BLACKCAT, FRENCH WATCHES WITH CHARACTER AT ACCESSIBLE PRICES
In a watch industry where price, prestige, and storytelling can sometimes take up as much space as the watches themselves, BlackCat has chosen a different path. This young French watch brand takes a more straightforward approach: creating original, well-designed chronographs that remain accessible enough to be genuinely enjoyed and worn every day.
Behind BlackCat are two watch enthusiasts, Jean-Charles – better known as JC within the watch community – and François, an entrepreneur and watch enthusiast. Their conversations led to a simple idea: to create the kind of chronographs they themselves would have loved to discover when first entering the world of watches.
These are not watches designed to spend their lives safely tucked away in a watch box. BlackCat instead embraces a more relaxed approach to watch ownership: a watch should accompany the person wearing it, live alongside them, pick up a few marks over time and, above all, make them want to put it on their wrist.
This philosophy has become one of the defining characteristics of the brand.
› BlackCat: a name that sets the tone
Even the choice of name reflects the brand’s desire to break away from convention.
Traditionally associated with superstition, the black cat becomes a symbol of independence and irreverence at BlackCat. It is a way of stepping back from some of the more serious conventions of traditional watchmaking without ever compromising on the design and construction of the watches themselves.
Behind this deliberately unconventional image, however, lies a very serious approach to watch design.
Proportions, materials, colors, dials, movements, and wrist comfort are all considered with one guiding principle in mind: creating a coherent watch rather than simply piling up technical specifications designed to impress on paper.
BlackCat is part of a new generation of French watch microbrands that are less interested in reproducing the codes of established watchmakers and more focused on developing a personality of their own.
› Chronographs designed for real life
BlackCat currently centers its watch collection around one of the complications most appreciated by watch enthusiasts: the chronograph.
Once again, however, the brand takes a pragmatic approach.
Rather than pursuing mechanical sophistication at any cost, BlackCat notably relies on Japanese meca-quartz movements. This technology combines the accuracy and ease of use of a quartz movement with the more mechanical operation of the chronograph function.
In use, the chronograph engages with a crisp action and resets instantly, delivering a more tactile and engaging experience than a conventional quartz chronograph.
This choice also allows BlackCat to preserve one of the key elements of its positioning: offering original, technically coherent watches without sending prices soaring.
It is a philosophy perfectly embodied by the brand’s two current collections: Shura and Shaka.
› BlackCat Shura: the contemporary titanium chronograph
With the BlackCat Shura, the brand offers a distinctly contemporary interpretation of the chronograph.
At first glance, its personality naturally comes through in its colorful dials and technical-looking layout. One of its most distinctive features, however, lies in the material chosen for both the case and bracelet: titanium.
With a 40 mm diameter, the Shura combines durability with exceptional lightness. It is a particularly relevant choice for a watch designed for everyday wear, as titanium significantly reduces the feeling of weight on the wrist compared with a traditional stainless-steel construction.
The dial brings together the various chronograph functions while maintaining relatively straightforward readability.
One feature immediately draws the eye at 12 o’clock: a Big Date display using two separate discs. More than just a visual detail, this complication reinforces the model’s identity while making the date particularly easy to read.
› A bezel that comes alive in the dark
Perhaps the most unusual signature of the Shura can be found surrounding its dial.
BlackCat has equipped the model with a luminescent bezel, complemented by luminous elements on the hands and hour markers. Once charged by light, the bezel reveals itself in the dark and gives the watch a personality very different from that of a traditional chronograph.
It is a design choice that perfectly illustrates the BlackCat spirit: preserving the essential functions of a watch while introducing an unexpected element.
A domed sapphire crystal protects the dial, while a water resistance rating of 10 ATM makes the Shura well suited to its role as an everyday watch.
Inside is a VK73 meca-quartz movement, powering the time display, Big Date, and chronograph functions.
Available in Grey, Green, and Purple versions, the Shura is not exactly designed to disappear on the wrist. Instead, it is aimed at those looking for a contemporary and technical chronograph that feels genuinely different from the watches seen everywhere else.
› BlackCat Shaka: when the chronograph takes a more elegant turn
The BlackCat Shaka brings a very different atmosphere.
While the Shura fully embraces its contemporary character, the Shaka explores a more classic side of watchmaking while retaining the touch of originality that defines BlackCat.
Its inspiration comes in part from sector dials and elegant dress watches from the 1940s and 1950s.
The result is a 39 mm chronograph crafted from 316L stainless steel, a well-balanced size that gives the watch an elegant presence on the wrist without becoming overly imposing.
Above all, however, it is the work done on the dial that defines the personality of the Shaka.
› A dial that plays with depth and light
Rather than using a flat, uniform surface, BlackCat builds the Shaka dial across several levels.
The different textures, reliefs, and sections create a genuine visual architecture. Depending on the angle of the wrist and the surrounding light, some areas of the dial become more prominent while others appear more subdued.
This construction gives the watch depth and allows BlackCat to reinterpret the spirit of the dress watch without becoming overly traditional.
Color also plays an important role throughout the collection. Silver, Green, Purple, Blue, and Copper Black give the same underlying architecture distinctly different personalities.
This is precisely where the Shaka finds its balance: elegant enough to complement a more dressed-up outfit, yet original enough to retain a strong personality in a more casual setting.
› Meca-quartz at the service of the chronograph
To power the Shaka, BlackCat once again chose a Japanese meca-quartz movement, this time the VK64.
This caliber is particularly well suited to the character of the watch. It delivers an engaging chronograph experience while retaining the accuracy and ease of ownership associated with quartz.
The 39 mm case is protected by a sapphire crystal, while water resistance is rated at 5 ATM.
The Shaka is paired with a textile strap, further reinforcing its distinctive positioning somewhere between a contemporary dress watch and a neo-vintage chronograph.
It is a different approach from the Shura, but one built around the same idea: offering a watch with a genuine identity rather than simply creating another interpretation of something that has already been seen many times before.
› Shura or Shaka: two interpretations of the BlackCat spirit
Looking at the two collections side by side makes the BlackCat philosophy easy to understand.
The Shura emphasizes titanium, lightness, 10 ATM water resistance, a Big Date display, and an unusual luminescent bezel. It is the more technical and contemporary of the two.
The Shaka, with its 39 mm stainless-steel case and multi-level dial inspired by mid-20th-century watchmaking, takes a more refined approach with a stronger neo-vintage influence.
Two very different approaches, but one shared identity: a chronograph with enough character to make you want to wear it regularly.
› French design and transparent manufacturing
BlackCat also takes a particularly transparent approach when discussing how its watches are made.
The brand is French and its watches are designed under the direction of its founders, but BlackCat does not attempt to present its models as being entirely made in France. Components are sourced primarily from China and Japan, while assembly is carried out in China by specialized manufacturing partners.
The meca-quartz movements used by BlackCat are Japanese and come from the Seiko Group’s VK series, a family of calibers recognized for their reliability and accuracy. Their distinctive feature lies in their hybrid architecture: timekeeping is handled by a quartz module, while the chronograph uses a mechanical system that delivers sensations closer to those of a traditional mechanical chronograph. The pushers have a crisp action, the reset is instantaneous, and operating the chronograph is particularly satisfying in everyday use.
This international production model is now common in the watch industry and one that BlackCat openly embraces, as it allows the brand to select suitable technical solutions while maintaining an accessible price positioning.
That transparency ultimately fits the project rather well: making pragmatic choices and clearly explaining why those choices were made.
› A different approach to enjoying watches
BlackCat is a young watch brand that does not take itself too seriously while still offering honest, well-made watches.
With the Shura and Shaka, however, the brand already has two sufficiently different collections to demonstrate its ability to explore several sides of the chronograph.
One is contemporary, lightweight, and technical. The other is more elegant, architecturally detailed, and influenced by watches of the past.
Rather than chasing artificial prestige, BlackCat seems above all to defend a simple idea: enjoying watches does not necessarily depend on the number printed on the price tag.
A watch can be original, thoughtfully designed, comfortable to wear, and accessible.
And ultimately, perhaps it is only when you stop worrying about wearing your watch that you truly begin to enjoy it.
➥ Discover BlackCat Watches at O’Clock Store
Explore the BlackCat collection selected by O’Clock Store and discover French chronographs with a distinctive personality, combining original design, meca-quartz movements, and accessible pricing.
