Buci & seconde/seconde/ produce a poetic timepiece that bleeds for its craft
Time+TideWhen we talk about trends in the watch world these days, a few immediately come to mind. Vintage revivals, or Tiffany blue dials being the new hot thing or random imagery such as coloured bubbles… But a discreet (and more interesting( trend we see popping up here and there is that of collaborations between two smaller and independent brands, often one that makes watches and the other that hacks them. You may have heard of seconde/seconde/, known for adorning luxury watches with funky, abstract, or downright goofy seconds hands. You may have also heard of Buci, a poetry-infused brand heralding from Paris, France. If you haven’t yet, however, now you will, as we’re about to take a look at a unique collaboration between the two which gave birth to a neat limited edition take on the brand’s Garde-temps model.
The case
I followed several of the recent collaborations that seconde/seconde/ made with independent watch brands. But this collab is different. The platform used for this collaboration, the Buci Garde-temps, is an everyday, elegant timepiece and not a vintage or funky tool watch. That said, Buci’s Garde-temps looks like a watch made in the past or with machines made a century ago. It’s elegant, well-made, and boasts great specs which makes the regular production model already worthy of your attention. The Garde-temps is universally sized with a diameter of 38mm, a lug-to-lug of 46mm, a total thickness of 11mm, and a lug width of 20mm.
The case has an elongated and elegant profile, with fully polished flanks that spill over to the chamfers, as well as a polished oval and angled fixed bezel. Brushed surfaces can be found on top of the lugs and on the inner lip of the bezel, angling down towards the crystal. The latter is a piece of domed sapphire which elevates the elegance factor of the Garde-temps as well as making it a practical everyday wearer. Although it comes with a see-through screwed-down case-back, the crown is of the push/pull variety which gives the Garde-temps 30 meters of water resistance. The case-back also constitutes the first visual element to showcase the unique collaboration. More on that in a bit.
The dial
The regular production Garde-temps comes in three colours: green, brick red, and beige (although as of publishing, the latter is sold out). All three dial versions feature a unique paper-like texture that looks best in the beige, which thankfully is the colour used for this seconde/seconde/ collaboration. Overall, the face of this version is the same as that found on regular production models: high-polished leaf-shaped hands, applied multi-faceted hour markers, and discreet branding. (The brand’s name and city of origin are printed above the pinion while its logo can be found south of it.) If you pay close attention to the markers at the cardinal points, you’ll notice that they are shaped like the nibs of fountain pens, which combined with the paper-like dial texture, clearly evokes poetry and the art of putting words to the page.
What’s different here from the regular production models is a pad-printed motif of bleeding ink placed in the southeast quadrant of the dial. As mentioned above, seconde/seconde/ typically leaves his mark by replacing the stock seconds hand with something goofy, bright, and bold – like a giant pixelated sword or a shark’s fin. However, his typical approach wouldn’t have worked well here as the Garde-temps has an elegant dial and a theme strongly revolving around literature and poetry. So instead, the two brands decided to go the extra mile by being additionally bold in applying this particular motif onto the dial.
The strap
In terms of straps, the limited edition will be shipped with two options: a limited-edition black suede strap with beige stitching and a poetic strap made of vegetable-tanned leather where one can choose from four quotes to be engraved either on the inside or outside parts of the strap. Both straps, by the way, taper from 20mm to 18mm at the clasp and come with quick-release spring bars to make swapping them easy and curved ends to match the elegance of the case.
The movement
Another key feature of the Buci Garde-temps is the movement we can see behind the see-through case-back: the Swiss-made and French-assembled Soprod Newton which beats at 4 Hz and comes with 44 hours of power reserve. The movement is also regulated to run at +/- 7 seconds per day, which is a nice bonus.
The caseback also has a fun touch: a bespoke definition of what poetry is has been stamped on the back crystal that reads ”Poetry: bloodsport where a daring soul fiercely fights a blank paper.” Cheeky. Furthermore, the name of the collaborator on this project is indicated above the paragraph and that’s the only place where it can be seen.
Buci Garde-temps x seconde/seconde/ pricing & availability
The Buci Garde-temps x seconde/seconde is limited to 40 units and is available for pre-orders until April 15th, 2024 directly from Buci’s website. Shipping is estimated for the end of May of 2024. As a bonus, each Buci Garde-temps is shipped in a book-like package that can be neatly tucked away in your bookshelf! Price: €1,495 / A$2,466.
| Brand | Buci x seconde/seconde/ |
| Model | Garde-temps |
| Case Dimensions | 38mm (D) x 11mm (T) x 46mm (L2L) |
| Case Material | Stainless steel |
| Water Resistance | 30 metres |
| Crystal(s) | Sapphire front and back |
| Dial | Beige with cut motif |
| Lug Width | 20mm |
| Strap | Black suede leather strap and vegetable-tanned leather strap |
| Movement | Soprod Newton, automatic |
| Power Reserve | 44 hours |
| Availability | Limited to 40 pieces, available for pre-orders until April 15, 2024 |
| Price | €1,495 / A$2,466 |