Ludovic Ballouard Upside Down Red Meteorite

Ludovic Ballouard is one of the most fun-loving personalities in indie watchmaking. Originally hailing from France, the master watchmaker runs his workshop right outside of Geneva. Previously working for Franck Muller and F.P. Journe in the late 1990s and 2000s, Ballouard launched his eponymous brand in 2009 with the Upside Down timepiece. With great pleasure, we present a stunning edition of the Upside Down launched at Dubai Watch Week 2025 with a rich burgundy meteorite dial with Eastern Arabic numerals. 

While the Upside Down fits the profile of an elegant, classical watch – a beautiful round 41mm case – its dial and movement are thoroughly modern and creative. One can only observe the time in the present. Every hour numeral is inverted, upside down and only clicks into upright position as the minute hands strikes 12. It’s amazing how sophisticated the underlying philosophy is for this timepiece, crafted initially at the height of the 2008-2009 global financial crisis. It was Ballouard’s own approach to navigate the complexities of the market at that time – there is nothing to be changed in the past and the future is uncertain. The only thing for any of us to do is make the most out of the present moment, the current hour. 

A simple, philosophical idea, the mechanics to make the concept work are anything but. In-house caliber LB01 is an act of watchmaking ingenuity. The energy and space requirements to design a movement with 12 snapping hour indicators is significant, especially considering the timepiece’s slim 41mm diameter and 11mm height. For this job, Ballouard employs a Maltese cross jump hour mechanism. This mechanism, usually used as a stop-work mechanism to manage the leap year indicator on perpetual calendars, has been fully repurposed in the Upside Down. Each hour has its own Maltese cross with a central cam system that manages the transition from hour to hour, upside down to right side up and back again. 

While the underlying philosophical idea and mechanics are ultra-creative, this timepiece’s dial is crafted of a rich burgundy-colored meteorite. Collectors can observe the geological striations of the rock through the dial – known as a Widmanstätten pattern. When combined with the rose gold case, the color, contrast, and texture simply pop, especially when seeing the timepiece in the metal. An evolutionary step in the dial-side of the Upside Down, this is a dial that brings the level of craftsmanship to another level.