Time, as envisioned by Louis Vuitton, stretches beyond the edge of imagination. In the hands of master artisans at La Fabrique du Temps Louis Vuitton, the art of watchmaking reaches new artistic heights. Here, the Maison has built an enclave of savoir-faire pillars, where timepieces are developed in successive stages under one visionary roof. These objets d’art are recognised with the highest honours too, as the Tambour Carpe Diem won the Audacity Prize at the 2021 Grand Prix d’Horlogerie de Genève (GPHG). This year, the same disciplined craft unveils a high watchmaking collection that crosses over the ancient samurai, an interstellar odyssey, and the wilderness of the Amazon. Conceptually profound, each piece encloses a world on its dial, with layered automata and complications, transforming timekeeping into wearable art.
A Warrior’s Code
A triumph of La Fabrique des Arts (the Maison’s dedicated métiers d’art workshop), the Tambour Bushido Automata timepiece is nominated in the Artistic Crafts category of this year’s GPHG awards. This automaton timepiece is powered by the award-winning LV525 calibre, delivering a 100-hour power reserve with five on-demand dial animations, jumping hours, and retrograde minutes. A mechanical mask automaton captures the samurai’s inner transformation in a 16-second spectacle, where each press of the push-piece awakens a theatrical sequence.
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The dial alone required 140 hours of engraving and 120 hours of enamelwork, blending paillonné, cloisonné, and miniature enamel techniques to conjure an intricate scene of masks, helmets, katana, yokai, and bows. For the first time in its watchmaking collection, the Tambour case becomes a full canvas for decorative art, taking 200 hours of hand-finishing.
Among The Stars
The Tambour Taiko Galactique charts a new orbit for watchmaking, where the passing of hours and the vast cosmos become one. Inspired by space exploration, the watch carries forward the artistic language of the 2023 Tambour Jacquemart Minute Repeater “200 Years”. This manually wound, 459-component LFT AU14.02 calibre features a cathedral-gong minute repeater, sounding hours and minutes on demand, and seven automata animations. More than 300 hours of work went into the dial alone, where each enamel layer and engraved contour depicts the astronaut and celestial bodies in exquisite detail.
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On bringing the astronaut to life, Michel Navas, master watchmaker at La Fabrique du Temps Louis Vuitton, said in a statement, “Animating the astronaut in space realistically was the biggest challenge of the Tambour Taiko Galactique. His right arm slowly waving the LV flag, while his left arm provides a counterweight, creates a striking weightless effect. This lack of a point of support, while contributing to the realism of the scene, has severely tested the ingenuity of our teams of engineers and watchmakers.” Housed in a futuristic titanium and white gold case, the watch comes with an embossed strap, specially designed to complement the crown at 12 o’clock.
A Pocket-Sized Amazon
Once exclusive to special orders only, the Escale en Amazonie ushers in the first publicly available pocket watch in the Escale Autour du Monde collection. From concept to completion, this piece took more than 1,000 hours of work, spanning two and a half years—an endeavour that brought horological artisans together to create the Maison’s most complex mechanical movement to date.
Powered by the LFT AU14.03 calibre, the 555-component movement features a minute repeater, tourbillon, and automaton with seven animations and 15 moving elements. The dial is a masterclass in miniature and paillonné enamel, combining 31 colours and more than 30 firings. Each detail is artfully rendered to capture the Amazon rainforest and its curious wildlife: a pair of parrots tilting their heads, playful monkeys, a coiling snake, and a long wooden pirogue stacked with Louis Vuitton trunks. Crowning this lively tableau is a sculpted gold rose compass at 12 o’clock that spins gently on its own.
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The pocket watch is accompanied by a bespoke green leather trunk and a one-of-a-kind doctor-style bag, inspired by a 1906 archive piece designed for automobile travel. The Escale case also protects the watch while doubling as a gem-encrusted showcase, spotlighting 60 baguette-cut stones in emeralds, tsavorites, tourmaline, and yellow sapphires.
At La Fabrique du Temps Louis Vuitton, ancestral savoir-faire and treasured techniques are safeguarded by the hands of devoted artisans. With creativity as limitless as time itself, the Maison’s quest for horological virtuosity ensures that each watch is not merely worn, but experienced.
Photography by Ulysse Frechelin
