I had been following Pierre, the founder of NoracTime, from a distance for a while, admiring the colourful hand-painted dials that kept popping up on my feed. But I got a chance to look a little closer when I unexpectedly won one of his Instagram giveaways: a painting of the iconic Piaget Polo 79.

Having that painting made me curious about the person behind the work I had been seeing online. I already knew the colourful watch dials, but seeing one of his paintings up close made me wonder where that creativity comes from, and how it translates to something as small as a watch dial.

At 33, the French watch enthusiast and artist has found a way to bring two things he has loved for a long time together: drawing and watches. And while the finished pieces might look playful and effortless, there is clearly much more going on behind those tiny painted dials.

So I wanted to get to know the man behind NoracTime a little better, and find out how that journey started.

A photo of Pierre by Emilie De Freitas Photography

From school notebooks to watch dials

Pierre has been drawing for as long as he can remember. It started in the most natural way possible, just a kid drawing because he could, filling pages simply for the joy of creating something.

Soon, there were little drawings everywhere. His school notebooks, his pencil case, pretty much anything that gave him a surface to work on. He even spent around four years taking drawing classes as a child, learning the basics and experimenting along the way.

Life, of course, moves on. Drawing wasn’t always at the centre of it, but it never really disappeared either. Whenever he found some free time later on, Pierre would come back to it, trying new techniques, different styles, and simply enjoying that feeling of creating something with his own hands.

That same feeling has found a rather unusual canvas.

A watch dial.

“I’m painting watches and ON the watches,” he tells me with a laugh.

For Pierre, painting isn’t just about the finished image. It’s about the process itself. Sitting down, concentrating, disappearing into his own little world for a while.

“Draw and paint are a perfect way to keep focus, stay in your own ‘bubble’ and express yourself freely.”

I think there is something quite beautiful about that. In a hobby that can often be about comparing, collecting and constantly looking for the next thing, Pierre’s work starts from a much simpler place: slowing down, creating something with your hands, and making something that didn’t exist before.

The watch that started it all

Pierre’s connection with watches actually goes back long time.

He has photos of himself at around five or six years old already wearing a watch, probably a Flik Flak. But the one he really remembers clearly is a Festina on a steel bracelet, given to him by his parents when he was around 11 or 12.

He still has it today. See it below.

It might not get much wrist time anymore, but its importance isn’t really about what watch it is.

It was his first “real” watch.

That feeling of finally having your own proper timepiece stayed with him, and from there his journey into watches began. There were, as he puts it, some fashion brands along the way, but that’s part of learning too. Most of us had been there, I know I was.

Later on it wasn’t enough anymore to simply like how a watch looked. Pierre started becoming interested in movements, technical details and the differences between quartz, mechanical and automatic watches.

And, as anyone reading this probably already knows, that’s usually where things get dangerous for the wallet.

“You fall in the most expensive hobby!”

I can’t really argue with that.

Finding a way to combine the two

Before NoracTime had a name, Pierre was already spending his days around watches. He worked in a jewellery store, selling watches and, more importantly, trying to help people find the one that actually meant something to them.

For him, it was never simply about putting a big name on your wrist. A watch should have something that connects with you. Maybe it’s the story behind it, maybe the way it looks, or simply the feeling you get when you put it on.

That idea stayed with him.

At the same time, he was still looking for that perfect watch for himself, always checking out new releases and seeing what was out there. Then he came across the work of The Dial Artist and his colourful, hand-painted dials covered in little dots.

Something clicked.

Rather than just admiring the idea, he decided to grab a white Casio and have a go himself. He painted colourful stains across the dial. Yellow, red, blue and everything in between. It was a simple experiment, but looking back, it was also the moment where his two worlds started to come together.

And as Pierre soon discovered, he wasn’t the only slightly crazy person who thought that a watch dial could make a pretty good canvas.

That little Casio experiment was the beginning of NoracTime.

Watches Should Make You Smile

That idea of making a watch meaningful to the person wearing it is also at the heart of how he sees collecting. For him, there isn’t really a right or wrong way to build a collection. A watch doesn’t have to follow a trend or even make sense to anyone else.

“If your thing is only chronograph or black divers, who am I to judge? Buy all the Speedmaster if that’s what makes you happy.”

And I think that’s an important part of NoracTime. He isn’t trying to tell collectors they need more colour or that traditional watches aren’t interesting. He simply wants to offer another possibility.

Colour is a big part of the fun for him, not just because you can match a watch to your outfit, but because watches should be something you enjoy.

And when you start customising one, that freedom becomes almost limitless.

“If you want a big avocado on your watch, go for it!”

It makes me smile, but there is something quite true behind it. If an avocado on your wrist makes you happy, why shouldn’t you have one?

At the end of the day, watches are personal. We choose them, wear them through ordinary days and important moments, and build memories around them.

So why shouldn’t they make us smile too?

That’s the kind of freedom he wants to bring to the wrist: not just something unique, but something that feels like you.

Painting on a tiny canvas

That freedom to create something completely personal sounds wonderful, but turning an idea into a finished watch is a very different story. Behind every colourful dial is a surprisingly careful and sometimes nerve-racking process.

It starts with taking the watch apart.

Pierre has to remove the case, hands and movement until the only thing left in front of him is the dial. From there, the mechanical side gives way to the artistic one: the paints come out, the tiny brushes are ready, and the real work begins.

But he doesn’t simply pick up a brush and start painting.

Sometimes he’ll first work on a test dial, figuring out how the design will sit within those few precious millimetres of space. Where one element should go, how the colours will work together, how much detail the dial can actually take.

Then comes the moment when there is no more planning left.

Just the brush, the paint and the dial.

Slowly. Carefully. Layer by layer.

There is no room for rushing, and very little room for mistakes. Each line has to be where it needs to be, and every colour has to be applied with care. And even when Pierre considers a piece finished, he admits that the artist in him sometimes refuses to leave it alone.

He calls himself a “tormented artist”, and that means there is often a little voice telling him to go back and retouch something that already looks finished.

But perhaps the most difficult moment comes right at the beginning.

That first line.

Pierre tells me that sometimes he sits there for a few seconds before finally putting the brush to the dial. I can understand why. After all the planning and preparation, this is the moment when an idea that has existed only in his head suddenly becomes permanent.

And unlike painting on paper, there is no easy way back.

There is no Ctrl+Z on a watch dial.

That first stroke has to count.

Learning from mistakes

And that first stroke on the Casio was only the beginning. Pierre’s first painted watch was far from perfect technically, but it gave him something much more valuable: a place to start learning.

He had to figure out how the paint would hold up, how much precision was really needed, and which tools could give him the control he wanted. Before long, even acrylic pens were no longer enough.

And then there was the Timex Indiglo.

That came before the Casio and ended with Pierre discovering that getting the dial out wasn’t quite as simple as he had imagined. The watch didn’t survive the experiment.

But I think that’s what makes the story behind NoracTime so interesting. None of this appeared fully formed. It came from curiosity, mistakes, trying again, and slowly turning an idea into a craft.

Trusting the artist

And perhaps that’s where the personal side of NoracTime really comes through. Pierre isn’t just painting a design. He’s taking someone’s story and turning it into something they can carry on their wrist.

That takes trust.

A great example is the Lip Besançon he created for a client from the city where Lip was founded. He wanted three things on the dial: two of Besançon’s landmarks and the old Lip factory.

Three pieces of a personal story, squeezed into a tiny space.

After talking it through, the client gave him the freedom to bring it all together in his own way. And for Pierre, that trust is one of the most special parts of what he does.

Someone isn’t just asking you to paint their watch. They’re trusting you to turn something meaningful to them into art.

A watch with a hometown on its dial

When I asked Pierre which project he was most attached to, he admitted that it was a difficult question because there have already been quite a few.

But if he had to choose one, it would probably be the Lip “Tolosa”.

Tolosa is Toulouse, Pierre’s hometown, and the idea was to paint the city onto the dial.

The project received a lot of positive feedback, but what makes it even more special is that the finished watch was eventually bought by someone who also has Toulouse close to their heart.

And that feels like the perfect example of what NoracTime is about.

It’s not simply about putting a nice picture on a watch.

It’s about making the watch mean something.

What’s next for NoracTime?

NoracTime is still a very young brand, but in less than a year Pierre has already created pieces for people around the world and built some genuinely lovely relationships along the way.

There doesn’t seem to be a complicated plan for what comes next. He simply wants to keep painting, experimenting and enjoying the journey. And with every finished dial, another little piece of NoracTime finds its way onto someone’s wrist and becomes part of their story.

There are still plenty of wrists out there waiting for a little NoracTime personality.

Challenge accepted, Pierre. One of them might just be mine next.

When I first came across his work, it wasn’t just the colourful dials that caught my attention. It was the idea behind them. I love watches for the details, movements and stories, but also because they are deeply personal things we choose to wear every day.

He takes that idea one step further, giving a watch another layer of personality and turning it into something that can feel truly unique to its owner.

Knowing the patience, creativity and courage that goes into putting that first line on the dial makes the finished piece even more special to me.

So yes, Pierre, I might have to let you loose on one of my watches someday.

Until then, I’ll happily keep following the journey and see what he paints next.

If you enjoy my reviews and stories from the world of watches, consider subscribing to my newsletter so you never miss a new review, hands-on, or microbrand feature.

Link to Noractime:

https://noractime.com/en