Louis Vuitton is 170 years old, but it had become renowned for its watchmaking much more recently. Its Geneva manufacture, La Fabrique du Temps, was acquired in 2011 and, in the years since, the brand has invested in some extremely high-level watchmaking—recognised in the past few years with the likes of GPHG (Grand Prix d’Horlogerie de Geneve) wins.
Its latest horological masterpiece, however, is a tribute to its early history. Asnières, a district on the outskirts of Paris, is the spiritual centre of Louis Vuitton. Although the brand was founded in Paris in 1854 and is still headquartered there, it was in Asnières where Louis Vuitton—the man himself—created a workshop in 1859 to service his growing business. It was also where he would build his family home. Today, the Asnières site continues to be a functioning atelier, where special-order creations are made. The Vuitton family continued to live in the home until the 1980s; today, it serves as a museum and heritage venue.
The Escale à Asnières pocket watch is a one-off bespoke piece with exquisite decoration and has a movement that includes a minute repeater and a seven-animation jacquemart mechanism. It houses the 480-component Calibre LFT AU14.01, developed and assembled in-house at La Fabrique du Temps. This movement is manually wound with a 100-hour power reserve, and chimes on demand to indicate the hour, quarter-hour and minute in traditional fashion via cathedral gongs for extra volume and tone. The watch took more than two years to create.
The dial side depicts a scene set in Asnières: in the background is the manor house, while in the foreground is a horse and carriage right out of the 19th century. The trigger at six o’clock will bring it to life—the horse trots away, the carriage wheels turn, the coachman springs to life, and the Louis Vuitton trunks loaded in the carriage pop open to each reveal its own miniature Monogram flower. At 12 o’clock, the shining sun rotates and holds an LV Monogram Star-cut diamond, the smallest such stone the Maison has ever created.
The work of two pre-eminent artisans embellishes the scene. The first is Dick Steenman, the Maison’s in-house master engraver. The dial starts off as a single block of gold, which is sculpted in bas-relief to bring a sense of three-dimensionality. The depth and detailing are exquisite, with the vertical brushing on the trunks evoking the brand’s Trianon pattern, which was found on its very first canvas coverings.
The dial engraving took three weeks, after which it was passed to the famous Anita Porchet—master enameller—who completed it with her meticulous choices of coloured enamel. There are 35 hues in all, each needing to be applied individually. The house in the background, with its especially complex lighting and shadows, was the greatest challenge.
The caseback has its own depiction of the horse and carriage, this time exclusively in engraving. Here, Steenman’s work takes solitary centre-stage, exploring much finer detailing, textures and shading.
Measuring 50mm in diameter, the pink gold case is finished with diamonds on the bezel and on the ring surrounding the crown at 12 o’clock as well as a gold chain. It is, of course, delivered in a bespoke trunk of its own—made in Asnières, wrapped in an exotic green leather, and equipped with drawers to hold accoutrements such as a travel pouch and a magnifying loupe.
For enquiries, please visit any Louis Vuitton stores or website.
