“I wanted to make a clock you could never win against.”
— Romaric André, aka seconde/seconde/
Besançon, France — In the historic heartland of French watchmaking, something wonderfully subversive has taken shape. A bullseye target. Darts, erratically scattered. A seconds hand that refuses to land. This is Uncatchable, the first wall clock collaboration between conceptual watch artist seconde/seconde/ and the revered horological atelier UTINAM Besançon. Part sculpture, part provocation, it’s a timekeeper that keeps you on your toes—and dares you to try and follow.
The result is a clock that doesn’t just tell time. It plays with it.
On one side: Philippe Lebru, the mechanical poet behind UTINAM, known for monumental clocks that double as kinetic art. His atelier produces towering, architectural timepieces—each driven by weight, pendulum, and the human obsession with the passing of time.
On the other side: Romaric André, better known as seconde/seconde/, whose irreverent hand-swaps and pixel-perfect mischief have made him one of independent horology’s most distinctive voices.
Together, they’ve built something larger than either has attempted before.
“Uncatchable is exactly that—a moment you can never pin down,” says André. “The concept came from this idea of futility. We’re always chasing time. What if time dodged back?”
The face of Uncatchable is a graphic bullseye, whimsically marred by darts that seem to have missed their mark. It’s a visual metaphor for time’s elusiveness—and for our own misplaced confidence in catching it. The second hand dances around the dial like a taunt, forever brushing past the target’s center but never settling.
“It’s mechanical satire,” says Lebru with a grin. “Everything is engineered with the precision we’re known for. But the message is: that precision doesn’t guarantee control.”
It’s not just a visual joke. The clock is powered by UTINAM’s respected KB2 mechanical movement, a weight-driven system that chimes gently as it marks time’s flow. This is traditional French clockmaking in its purest form—reimagined with wit.
The production is small, each piece numbered and signed. The process, though, is meticulous. From hand-lacquered darts to laser-etched typography, every detail has been considered. “It looks playful,” André says, “but it’s crafted seriously. That contrast is where the magic lives.”
There’s also a tactile richness to the clock that surprises. The deep ticking of the movement, the slight sway of its pendulum, the way light catches the raised elements of the target face—every part contributes to the sense that this is an object with personality. Not just an artwork. Not just a machine. Something in between.
Word of the collaboration spread quickly. seconde/seconde/ teased it online with a characteristically dry caption:
“Uncatchable. My first wall-clock collab. × @utinambesancon”
— seconde/seconde/
Within hours, the waiting list was underway. While the UTINAM name already draws serious horological collectors, the presence of seconde/seconde/ expanded the reach—bringing in design lovers, conceptual art followers, even fans of street culture. “We didn’t expect the crossover,” Lebru admits. “But it makes sense. This clock doesn’t sit in one world.”
In a world where clocks are expected to conform—to quietly tick along the walls of order—Uncatchable dares to miss the mark on purpose. It’s not just about telling time; it’s about questioning our relationship with it. With a wink and a wobble, seconde/seconde/ and UTINAM Besançon have created an object that sits comfortably between absurdism and artisanship. A timepiece that doesn’t just hang on your wall—it haunts it, playfully.
Learn more about the collaboration at utinam.fr.
