“Ecce Figura”, form as an expression of free time.
Paris is a city that can be experienced and felt like no other: through a ray of light on a facade, a café on a terrace, the sun reflecting on the Seine, a conversation with a bookseller on the quays... The capital is a source of intuition and infinite inspiration. For the designer of Beaubleu watches, Nicolas Ducoudert, it was a rectangular wax seal, encountered by chance while browsing in a flea market, that sparked in him a desire for change and a questioning. Why should round hands turn tirelessly in a round case? Why not let form guide function and give a new framework to the very idea of time made in Beaubleu?
From this question was born "Ecce Figura," the Maison's first shaped watch. A piece that plays at challenging expectations with that particular composure we call nonchalance. While Beaubleu dares to step outside the box and change its shape, it does so without turning around and completely denying its grammar and vocabulary. It does so in its own way: with balance.
Alongside the limited editions, "Ecce Figura" is part of a permanent collection, not to freeze, but to inscribe a watch of form in the long term. Faithful to its culture of free time that is tested and shaped, of a time lived more than measured - symbolized by its famous round hands - Beaubleu offers here a new interpretation, conceptual and tangible, where form, material and movement intertwine together to give meaning.
The "Ecce Figura" is housed in a semi-octagonal case that's neither too raw nor too classic. Even in its shape, it retains its softness and roundness. Nothing radical, it adopts softened and curved angles, a concave bezel, and alternating polished and brushed finishes. The result? A piece that captures the light as much as it refracts it, with just the right proportions (30 x 39 mm) and astonishingly thin (only 8.6 mm). Once again, it's the shapes that take the initiative, adapting for an organic fit.
This new collection, divided into two series, offers six distinct dial animations. Beneath the bold allure of a shared case, two worlds unfold, two singular visions for inhabiting time, each exploring the dial's material with a decidedly different approach.
The first series is inspired by the art of bookbinding, by these handcrafted works where each texture evokes an almost vanished know-how. The dial becomes a page, an imprint, a material to be read. "Smalt" (deep blue) and "Onyx" (lacquered black) summon the world of the wax seal: a dense lacquer, a thickness of enamel applied by hand, debossed indexes that seem to emerge from the material. A nod to the Maison's first creations. "Lys" offers another score: its cream dial, grained like a finely chiseled sheet of paper, plays the card of refinement. The hollowed indexes integrate into the material in matte shades. The flame-blued seconds hand punctuates this discreet elegance, bringing light. Finally, "Alba" evokes a pen drawing: finely pad-printed indexes, a light dial contrasting with the blue hands and indexes. It is the balance between simplicity and lyricism, time is read in a literary and clear way.
The second series, meanwhile, summons matter in its rawest form. A more radical, yet equally elegant, proposition that embraces its simplicity. Here, there's no decoration; we return to the essentials for a watch that seems carved like a sculpture, from a single block, right down to the very surface of its dial. Two versions: "Vesperal" in brushed steel or "Sienna" in rose gold. No railroad minute track, indexes reduced to their simplest expression, no superfluous markings; it's the object that speaks for itself. The emotion is not in the detail but in the visual impact. Time is experienced simply through the reflections of light between brushed and polished surfaces.
Behind this exploration of form and materials, the "Ecce Figura" is powered by a Japanese Miyota 9015 automatic caliber, set to ±7 seconds per day. A movement that is both reliable, precise, and compatible with the aesthetic demands of the piece. The bracelets, in steel mesh or grained leather, accompany each watch, as desired. The lug width, reduced to 18 mm, further refines the overall line to emphasize the lightness on the wrist. The "Ecce Figura" asserts its diversity, both in its design and proportions and in its finishes.
"Ecce Figura," here is the figure, the form at Beaubleu! The Maison is not just offering yet another watch with this permanent collection. It invites us once again to question time, but also the gaze through what it sees and perceives. What if form allowed, instead of framing or enclosing, to express oneself better? Or at least to express differently... It is part of this culture of free time dear to Beaubleu, where the watch becomes a pretext for thought, movement, emotion. "Ecce Figura" is not a break, it is an extension, a way of opening up another part of Beaubleu's vocabulary, more graphic, more structured, but still driven by the same desire: to make watchmaking a playground, a mirror of time lived where each one freely understands it.