Louis Vuitton’s High Watchmaking Novelties: Fine Watchmaking as Supporting Cast

Louis Vuitton continues to expand its watch line in ways that are attracting both its more traditional buyers and the higher levels of fine watchmaking collectors. In many ways, this is an example of how a global luxury brand with proper watchmaking credentials can expand the market in ways a normal, traditional watchmaking company can’t, while also seeing things from different angles of the market.

What we’re seeing now is growth that comes from that combination of checking the pulse of modern life while also leaning on its connection to its state-of-the-art workshop in Geneva, La Fabrique du Temps Louis Vuitton. This is where artisans, engineers, and designers work together to bring it all to an increasingly appreciative public.

One of the key watches at a recent exhibit for special friends and guests at the Greenbelt 5 Louis Vuitton boutique was a piece paying homage to something we’d already seen.

The Louis Vuitton Monterey is a limited-edition timepiece that looks back to the Maison’s first-ever wristwatch. That first wristwatch was the LV1, later followed by the LV2, a watch with an enchanting pebble shape and wonderful detail and depth to its dial.

The new Monterey is much simpler on the face, but stunning in its execution. It uses a yellow gold case cradling a beautifully executed white Grand Feu enamel dial, with a fun combination of color and space, open hour and minute hands, and a crown at 12 o’clock. It nods to the original pieces but is cleaner and simpler, in step with the fact that many modern buyers aren’t looking for complications or busyness so much as something that speaks to them with elegance.

The new watch uses an in-house automatic movement, as opposed to the original’s quartz, and is limited to 188 pieces. As of now, maybe 20 are left in the world.

The other watches at this small gathering came from different corners of the Louis Vuitton world.

One of our favorites is the Escale World Time, a wonderfully colorful piece that simultaneously displays 24 time zones and has been pulling in much of the fine watchmaking collector crowd. This piece is offered for the first time in platinum.

Another complication piece is the Tambour Moon Mystérieuse, which has its timekeeping mechanism aligned along a vertical line, looking like it’s floating in midair. It traces the lineage of “mysterious” movements, where the hands—and in this case the whole calibre—appear to levitate. In the past, this was done with crystal discs; today it’s created using sapphire crystal.

There were several Tambour Spin Times on display too, with executions ranging from the beautiful to the technical, all built on the ingenious system of 12 rotating and tilting hour displays.

The Tambour Spin Time Air Vivienne draws on the house’s heritage and the iconic Monogram flowers. The Tambour Taiko Spin Time uses the same complication but conjures a vision of Japanese ceremonial drums.

Another fun play on the house’s mascot comes with the Bijou Secret Vivienne. A “secret watch” acts more like jewelry, like a bangle or bracelet, with the time-telling function exposed only on demand. On the wrist sits the well-known shape of Vivienne, the Maison’s little character and mascot. A twist of Vivienne reveals a 29 mm white gold case underneath for actually telling the time.

What we’re seeing, then, is Louis Vuitton drawing on its strengths and heritage while understanding what younger, more modern buyers are looking for.

The Monterey is a clear nod to the past, but younger and fresher, with the simplicity and elegance that many now look for in a piece that adds to their look rather than being their look; the Vivienne Bijou Secret operates the same way, but with a bit more playfulness and flash; then there’s the Spin Time pieces which take full advantage of the independent watchmaking expertise of La Fabrique du Temps Louis Vuitton in Geneva, executed in two very different ways.

Visit the Louis Vuitton boutique in Greenbelt 5, Esperanza Street, Makati City.