Le Temps Retrouvé: Trilobe’s Poetic Manifesto Against The Tyranny of Time

“Time regained is not a return, but a revelation.”
— Inspired by Marcel Proust

Watchmaking today is increasingly driven by immediacy and numerical precision. But Trilobe dared to slow down the hands of time—quite literally—with Le Temps Retrouvé, a revolutionary horological sculpture that redefines both the display and the philosophy of time. This is not a watch. It is not even, strictly speaking, a clock. It is a riddle in motion, a sensual sculpture that breathes, blinks, exhales, and invites the viewer into a deeply personal meditation on temporality.

A Manifesto in Marble and Mechanism
At first glance, Le Temps Retrouvé appears more akin to an abstract bust than an instrument of time. It lacks hands, dials, or numerals. Its face—a sculpted likeness that can be personalized—is silent, still, and intriguing. Only on closer inspection does the illusion unravel: beneath the serene façade lies a complex horological mechanism, discreetly animating the sculpture in rhythm with the passage of time.

The piece fuses horology, sculpture, and even perfumery. When asked how the interdisciplinary approach evolved, and what were the key creative or technical turning points, CEO Gautier Massonneau said, “The idea evolved as a quest to slow down time, transforming it into an experience rather than a simple measure. Each discipline—horology, sculpture, and perfumery—was integrated to create a sensory journey, where time is revealed through sight, touch, sound, and scent rather than traditional hands or numerals. The turning point came with the realization that time could be sculpted, felt, and even breathed through a singular work of art.”

Indeed, time here is not announced, but discovered. As the hours pass, two sculpted rosettes unfurl—petal by petal—marking the passage of each hour before closing again in a slow, meditative breath at midday. Minutes are communicated through the gradual, near-imperceptible motion of the eyes. The result is a living sculpture: expressive, enigmatic, and impossibly precise.

An Intersection of Arts: Sculpture, Horology, and Perfumery
Trilobe’s multidisciplinary ambition sets Le Temps Retrouvé apart. The face of the sculpture is carved from a proprietary marble ceramic, created in partnership with the renowned Stéphane Gérard Atelier. This innovative material—supported by a sheet of palladium—offers structural integrity at less than a centimeter in thickness, allowing the complex mechanism to nestle within the sculpture without distorting its form. The material was developed exclusively for Trilobe, after months of testing for durability, weight, and resonance.

The concept of personalization is deeply rooted in this clock—from facial sculpture to fragrance. Speaking about the future of ultra-bespoke horology, he said, “This creation redefines bespoke horology by merging artistic individuality with mechanical precision. From the sculpting of a unique face at the Stéphane Gérard Atelier to the crafting of a personalized fragrance, Le Temps Retrouvé embodies the future of ultra-bespoke timepieces. It is not merely about ownership—it is about co-creation, where each collector actively participates in shaping their own vision of time. This marks a shift from standardized luxury to deeply personal mechanical artistry. At Trilobe, personalization is a cornerstone, an essential pillar that reflects a vision of luxury for oneself, rather than for others. This philosophy of bespoke artistry is already present in our Secret edition, a piece featuring a celestial dial displaying the starry sky at a precise moment that holds meaning for its wearer—a location, a date, a time. In the same way, Le Temps Retrouvé elevates this concept, offering an intimate, sculpted representation of time that resonates personally with each collector.”

And yet, movement is only part of the story. Perhaps the most surprising element of this creation is one that escapes the eye entirely: a custom fragrance, released through a built-in diffuser in harmony with the sculpture’s rhythmic breath. In collaboration with a Parisian perfumer, each collector engages in a sensory consultation to develop their own olfactory identity—a scent that slowly emanates from the piece in timed intervals, marrying memory with motion.

Ultra-Bespoke: A Horological Portrait
Each Le Temps Retrouvé is unique, beginning with a portrait session in Paris. Here, the client’s likeness is sketched and later sculpted into the marble ceramic. The horological mechanism—composed of a staggering 2,050 components—must then be redesigned to accommodate the intricacies of each face, making every piece an architectural and mechanical one-off.

They’ve developed a new material—marble ceramic with palladium backing—to achieve this form. Talking about the most critical engineering challenges in making this sculpture breathe, Gautier said, “The material innovation was born from the need for both structural integrity and artistic finesse. Sculpting a face while integrating a delicate horological mechanism required precision—tolerances of less than a centimeter in thickness. The key challenge was ensuring that the material could house and support an intricate mechanical movement without compromising its aesthetic purity. The interplay between the marble ceramic and palladium backing allows for the sculpture’s subtle warmth, enhancing its organic presence.”

This level of personalization represents not just an artistic feat but a mechanical triumph. Unlike traditional watch complications, where modularity and repetition ensure scalability, Le Temps Retrouvé demands singular engineering for every piece. No two movements are alike; each is an orchestration of precision mechanics tailored to an entirely new geometry.

A New Language of Time
In abandoning the linearity of hands and markers, Trilobe invites a deeper question: what if time is not something we observe, but something we inhabit? Le Temps Retrouvé proposes a language where the tempo is emotional, where time is felt. The sculpture breathes—its quiet respiration echoing your own. The warmth of the marble shifts subtly with ambient conditions and human touch. The eyes do not stare—they turn. The temples open and close, not in haste, but in a rhythm that resonates with heartbeat, breath, and thought.This is not merely poetic license. It is, in Massonneau’s words, “a resistance to the tyranny of seconds.” In place of urgency, Le Temps Retrouvé offers presence. In place of uniformity, uniqueness. It is both monument and meditation, a mechanical soul encased in stone.

The Collector and the Clock

They’ve described Le Temps Retrouvé as “a riddle in motion.” When asked how Gautier would define the ideal collector or audience for this piece, he said, “Le Temps Retrouvé is crafted for those who seek more than just timekeeping—it is for collectors who appreciate the poetry of mechanics and the philosophy behind temporal experiences. Whether art enthusiasts, horology connoisseurs, or visionaries, the ideal collector is someone who resonates with the idea of time as an immersive journey. This piece is a dialogue, an invitation to explore time through movement, sculpture, and scent—an unparalleled adventure into the essence of existence.”

With only a handful of pieces made each year, Le Temps Retrouvé is intended for a rare type of collector—one who sees value in introspection, who collects not just objects but experiences.