Trilobe’s airy Folle Journée gets a touch of green and rhodium plating for a more ethereal feel
Borna Bošnjak- The Folle Journée, Trilobe’s most daring design, gets a small, subtle update.
- Its rhodium-plated bridges now accent the colours of the titanium rings floating above.
- All the Folle Journée pieces are powered by Trilobe’s Calibre X-Centric, manufactured by Le Cercle des Horlogers.
Watches and Wonders Geneva is well and truly underway, but Trilobe started their year off well ahead of the so-called “Geneva Watch Week” during which most brands will launch their novelties. These new Trilobe Une Folle Journée Rhodium Editions are novel only in their colourways – they’re not the most groundbreaking release of the season – but they’re still worth paying attention to. They repeat the Folle Journée recipe that brought about the French avant-garde watchmaker’s most expressive time display yet by adding rhodium plating to the bridges beneath the floating rings.
If you’re not familiar with it, the Trilobe Folle Journée employs three independently rotating rings that are elevated above the dial, with time read at the red triangle marker at 6 o’clock. The outermost ring represents the hour, the middle tells the minutes, and the smallest ring is for the seconds. So, for the green variant above, the time is 9:06 – or thereabouts. If it’s legibility you’re after, you’re in the wrong place – this is all about novel ways of displaying the time, and Trilobe’s efforts are usually pretty out there.
Looking at the dial, you’ll also be best-positioned to look at what’s actually new with the Folle Journée. The grained silver surfaces offer a much brighter disposition when compared to the extant all-black models and will sit alongside the gold-coloured variants for that extra bit of contrast. The green “dial” variant in particular is also new, as the titanium-aluminium-vanadium (grade 5 titanium to you and I) discs have previously existed in black, blue, or grey only, coloured with DLC coating.
Though Trilobe is one of a few brands that offer a choice of case size for most of their models, the Folle Journée is only available in a 40.5mm diameter, and much like many of the watches in its category, it isn’t one that will slip under a cuff. The domed crystal emphasises the floating rings and adds a whopping 10.2mm to the overall thickness, which sits at 17.8mm. Sharply curving lugs spanning to 48mm will make it somewhat friendly to smaller wrists, though, as will the grade 5 titanium construction. Perhaps most interestingly, despite the seemingly complex construction, the Folle Journée sports a 50-metre water resistance rating, which is unusual for such avant-garde designs.
To briefly touch on the Calibre X-Centric, which is the beating heart of all of Trilobe’s watches, It’s a micro-rotor calibre built by Le Cercle des Horlogers, recognisable by the design of the rotor, though its architecture is unique to Trilobe. It has a 48-hour power reserve and 4Hz beat rate, and is quite minimal in its design as we’ve seen from the brand before. In my opinion, I’d like to see Trilobe put a bit more effort into the caseback side of things as it’s minimal verging on plain, but the dial side’s aforementioned graining separated by polished chamfers is certainly pleasant.
Trilobe Une Folle Journée Rhodium Editions pricing and availability
The Trilobe Une Folle Journée Rhodium Editions are available now. Price: €23,500 (inc. VAT, ~US$25,600)
| Brand | Trilobe |
| Model | Une Folle Journée Rhodium Editions |
| Case Dimensions | 40.5mm (D) x 17.8mm (T) x 48mm (LTL) |
| Case material | Grade 5 titanium |
| Water Resistance | 50 metres |
| Crystal(s) | Domed sapphire front (10.2mm tall), sapphire back |
| Dial | Green, blue, or black rings |
| Bracelet and strap | Leather strap, pin buckle |
| Movement | X-Centric, manufactured for Trilobe by LCDH, micro-rotor automatic |
| Power Reserve | 48 hours |
| Functions | Hours, minutes, and seconds on floating rings |
| Availability | Now |
| Price | €23,500 (inc. VAT) |