch, the spot-on blue color of the dial, and the Arabic numerals that swirl elegantly on it. It is an objet d’art that tells time in the shape of a rotating poem.

I also heard someone say that the design of the Trilobe Les Matinaux L’Heure Exquise Blue reminded her of a Hermès creation. I see what she means. That also supports my point that the watch looks Parisian. There must be something in the water in “The City of Light,” a nickname that reflects the rich history and cultural and artistic significance of the French capital. And yes, I mean the water they drink in the city, not the water Olympic athletes will swim in this summer.

The Trilobe Les Matinaux L’Heure Exquise Blue is a poet, not a pugilist

Now that you know all there is to know about the Trilobe Les Matinaux L’Heure Exquise Blue and how it made me feel, how much do you think it costs? But before you answer the question, please remember some notable aspects of the watch, such as the exquisitely finished titanium case, gorgeous micro-rotor movement, and very original way of displaying time and a complication on an even more original-looking dial, for instance. Are you done with the math? What’s the verdict? €20K? It’s hard to put a price on something so original, isn’t it? It’s way easier when you’re dealing with column-wheel chronographs. Anyway, the price of the Trilobe Les Matinaux L’Heure Exquise Blue is €14,500. And at that price, I think it punches above its weight. Then again, maybe that is a bad choice of words since this Trilobe is more of a poet than a pugilist.

The enchanting Trilobe Les Matinaux L’Heure Exquise Blue, with its casual flair, sophisticated style, and layered character, is very charismatic. Yet it doesn’t brag about its complicated inner workings. Instead, it presents itself in a nonchalant, casual, and self-assured fashion. Furthermore, the complication is part of an ingenious design used to tell a lyrical story, not to show off.

Are you captivated by the poem the watch softly yet confidently recites, and do you want one immediately? Well, you need a bit of patience. Delivery time is eight months after receipt of the order. Are you still interested? In that case, please visit the official Trilobe website.