Louis Vuitton was born in 1821, but it took no less than two years of development to design this exceptional timepiece, with a dial inspired by the conquest of space, in tribute to the 200th anniversary of its birth.
A watch that intends to symbolize the future while integrating the traditional know-how of classic fine watchmaking.
To enliven the dial of this exceptional timepiece, Louis Vuitton is unveiling for the first time an automaton mechanism fitted with a minute repeater with cathedral gongs.
“This new Tambour Jacquemart Minute Repeater is the tribute that the Fabrique du Temps wanted to pay to Louis Vuitton
,” explains Michel Navas, master watchmaker at the Fabrique du Temps.
This mechanical masterpiece explores the theme of travel, the primary expertise of our great Maison.
An odyssey similar to that carried out by Louis Vuitton in contemporary fine watchmaking.”
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A Louis Vuitton Tambour Jacquemart Minute Repeater as special as it is spatial.
Louis Vuitton
For the occasion, the iconic case of the Tambour, in white gold and titanium, has been reworked in a futuristic spirit to recall both a space capsule and an astronaut's helmet.
Its wide opening, 46.8 mm in diameter, has been designed as a porthole opening onto space.
The winding crown at 12 o'clock is reminiscent of chiming pocket watches from the last century.
We find the “Louis Vuitton” signature encrusted in blue rubber letters on the bezel, the crown and initials set with a cerulean gradation of precious stones, echoing the deep blue of the dial.
A Louis Vuitton Tambour Jacquemart Minute Repeater as special as it is spatial.
Louis Vuitton
To bring this case to life, Louis Vuitton created and assembled the caliber LV200 in its Geneva factory.
This mechanical movement with manual winding of 480 components combines the jacquemart function with a minute repeater with cathedral gongs.
Originally, jacquemarts were automatons designed to strike the hours on church steeples.
When watchmakers miniaturized them on watches, their function became essentially decorative, the time remaining traditionally indicated by classic hands.
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A Louis Vuitton Tambour Jacquemart Minute Repeater as special as it is spatial.
Régis Golay / federal-studio.com/© Régis Golay / federal-studio.com
On the dial of this Tambour, nine jacquemarts come into play. When you press the pusher, the rocket takes off, revealing diamond passengers in its cabin.
The planets rotate while the rotation of the Monogram flower is accompanied by the movement of two shooting stars.
This show is accompanied by a sound as celestial as it is powerful, thanks to the minute repeater with cathedral gongs.
Formerly essential for telling the time at night, the minute repeater still strikes the hours, quarters and minutes.
The master watchmakers of the Fabrique du Temps Louis Vuitton have chosen this type of gongs in order to offer here a more serious and deep sound, with a longer resonance.
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A Louis Vuitton Tambour Jacquemart Minute Repeater as special as it is spatial.
Louis Vuitton
It is impossible not to underline that two of the greatest craftsmen of our time, the engraver Dick Steenman and the enameller Anita Porchet, contributed to this creation.
Designed like a miniature painting, the dial of this watch required an unequaled level of precision to represent this 21st century space voyage down to the smallest detail.
"In order to accentuate the relief and the depth of space, Anita Porchet combined several techniques such as miniature enamel painting to represent the imaginary planet, opaque and transparent enamels in the nebulae around the stars, ancient spangles which make sparkle in the sky of space"
, explains Michel Navas.
A Louis Vuitton Tambour Jacquemart Minute Repeater as special as it is spatial.
Louis Vuitton
The animated elements of the dial were sculpted in white gold by the engraver Dick Steenman.
“The first thing that came to his mind was the originality of this composition, the technical and complex aspects of which led us to surpass ourselves.
The shape of the spacecraft and the miniature planets required special attention, extreme meticulousness.
On the back of the case, a sapphire crystal makes it possible to admire this unique calibre, some of the components of which have also been dressed in blue, coordinated with the color of the dial.
