The more niche something is, the more difficult it is to preserve its relevance throughout time. Because what is highly specialized can only attract the attention and patronage of a few people, and maintaining their interest in it requires a great deal of time and effort. And it is quite courageous for any person to embark on a business venture which pivots on a risky idea, for example deciding in 2017 to create a watch brand when there were already many of them on the market, and to further decide to base its raison d’être on a single design concept: that hands on a watch do not have to be rectangular or triangular or of any other shape that is more oblong than anything else, but perhaps circular. Circular akin to the common shape of cases and dials, as round as the sun which has been used since the dawn of time as the most crucial point of reference for humans to widely guess how far in the day they have gone. In fact, circles with circles and within circles to indicate time in a way that is radically novel. 

Moreover, one can be intellectually flabbergasted to witness that such a brand evolves within its one theme, successfully so. For when BeauBleu came to be, the idea of replacing traditional handsets with large hollowed circles was daring and bold, and I wondered how far the brand could push the concept. I further pondered this question when I wrote a first review of its creations in 2024 with the Seconde Française Ref. 20.24 Pearl Grey (seven years after its debut,) which presented the circular hands with a new case and a bespoke floating seconds disc concept. I wondered what BeauBleu could come up with next? Next was its first rectangular collection called the Ecce Figura, of which I reviewed the Smalt in 2025, and writing the review I pondered that one question once more. What on earth could the brand come up with next? The next was La Pièce N°1 and N°2, made in partnership with La Monnaie de Paris, France’s Mint, a family of nine limited edition one-piece dial models through which BeauBleu goes back to many roots. 

Its own in fact, and that of France’s oldest manufacturing company as we’re going to see studying La Pièce N°1 Champagne. 

Specifications 

The first point of interest with BeauBleu, and the one element which prompted me to write about the Seconde Française in 2024, is the attention with which the brand not only designs its collections but also ensures that they are technically sound and physically superbly made and finished throughout. For there are many brands out there in the horological wild that come up with new design concepts, some fascinating and even jaw-dropping ones, however do not follow through in all other domains of watchmaking to make well-rounded timepieces. And BeauBleu’s talent for making good watches shows through many, if not all, areas: from the execution of its iconic circular hands which are akin to precious metal rings delicately hovering over the dials, and the visual singularity of the metal chassis which make each and every one of its collections stand out in the global market, to the choice of rarer and finely decorated calibers and the superb finishing work on all time-telling elements as well as the cases, straps, and bracelets. 

For as you can easily imagine, it takes more than a novel design concept to convince a hardcore tool watch enthusiast to take a close look at something like La Pièce N°1 Champagne, and more than a novel design there is indeed. The good stuff starts with what constitutes the all shabbang of this new collection which are the one-piece dials struck in Paris by the French Mint, a Government-owned manufacturing company founded in A.D. 864 by a bold king, and ranked the eight oldest continuously running business in the world and France’s oldest. (Japan claims the first five starting with a construction company called Kongō Gumi founded in A.D. 578. In case you were wondering who beat the Frenchies!) There is therefore something special about this partnership as BeauBleu is a proud Parisian watch brand and working with the French Mint in this way makes it double-down on the freshly planted roots it has established in the French capital. (Fresh compared to A.D. 864 that is.) And so there is the manufacturing of the dials. 

To keep things simple (for my own sake,) the dials are struck in a single-step process on the same machines La Monnaie de Paris has been historically manufacturing coins on, molding each dial blank into a three-dimensional shallow sculpture. This is the first time the French Mint transfers its know-how to horology and one could say BeauBleu was the perfect horological partner for it. The striking process creates grooves and endows the dial with multiple planes, which are highlighted by the engraving of unique patterns and the pad-printing of all time-telling elements and of a couple of decorative ones. (We will go back to all of this later and hopefully the photography in here will do the dials some justice.) As we saw in 2024 through the review of the Seconde Française, La Pièce N°1 Champagne brings back BeauBleu’s floating seconds disc which seamlessly travels around the dial and below a curved sapphire crystal which ought to be complemented by several layers of inner anti-reflective coating because it is clear as day. 

And I wasn’t lying when I claimed just earlier that BeauBleu thinks through all design and technical details of its timepieces. For example, and to once again reinforces its French roots, the Parisian brand opted for the France Ébauche FE caliber to power La Pièce N°1, a 4Hz/46 hours of power reserve French-made caliber regulated to run at ± 9 seconds per day and visible through a sapphire-case-back. (The visual contradiction of the subdued dial and the technical beauty of the caliber is as striking and as singular as this collection is.) This movement is housed in a rose gold-coated stainless steel case measuring 39mm in diameter, 45mm lug-to-lug, 10.2mm thick, and coming with a 20mm lug width. This unit came on a black Saffiano leather strap equipped with a rose gold-plated double-pusher deployant clasp complemented by a superb circular buckle piece showcasing BeauBleu’s logo. There’s also a recessed 5.3mm push/pull crown which gives La Pièce N°1 50 meters of water resistance paired with the screw-down case-back. 

Design 

We are now at the stage in this review when we are once again going to discuss the relevance of a watch’s specifications in relation to its design and how they both function vis-a-vis its price tag. Regardless of how you feel about the struck dials—albeit one could assume you have positive feelings about them or at least a curious interest otherwise you wouldn’t be here right now—they must have cost BeauBleu a certain price to come to existence. Forming a first and once-in-a-lifetime partnership with the French Mint and the country’s oldest manufacturing company is quite the exploit in its own right, and then adding up the movement, the case, the floating seconds disc, and the manufacturing and finishing of all of the watch’s elements (which we’re about to discuss,) you might be surprised by what follows: La Pièce N°1 Champagne only costs €1,790/$2,065 USD (tax included) which is objectively good news and indeed surprising. As far beyond the dial’s manufacturing process and the specifications, there is the fine design. 

At the very heart of this watch there is the dial struck on an impossible machine to describe, where its ridges and planes were shaped by the immense pressure applied onto the dial blank. The Champagne variant of La Pièce N°1 displays an elegant contrast of colors, where a matte ivory background meets the rose gold tones of the pad-printed dial elements, themselves shining through a delicate pearlescent finish. At the center of it, the brand’s logo and wordmark as well as the word “Automatique” located below the pinion, and looking beyond, Roman numerals to indicate the hours, printed onto a ridge sandwiched between two moats of different widths displaying tight formations of engraved patterns forming non-concentric circles, beyond which two minute tracks of divergent designs are further separated by moats and more engraved patterns. As if that wasn’t enough, above the dial we find a fine set of BeauBleu’s bespoke handset made of a polished shiny rose gold color, above which the seconds hand disc made of gold dust travels. 

Needless to say, BeauBleu’s designer(s) didn’t put their pencils away once they had designed the dial, and keep them on the table for the case—or to be more specific, subtly retouch the chassis of La Seconde Française to make it perfectly blend in with the dial. I was a big fan of this case already in 2024 and the new rose-gold finish dramatically elevates its elegance factor to make it perfectly match the ivory/rose gold tones of what is below the crystal. The profile of the case is a design treaty on miniature architecture in its own right, where rounded rectangular lugs shoot out from a super thin upper mid-case section, above which sits a stepped bezel, and below which massive mirror-polished flanks pop and engulf the small recessed crown on the right side. Seen from above, the aforementioned upper mid-case portion completely conceals the crown, and forms a sort of ledge which runs on either side of the case and dips down toward the wrist by way of the angled lugs. The design is elegant and the finishing is superb. 

The Heart of the Matter

When BeauBleu’s cool-as-a-cat and charming General Manager, Adrien Degorges, shared the press release for La Pièce N°1 and N°2, I was sure as I had ever been in my life about anything that these new models would transport the brand to an upper financial echelon of the horological market, closer to that of Swiss luxurious houses of watchmaking, thus surpassing the purchasing power of its initial supporters and biggest fans. I mean…visually delicate dials struck in Paris on century-old machines by France’s oldest manufacturer, coupled with a French-made caliber, overall great specifications and a delightfully finished case, should have fetched more than the €1,790/$2,065 USD BeauBleu is asking for it. Which is why this review’s subtitle is Haute-Horlogerie Soul, Microbrand Price, for even though we do not consider any brand charging more than $1,000 USD to be micro, many such brands now charge above this threshold when doing better and more complicated horological stuff. Quite a few of them do so for no apparent reason actually, but BeauBleu does have good reasons and could have justified more of them to charge double or triple for La Pièce N°1 Champagne. 

However the brand didn’t, hence this subtitle, thus this remarkable collection I would have never seen coming in a thousand miles. BeauBleu proved once again that it can take its singular concept of circular hands to new heights—which, again, I didn’t imagine it could when first came across the brand—to become something new and unexpected, novel again and equally well throughout and executed as its previous collections, and now I feel confident that there will be a next, and another next and a further next. 

Conclusion

In the introduction was mentioned the fact that this new collection comprises nine models, it does. It is composed of six La Pièce N°1—coming in Champagne, Moka, Empire Blue, Graphite, Burgundy and Olive Green—with the same dial layout but varying color schemes, and three La Pièce N°2—Silver, Black, and Rose Gold—showcasing a different dial finishing technique where the brushed and polished accents are hand-made after that the dials were struck. Quite remarkable in their own right I must admit albeit sold at the same mind-blowing price. The price of €1,790/$2,065 USD by the way is for La Pièce N°1 on a leather strap of one of many colors, and for €100/$115 USD extra you can opt for BeauBleu’s integrated snake-scale metal bracelet, which I would opt for if I were you. It is superb and highly comfy on the wrist. 

Thanks for reading.