GAUTIER MASSONNEAU ON BUILDING TRILOBE INTO A FRENCH HOUSE OF HIGH WATCHMAKING

Three years ago in the south of Paris, Trilobe embarked on an audacious undertaking: to become the first Parisian manufacture in 250 years. Where industrial concrete slabs once stood, a vision of French watchmaking's renaissance is taking shape; components now crafted to micron tolerances in a space transformed from its utilitarian past.

This is not a heritage revival. There are no archives to mine, no historical references to reinterpret. For Trilobe, there is only the blank page and the conviction that a watch should be recognisable from mere metres away. "We don't have heritage," says Gautier Massonneau, co-founder of Trilobe, gesturing to the distinctive trefoil-shaped pointer that gives the brand its name and unmistakable identity. "We did not inherit from big names with 150 years of creation. For us, we have to create."

And create they have. In less than a decade, Trilobe has carved out a singular position in independent watchmaking: architectural in spirit, Parisian in location, and resolutely different in execution. Their watches tell time without traditional hands. Their movements are constructed with a minimalist's rigour, guided by Saint-Exupéry's principle that "perfection is when there is nothing left to be removed."

When we meet Gautier and Trilobe's Managing Director, Volcy Bloch at The Hour Glass boutique in Pavilion Damansara Heights during an intimate GTG, the conversation reveals a brand operating on a timeline that defies industry convention. Not a three-year plan, but a 20-year vision. Not marketing briefs, but mathematical precision and architectural inspiration. Not compromise, but 120 iterations of a single bracelet design until it felt exactly right.

This is Trilobe: the French house of high watchmaking that nobody saw coming, building something entirely its own.

Before we get into the nitty gritty, let's start with something easy-going. What's the inspiration behind the name Trilobe?

GAUTIER: I had the chance to grow up in a family of architects as both my parents were architects. As for the name, it comes from a shape of architecture that you can find all around Europe. It's a little tribute and a nod to both my parents and my architectural education. From there, we decided to use it as our logo, as the name of the brand, and the pointer to tell time on the watch.

We read that your mother taught you to stand on a chair for a change of perspective when you were stuck on math problems. Beyond that example, how else did your parents shape your approach when it comes to design, problem-solving, and everything to do with Trilobe?

GAUTIER: I think it's a lot about giving you confidence. You have parents who tend to their kids in ways like, "don't do that!" or "don't touch that!" But you know what, the worst case is you break it and you learn from that. My parents were reasonable in that regard. As a kid, I had the chance to grow up in a place where we had a huge garden and I always constructed tree houses. I could have fallen and died but thankfully not (laughs) and my parents would tell me, "Do your stuff and go have fun."

Given that your parents were from the creative field and growing up in a city like Paris that is known for its architecture, would you say that was a source of inspiration for you growing up?

GAUTIER: Yes and it still is! Paris is home for me. While Geneva is very much inspired by watchmaking, I did not want to go to Geneva. For me, my inspiration doesn't come from watchmaking. I like it and I enjoy understanding it, but it has to be denser than that. It has to come from architecture, from food, from literature, from many things; that is something you find in Paris.

What was your parents' reaction when they found out you were going into watchmaking, given their architectural background?

GAUTIER: I did not study watchmaking so I'm not a watchmaker myself. I studied mathematics initially and and I was looking for my first watch. I wanted something very different that from 10 meters away, you would know what it is but I could not find it so I decided to make it. I'd say the key value that I have from my family is to take joy into building things, objects, companies, and houses so that I think is what matters here is that it's a very personal journey. It's about building something and that is very cool.

Would you be able to spot your creation in a crowd at a watch fair?

GAUTIER: Oh yes, if it's 10 metres away I would know what watch that is. We showed a slide during one of our training seminars where we took a watch from a particular brand with a white dial and two hands but we removed the name of the brand and we asked the sales assistant if they could tell which brand it was. Oof, it was difficult. But of course, there are brands that people can easily recognise from 10 metres away.

And it's not just us obviously. If it's a Ref. 5711 you would know what watch that is; a Royal Oak, you know what that is. So for a brand like us, being able to spot our creations from a certain distance is important because we don't have heritage. We aren't the same as the big-name brands that have heritage from over 150 years of creations and they have to keep that alive. For us, we have to create our own history.

What specific moment changed during your conversation with Jean-François Mojon when you first started Trilobe and what convinced you both that this would become more than just a one-off project? How has the relationship evolved over time?

GAUTIER: It's the same consistency, I would say, because it's understanding that what we're bringing is very different. It's the challenge of doing something that nobody had done before. For my relationship with Jean-François, very cordial but we don't work together anymore because we don't have a product.

We took a different path where we wanted to develop pieces on our own. From the beginning, we have this ambition that we are constructing the French house of high watchmaking. To do that, you have to build, and take steps so we're taking that on the long term. But that doesn't mean we would never do a project with him again, we have a good relationship and friendly relationship.

How would you say the scene has been like in France over the last 10 years when it comes to finding watchmakers you can work with to create these magnificent pieces?

GAUTIER: What is very interesting is that when you got to Geneva-based brands, 83% of the watchmakers are French. That makes a lot of sense too because most of the good schools are in France. They cross the border every day where they walk to Geneva and then they come back for the night. We have this chance in France to be surrounded by skilled and talented people. For us, we're the only manufacturer based in Paris so that allows us to bring very talented people who are excited by building something and participating in that construction.

That meant that a big part of the team came from Patek Philippe because they're super good but now they can construct something that starts from zero. Sandrine Labat, who's part of our team in the workshop, was a veteran at Patek so that allows us to bring on very talented people. If I was to set up in Geneva I would have the same stuff as everyone. Would I have gotten to get the best? I don't know.

What are the key differences of having an atelier in France as compared to Switzerland?

GAUTIER: It depends actually. There is a difficulty to do it in France as we had to do everything from scratch. We manufacture all of our own components, crafted from raw pieces of metal. We also manufacture all the bridges and the plates while also decorating them. This is something that did not exist in France or at least in Paris two years ago. Nobody did that for 250 years in Breguet actually.

It's a big challenge to go from a blank page to manufacturing components with micron tolerances. So the difference here is that we have to invent and to create an environment for ourselves that doesn't exist. So when it comes to the techniques, the machines, we use the same machines, we use the same techniques, and so on.

About your in-house movements, it took Trilobe three years to develop X-Nihilo. What would you say were the most challenging or technical hurdles that you had to go through in those three years in creating your own movement?

GAUTIER: It's more than creating your own movements and creating your own manufacture. So it's on the hardware side, I would say, going from a slab of concrete. Three years ago in the south of Paris where they used to store potatoes—they used to make french fries there—to transforming that to a place where you make components to the micron; that's a challenge, I can tell you.

And of course, the movement side is that we don't make compromises. So I have a very clear vision of what I want in terms of visual language. I don't want to do the same thing as everybody. When you look at the movement, you'll see that it's very unique. And to do that, you have to push your watchmakers. So it's a very Persian movement. You know, a classic watchmaker or classic way of doing things is to use all the space that you have.

The movement certainly has a unique, minimalist approach. You never see any type of construction in other watches.

GAUTIER: No never because what's the point of doing something that everybody does, right?

Was that the goal all along? To have everything of a certain minimalist profile?

GAUITER: Yeah something like that. I always use the sentence of Antoine de Saint-Exupéry who wrote 'The Little Prince'. He said perfection is when there is nothing left to be removed. He said that about planes and I really agree about that when it comes to watches as well. You take the movement part, for example, all around the balance wheel and so on, I wanted to remove everything so that you have what matters. The balance wheel with the bridge only. That's all. I like that. It's very different than conceiving a movement.

What was the inspiration behind the creation of the dial?

GAUITER: I don't know. I don't have a creative process per se, you know, I think of something and I just write. So inspiration is very large from watchmaking to architecture, to food or even books. I read a lot of sci-fi so the inspiration is I want to make something different. It's very cool as you always have life on the dial.

I don't know if you've seen but we created a clock. Just to illustrate, we call this Le Temps Retrouvé or 'time formed again' in French. It's the only mechanical clock in the world that tells time with emotions, or without a dial, without hands, without numbers. And this is what we like to do, taking steps. If it's to do the same thing with hands on a clock, I'm not going to do better than Jaeger or the others. It's a cool clock with hands and it's just to do something very different, yes.

Can we expect to see more clocks from Trilobe in the future?

GAUTIER: Yeah definitely. I mean we don't follow a marketing plan but I have many ideas and creativity is the easy part for me. So we have cool stuff ahead. But yeah, it's a clock, so a piece of mechanical art is something that I like.

How has the response of your creations been in the Asian markets, particularly Southeast Asia, when it comes to your product development strategy?

GAUTIER: Quite good! I think people understand what we're doing. People want different stuff. For us it's a very good market, which is cool as well, but I think people are also looking for a watch that you can spot 10 metres away. A watch that tells a story but it also has something unique about it and that you don't see in everybody's wrists. But again, our production is less than that of let's say Rolex. But the response is good and the goal is that I think we can grow. The maturity of people is growing as well so we're growing together.

Do you have any plans for expansion?

GAUTIER: Yeah we do! But we don't want to go too fast. We have a long-term vision so what is the rush? The vision is to keep building the the French House of High Watchmaking. We want to be different, artistic, and creative. We don't have a three-year plan, but a 20-year plan. But with integrity of course.

About the Trente-Deux, how did you find the balance and the need for a contemporary size while maintaining a visual aspect?

GAUTIER: I don't know but it felt right. We went through many attempts with trial-and-error. We had 120 attempts for just the strap. We use a lot of 3D printing in order to reach a point where we can say, "This is what I want and this is what I believe looks good." We're perfectionists in that sense. We want to play with everything.

And how many attempts did it take for the case?

GAUTIER: I did not count but I would say much more and actually, I think the bracelet was the most challenging for me.

How do you balance between Gautier's creative mind as opposed to comparing it with market viability? Do you two ever come to loggerheads in terms of him being too creative and whether it will be marketable?

VOLCY: Not at all! In the sense that I think that the strength of a brand is really put as a priority and to also be creative. We don't have like a marketing brief, which says, "You have to do this, or you have to do this." And it seems the more creative we are, the more consistent we are also. We are fully consistent in our DNA.

As the Managing Director of Trilobe, how do you approach the operational complexity when transitioning from from an assembly-focused business model to running a complete Manufacture in Paris?

VOLCY: I am not sure that the fact that we are manufacturers changes anything in the way we approach operations. I think from the beginning, we have a very long-term vision for the brand. We always have this ambition of creating a true French creative artistic Manufacture. Now, what is very important in our operations is that we try to partner with the best with The Hour Glass being one of it.

We need partners that understand where we are as a brand, understand where we are going, understand the vision and the ambition that we have. Take The Hour Glass for example. I think Mr. Michael Tay has been one of the very first to promote independent watchmaking and is someone who is passionate about watchmaking. He's a prescriptor in a way and for us to be able to partner with his team is a way we drive our operation and this is what we are looking for a little bit everywhere in the world.

Do you see any differences in terms of collectors preferences when it comes to Asia and Europe?

VOLCY: The funny thing is that when we started the business, initially we thought in our business plan that France would be our first market. It helps that The Hour Glass did an excellent job to educate customers in watchmaking. And we can really feel that in these markets like in Malaysia, Singapore, and Thailand. We think that in some other markets as well, where customers are really seeking for something different, which tells us that they are more mature, I would say. They are more into watchmaking, so they are more educated when it comes to that. These regions are actually a very interesting market for us. The European market is progressing in terms of independent watchmaking, but it's still relatively new.

The US is a really good market but, creatively speaking, we also try to make sure that we spread our presence a bit everywhere. We don't want to rely on one specific market because we've seen a lot of brands who were relying on China. That's really risky so we try to spread our presence globally, speaking all over the world, to make sure that we don't rely on one specific target. But, as a local client out here, we can feel that it's really passionate and educated. And it's also what we like, it's very local. They're very interesting too, but they don't show off at all, which we love.

You mentioned that France isn't the best market when it comes to Trilobe, but how was the response from the locals when they discovered this it's actually a locally-grown brand?

VOLCY: You know it's funny because when we introduced this collection, we had a huge article on the most important French media called Le Figaro. And they said we are the first French manufacturer 200 years after Breguet. I called the journalist and I said thank you.

And he told us, "You know, I do my homework. I've been studying and I interviewed other journalists before writing it because I could not afford to write something that was wrong. At the end of the day, you deserve it. You are the first real Parisian manufacturer." So I told him, "Really, thank you! It's so nice of you to write this." And he said, "We are very proud of you guys as well." So we've received a really warm response and feedback because the watchmaking industry was very French in the beginning so having us back in the game, they are kind of proud of us.

Is there a level of expectations that you feel you must meet now, having been mentioned in the same breath as Breguet?

VOLCY: I don't think we have any expectations. But I think the expectation is that we are still here in the next 20 to 30 years. So the way we operate the company is really with our long-term vision. We don't want make any compromises on our vision. We've been working together for eight years now since the very beginning, sharing the same office. From the beginning we've never questioned our vision. I mean, the vision has always been very clear and we're really into that. Every decision that we take, we try to make sure it's a long-term decision. So I think expectation remains consistent in what we do, being qualitative, and make sure that we are still here in the next 20 to 30 years.