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 An increasingly horological Louis Vuitton

Since Hamdi Chatti took the reins of Louis Vuitton and the Fabrique du Temps was bought and integrated, there has been a considerable rise in the level of watchmaking at the LVMH brand. A wonderful piece, the Tambour Twin Chrono, illustrates this perfectly. As its name indicates, this chronograph can measure two different elapsed times, at the same time showing the difference between the two. A world first. Its dial is therefore quite logically divided into three generously-proportioned counters: two chronograph counters at 4 o’clock and 7 o’clock respectively and a counter showing the difference between the two times at 12 o’clock, all swept over by the central hour, minute and seconds hands above. The twin chronograph functions are controlled by a single pusher at 7 o’clock. Press once and the two chronographs start; press again and the chronograph at 7 o’clock stops and the counter showing the time difference starts; press a third time and the chronograph at 4 o’clock stops, as does the counter showing the difference between the two times. Press a fourth time to reset all the indications.

TAMBOUR TWIN CHRONO by Louis Vuitton

The times can be read instantly and intuitively thanks to white hands that indicate the minutes (maximum 60 minutes) and red hands indicating the seconds, which have been specially designed for match racing sailing regattas, although many other uses can be envisaged.
From a technical point of view the Twin Chrono calibre LV 175, which comprises 437 components, uses four different engines (three of which are used for the twin chronograph function) and two column wheels: one of them, in the classic style, controls the minutes, while the other, which is one of a kind, has three different levels that allow it to start and stop each engine and control the hammers for the seconds and for resetting. The three engines of the twin chronograph are wound manually using the crown at 4 o’clock, while the one powering the hours and minutes is self winding and the time is set by the crown at 2 o’clock. This very accomplished piece has a guilloché dial covered with translucent blue grand feu enamel and a white-gold case.

TAMBOUR eVOLUTION by Louis Vuitton

There is still a lot to say about the horological evolution of Louis Vuitton, and we will come back to this in a future issue. The paths that the brand is following seem promising and are original in many respects. Among them, we must quickly mention the very poetic and intimate Tambour Répétition Minutes à double fuseaux horaires, which indicates the “home time” audibly, rather than visually, using the gongs of its striking work. A great idea. But we should also mention the appropriately named Tambour eVolution, which opens up a new category of Louis Vuitton watches, which are very sporty and very masculine.

 A beautiful finish

Inside the luxurious souks of BaselWorld, there are a few oases where you can take refreshment for your vision and come face-to-face with beauty.

With a Patek Philipe presenting a collection whose classic and refined beauty owes a lot to the close attention paid to its customers (the brand has a powerful tool for analysing its sell-out), a Chanel, which, with its paillonné enamel Coromandels produced by the delicate brush of Anita Porchet, unveils the most beautiful collection of art watches this season, a DeLaneau bursting with colours and materials, and a De Bethune presenting four sets of 12 unique, hand-engraved pieces based on the signs of the Chinese zodiac and inspired by a famous clepsydra from Beijing’s Summer Palace, which was ransacked by western troops, we were suddenly completely reconciled with the art of watchmaking.

DB25 IMPERIAL FOUNTAIN by De Bethune

 Facial treatments

One of the main lessons from this edition of BaselWorld is that, beyond the frantic pursuit of technical achievement and such diverse areas of research, there is a resurgence in the taste for beauty. The considerable care lavished on dials is one example of this, with various brands producing ever more subtle and refined dials, probably in defiance of the muscular exhibitionism that has predominated over the past few years. As an example, let’s take the king of watchmakers, Rolex himself.
We could hardly expect spectacular launches from a brand that is more used to making gradual corrections to its flagship models, changing them bit by bit. But this year, all this minute attention has been focused on the dials: glacier blue on the new Daytona, perfectly harmonising with the blonde of the platinum and the dark chestnut colour of the ceramic bezel; deep greens and sun-brushed cherry for the Oyster Perpetual Day Date and white or pink mother-of-pearl engraved with floral waves for the diamond-set versions; and finally white or black mother-of-pearl pad printed with a pink lotus flower for the Lady-Datejust Pearlmaster. An extreme level of care and a sign of a widely shared underlying trend.

Source: Europa Star June - July 2013 Magazine Issue