Category: Louis Vuitton

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Louis Vuitton Tambour Outdoor Chronograph

According to the Vogue Business Index (summer 2022) and Forbes, French fashion house Louis Vuitton is the world’s most valuable luxury brand. As the undisputed king of luxury, Louis Vuitton is associated in every corner of the globe with high-quality leather goods and accessories emblazoned with the iconic LV monogram. Somewhat surprisingly, given its presence on the market since 1854, Louis Vuitton only started making ‘serious’ watches twenty years ago. In a departure from some luxury emporiums that prize design over substance, Louis Vuitton took the bull by the horns and decided that its watches had to be as good on the inside as out. Louis Vuitton’s first watch, the Tambour, and its incursion into big-league watchmaking consolidated with the acquisition of La Fabrique du Temps have resulted in a unique, potent design that is impossible to confuse with anything else on the market. The Tambour, which means drum in French, marched out with its distinctive drum-shaped case and a GMT complication in 2002. Coming up for its 20th anniversary this year, the Tambour returns with iconic LV livery and a high-frequency chronograph movement based on Zenith’s El Primero calibre: meet the new 200-piece Louis Vuitton Tambour Twenty Limited Edition.
Given the brand’s historical ties to travel (see above), it makes sense that the first Tambour watch released in 2002 was a GMT. Fitted with a lustrous brown dial (quite bold at the time) and a mustard yellow GMT hand and matching 24-hour scale, the colour scheme of the 39.5mm Tambour GMT (ref. Q11310) was a nod to the iconic Monogram canvas developed by Louis Vuitton’s son in 1896. As the blueprint for the Tambour family, it’s worth looking at the design features that have made it such a unique, somewhat quirky design that looks as fresh today as it did two decades ago.
Some sources attribute the inspiration for the deep, round, drum-shaped steel case of the Tambour to the silhouette of Japanese taiko drums. As Jean Arnault pointed out to MONOCHROME, the design of the Tambour was entrusted to a Parisian design studio (BBDC – Berra Blanquer Design). The result was a singular, unprecedented case shape that did, effectively, look like a drum. Its unusual flared profile, which was wider at the base than at the top, included a wide caseband, the perfect canvas to engrave the 12 letters in the name ‘Louis Vuitton’, aligned with the hour markers on the dial. Crafted from a single block of metal, the tall sloping flanks of the deep case also proved an ideal container for all sorts of complications (some Tambour models, like the Carpe Diem, have a height of 15mm). Practically every surface of the Tambour case was decorated with some form of branding, including the LV monogram on the crown, motifs from the Monogram canvas on the caseback, the brand name on the buckle and obviously, the dial.
A year after its debut, the Louis Vuitton Tambour Twenty returned with a high-frequency COSC chronometer-certified chronograph complication, a model that has a direct bearing on the latest Tambour Twenty anniversary piece we are covering today. Known as the Tambour LV 277 chronograph, the model took advantage of the synergies in the LVMH group and powered its chronograph with Zenith’s famous El Primero high-frequency calibre.

Perhaps one of the most delightful Tambour watches and the one that would determine the new direction for the collection was the 2009 Spin Time. With 12 miniature rotating cubes revealing the hours, the Spin Time reinvented the concept of jumping hours in a fresh, new language. Developed and patented by La Fabrique du Temps, a specialist complication workshop based in Geneva set up by master watchmakers Michel Navas and Enrico Barbasini, the 44mm Spin Time put a playful spin on time, but it also signalled a more creative approach to complications in the hands of Navas and Barabasini.
Just two years later, in 2011, Louis Vuitton Tambour Twenty upped its watchmaking antes by acquiring La Fabrique du Temps. To mark its commitment to creative high-end watchmaking, the brand unveiled the complex Tambour Minute Repeater, a fascinating GMT complication that chimed the wearer’s reference (home) time instead of local time on demand.

Determined to acquire even more independence, in 2012, Louis Vuitton bought Léman Cadran, a renowned dial maker, and in 2014, inaugurated the La Fabrique du Temps Louis Vuitton workshop in Meyrin, Geneva. Other standout Tambour models over the years include the Tambour Twin Chrono, a monopusher split-seconds chronograph, a skeletonised Flying Tourbillon with a cage shaped like the Monogram flower, the 2020 Tambour Curve Flying Tourbillon with Poinçon de Genève certification, and the sportier GPHG award-winning Tambour Street Diver of 2021.
Having established Louis Vuitton’s serious commitment to high-end watchmaking, it might come as a surprise that the Tambour Twenty Limited Edition is not powered by an in-house movement but by a high-frequency chronograph calibre based on the Zenith El Primero… Just like the 2003 Tambour. A retrospective model, if you like, the new Tambour Twenty upgrades some of the design features found on the dial of the original Tambour chronograph but flaunts the hallmark drum-shaped case. The gleaming polished stainless steel case measures 41.5mm across with a height of 13.2mm and features the 12 letters of the Louis Vuitton name engraved in the caseband, matching the position of the hour markers on the dial. Like the first Tambour chronograph, two rounded rectangular chronograph pushers flank the octagonal crown, and the case is water-resistant to 100 metres.
In a departure from the 2003 chronograph, the three sub-dials are not arranged inside a circle, and the sloping flange is brown to match the dial. The sun-brushed dial is a classic Louis Vuitton brown with contrasting yellow chronograph hands, a nod to the yellow thread historically used in the brand’s finely crafted leather goods. Large applied silver-coloured Arabic hour numerals as 12, 2, 4, 6 and 8 o’clock and baton markers, shortened at 3 and 9 o’clock to accommodate the sub-dials, stand out well against the warm brown background.
The two sub-dials for the running seconds at 9 and 30-minute elapsed times at 3 o’clock have black snailed interiors and clear white markings to match the peripheral seconds track calibrated to 1/10th of a second. The 12-hour chronograph counter is highlighted in yellow just above 6 o’clock, and its lower half is formed by the curving inscription ‘Twenty’. The baton-style hour and minute hands have blunt tips and a streak of Super-LumiNova down their spines, while the long central chronograph seconds hand with its lozenge-shaped counterweight and the chronograph hands are bright yellow. Angled between 4 and 5 o’clock, the date window has a black background and white numerals.
Turning the watch over, you can see the doughnut-shaped metal part of the screwed caseback with the ‘Limited Edition 200 Pieces’ inscription and the sapphire crystal over the movement. Still powered by calibre LV 227, based on Zenith’s famous El Primero high-frequency movement (the world’s first automatic chronograph movement unveiled in 1969), the rotor of this anniversary Louis Vuitton Tambour Twenty is crafted in 22k rose gold. Beating at 5Hz/36,000vph, this exceptional column-wheel chronograph calibre delivers a beefy power reserve of 50 hours and provides highly accurate readings all the way down to 1/10th of a second.

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Louis Vuitton Tambour Damier

The expression “luxury sports watch” is often hideously misused and exaggerated. But here the Louis Vuitton Tambour Damier Graphite Race Chronograph leaves you in no doubt. Serious swagger and hyper-fresh pops of green are the order of the day to bring a bright spark of sharp contemporary design into a world of vintage homage.
Well, what can I say, this watch is neither small nor demure, and that’s exactly what we need – not everyone wants a quietly spoken 38mm skindiver, and this is nothing of the sort. The first time I lay my hands on it I’m mostly awestruck by the audacity of Louis Vuitton releasing a 46mm sports watch when every other reference out there seems to be shrinking and hiding quietly under the slimmest cuff. This wants to be strapped on maybe even on the outside of your shirt, Gianni Agnelli style (Google it). In short, it begs to be shown off.
In this rather large case, LV manages to create a very comfortable wearing sports chronograph, as the recognisable Tambour case is a silky smooth pebble of comfort. PVD-treated steel creates comfort on the wrist and a perfectly rounded background while also being flashy as hell through the eye catching use of B.R.I.G.H.T green accents. A green so fresh it must have graduated with top honors from the school of pops. The feeling on the wrist is sublime, as the rubber strap is soft, and temptingly quick-released from the slender, ergonomically downturned lugs maybe to be swapped to an alligator for that cocktail party if necessary. The chances are that you’ll probably want to keep the rubber strap on, as that green relief logo ties in perfectly with the dial and green-encircled large crown.
The face is surely the star here, and there is a lot happening to distract you from pure chronograph functionality. The dial surface with its black and grey check is inspired by the Louis Vuitton Damier Graphite canvas, and echoes the freshness of Virgil Abloh’s magic touch throughout the collections of LV. We do have a user-friendly, accurate chronograph hiding within the barrage of colours and textures, and the softly contoured pushers make it a joy to operate. The dial is eminently readable thanks to large numerals and rectangular indices, blocky baton skeletonized hands giving off a street-tough vibe with the green seconds hand. Those shots of green sure are distracting from the task of timing, but maybe that’s exactly why it appeals to me on more than one level. The difference of it delivers pure refreshment on a strap, and a damn flashy one at that.
Little touches of grassy green delineate the minute track on the angled rehaut, while the entire scene is dominated by the futuristic cut of V in grey and greeen intersecting the rehaut and dial. This distracts, and in a big way, but do you know what? That’s exactly why this design is so strong, and you’ll struggle to tear your gaze away from the dial.
Turn the Louis Vuitton Tambour Damier Graphite Race Chronograph over, if you manage to pull yourself away from the dial, and the smooth grey back has a laser-like green circle presenting a tinted sapphire back, showing you an intricately decorated movement. The automatic movement has a Geneva-striped rotor with a black LV logo and offers a solid 42-hour power reserve. As the sporting intentions are not exactly hidden by the flashes of green, the depth rating is a secure 100m.
Personally, it only took a few minutes with this on my arm to feel refreshed, both by the fact that a sizeable watch can be so comfortable, and the fine detail work and mad fizzes of green that will genuinely improve your mood threefold. And yes, haute horlogerie can be bold, I’d happily wear a T-shirt in the winter to have this flashy wrist-jewel on and feel, well, damn sharp.

Louis Vuitton (PARIS:MC.PA -0.20%) ‘s timepieces often skew minimalist but are occasionally enlivened by bold hues in line with the striking hues seen in collections overseen by men’s artistic director Virgil Abloh. The latest Tambour watch is indicative of this mindset, as the Tambour Damier Graphite Race draws direct influence from Abloh’s splashy apparel designs.

Sporty touches come through on the fluorescent-accented black strap, which can be swapped for a bold tonal green version, contrasting a sense of athleticism against the graphite-hued PVD-coated steel case and smoked grey sapphire glass caseback. Graphite Damier patterns grace the dial alongside more hits of bright green, a nod to Abloh’s head-turning runway presentations. “V” — for “Vuitton” — also appears on the face, further juxtaposing statement styling against the timepiece’s traditional mechanism.

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Louis Vuitton Tambour Moon Tourbillon

When it comes to Louis Vuitton watches, we can clearly see two categories. On one side is the so-called core collection, luxury watches composed of traditional complications and styles, such as the Tambour Street Diver. The other side of the spectrum is a collection of high-end watches showcasing impressive expertise, created and manufactured according to haute horlogerie standars, thanks to the talent of the in-house atelier, La Fabrique du Temps Louis Vuitton. Specialized in animated watches with jacquemarts and traditional complications such as tourbillons and repeaters, the latest creation to come out of this Geneva-based manufacture is a pair of coloured sapphire openworked tourbillons finished according to the Geneva seal; the Louis Vuitton Tambour Moon Tourbillon Volant in green and yellow sapphire cases.
The name Tambour is inevitable when it comes to Louis Vuitton watches. This drum-shaped case, with the 12 letters of the brand engraved on the flanks and short attached lugs to respect the cylindrical shape has become the signature design of almost the entire collection. Created in 2002, it has evolved over the years, giving birth to new interpretations, such as Tambour Moon. First released in 2017, it re-invented the concept by inverting the curves of the case, moving from convex, domed flanks to concave, recessed sides to give a refined, more subtle style to the watch – a shape that evoked that of a crescent moon. Only available with the finest movements of the brand, all of them made by LFT, the Tambour Moon Tourbillon Volant has once been the first sapphire-cased watch to bear Geneva Seal. And now, they come crafted from single blocks of synthetic sapphire in fluorescent green or yellow.
Bright, translucent and polarizing. But also rather impressive in terms of execution. The new yellow and green LV Tambour Moon Tourbillon Volant are relying on the classic shape of the collection, now crafted from a single block of tinted sapphire. Obtained by heating aluminium oxide at temperatures of around 2000° Celsius, synthetic sapphire combines the advantages of its transparency with its great resistance, with a hardness only surpassed by diamonds. These new editions, with striking colours that appear almost fluorescent, are made from a single cylinder of mass-tinted sapphire in order to get a consistent colour on all parts (case middle, caseback and LV bridge), over the entire production of 20 pieces per colourway. Each component is cut from this sapphire crystal bar using diamond tools, and then polished to reveal its transparency. In total, a complete case required 420 hours of work.
These Tambour Moon Tourbillon Volant in green or yellow sapphire are housed in cases measuring 42.5mm in diameter, with a reasonable height of 9.9m. It is complemented by horns and a crown made of titanium with black sand-blasted PVD treatment. As always with the Tambour shape, the diameter of the watch isn’t true to the compactness of the case, which wears short on the wrist. The 12 letters forming the Louis Vuitton logo are engraved on the outer side of the concave case middle of the Tambour Moon, just like the 12 hour markers on the inner flange – both lacquered to stand out from the sapphire case. Water-resistance is ensured by the use of a transparent gasket positioned between the case middle and the screwed caseback.
The tinted sapphire cases of these new Tambour Moon are a perfect vessel to showcase the openworked, in-house movement inside. Light and fully opened, this hand-wound movement is produced by La Fabrique du Temps Louis Vuitton and finished according to the Geneva seal – a certificate of origin, precision and quality, ensuring that the watch is made and hand-finished in the Canton of Geneva, then tested for resistance and precision. The Calibre LV90 has an 80-hour power reserve and a flying tourbillon with a finely decorated carriage designed like LV’s Monogram Flower motif. The movement is finished in a modern way, with a series of matt black circles.
Worn on a black or green alligator strap, the new sapphire Louis Vuitton Tambour Moon Tourbillon Volant watches are each limited to 20 pieces.

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Louis Vuitton Tambour Opera Automata

Last year was a busy one for the folks at Louis Vuitton. There was the new Spin Time Air Quantum, a limited edition Tambour chronograph, a very LV smartwatch, and a new watch prize. Never a brand to rest on its haute-horology laurels, the good folks at La Fabrique du Temps Louis Vuitton are going even bigger and bolder this year with the new LV Tambour Opera Automata.

Building off of the mechanical innovation and high-end craftsmanship of 2021’s bonkers and beautiful Tambour Carpe Diem the Opera Automata turns from the land of the dead to the world of Chinese Opera for inspiration. The Carpe Diem, which won the “Audacity Prize” at GPHG in 2021, is a highly complicated, engraved piece with an hourglass for a power reserve and a reminder to seize the day.

Slightly less morbid, this year’s watch is inspired by Bian Lian, the traditional dramatic art of “face-changing” seen most often in Sichuan Opera. Performers rapidly switch colorful masks, seemingly by magic, and until fairly recently the techniques were a carefully guarded secret. This year instead of a skull we have a Bian Lian mask changing expression (one of five automations) and a dragon wrapped around the mask, moving its head to reveal the jumping hour in the middle of the mask’s forehead, and its tail serves as a retrograde minute hand. The power reserve is no longer an hourglass but a bottle gourd, or Calabash, believed to ward off evil spirits. The time is only displayed by activating the automation via the dragon on the case. Similar to the Carpe Diem one of the eyes of the mask is a nod to Louis Vuitton’s flower emblem, and a four petal flower replaces the number four, an unlucky number in Chinese culture.

All this is made possible by the manual wind caliber LV 525, the same movement found in the Carpe Diem, which has 426 components. The 46.88mm Tambour case is 18k pink gold and the dial is engraved and enameled with pink gold and ruby. LV Tambour Opera Automata called in the big uns with Anita Porchet on enamel and Dick Steenman on engraving. According to the press release it took 76 hours for the engraving and 60 hours for the enameling – and having seen just a fraction of what it takes to engrave, paint, fire, and polish the smallest parts of the dial I believe them (and think they may actually be rounding down to make us feel better). There’s 100h of power reserve which is impressive but also functional since it is a manual wind watch with a beautiful if not super-specific power reserve indicator. While not a limited edition, orders for the Carpe Diem were capped at 30, so we can expect something similar here. If you have the 520,000 Euro asking price handy you better act fast.

Inow know enough to know that one really has to see a watch like this in person to appreciate it. From the pictures and the video one can be wowed by the movement and the automation it makes happen, but to really appreciate the watch you have to see how alive it actually is. Like the Carpe Diem before this is not a watch meant to appeal to a broad audience, or even impress the more conservative fans of haute horology automatons, but for those who have had enough of flowers and peacocks, this watch still offers delight, but with a twist.

I am far from an expert in Sichuan Opera or mask changing but I do think there is something of a parallel between that art and watchmaking. There is a shared magic, where technique is hidden away, passed down between generations and information has only now become more open and available to those who seek it. But also, sometimes it is nice to just sit back and enjoy the spectacle – would this watch be any less beautiful to look at without a drop of watch knowledge? I would say no.

Louis Vuitton has been waging an uphill battle to be seen as a serious watchmaker, and in this watch, all the parts are there. And while I can applaud them for skill and innovation (of which there is plenty, outside and inside the LV Tambour Opera Automata watch) I am most impressed that it has not sacrificed gumption in an attempt to earn respect. I feel like it took the idea of “Audacity” and refined it – threading the needle between shocking to shock and dialing back to please a greater audience.

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Louis Vuitton Tambour Street Diver Watch

For 2021, Louis Vuitton introduces a third generation to its line of LV Tambour Diver watches with the Louis Vuitton Tambour Street Diver collection. Today, I go hands-on with the black and yellow Tambour Street Diver Neon Black reference QA122 (debuted on aBlogtoWatch here). It’s a pretty great-looking watch that continues a legacy of some of the most lovely and quirky dive watches, from one of the world’s most popular luxury brands.

Even though LVMH (which Louis Vuitton is part of) owns a variety of watchmakers, including Hublot, BVLGARI, Zenith, and TAG Heuer, Louis Vuitton also makes watches and has been since 2002. Many of these watches are in the under-$10,000 range, but once in a while, Louis Vuitton creates some really spectacular stuff that can be priced into the hundreds of thousands of dollars. Closer to earth is the new LV Tambour Street Diver collection, which isn’t cheap but comes with a lot of style and refinement (you know, a lot like other Louis Vuitton gear).
The Louis Vuitton Tambour Diver began life back in 2005 when Louis Vuitton first released that excellent product (such as the reference Q1031 model that I have owned and admired for a number of years). Louis Vuitton later came out with a second-generation Tambour Diver (such as the reference Q113A) that made a number of changes to the case and dial. My favorite part of that second-generation Diver was how the subsidiary seconds hand was designed to look like a diving flag. Now, the third generation Tambour Diver is here, and it is more intended for on-land use given its name, the “Tambour Street Diver.” The collection launches with three models for men containing automatic movements, and a smaller white-colored model for women that contains a quartz movement.

The iconic Tambour case (modeled after the look of a musical drum) has not visually varied much from generation to generation, but across the various Diver generations, Louis Vuitton has made a number of changes. In fact, only the first generation Tambour Diver was a true diver’s watch with 300 meters of water resistance. Today — and ever since the second-generation product — the Tambour Diver case is water-resistant to 100 meters. All that seems to have changed are the crowns and caseback design. While 100 meters is more than adequate for most swimming and even some diving activity, I do wish the product was water-resistant to a full 300 meters.
The 2021 LV Tambour Street Diver has a very similar dial layout as the original Diver, albeit without the date window. We see a return to the second case crown, which is used to rotate the internal diver’s timing bezel. This remains one of my favorite watches with an internal rotating bezel. The internal bezel crown is coated in black rubber with a small yellow diver motif on it, and, according to Louis Vuitton, it is colored black so as to visually differentiate it from the crown for the time. The two crowns look like miniature versions of the Tambour case – which is charming, and the design of the crowns is new for this generation Tambour Diver product. The case is still the same 44mm-wide size in steel, which, for this LV Tambour Street Diver Neon Black, is mostly in matte PVD-coated black. Elements like the lug structure and buckle (along with the primary crown) are in polished steel, making for a nice two-tone look. I really like the neon yellow-colored Louis Vuitton lettering around the periphery of the case, which is a theme that began with the original Tambour Diver.
The LV Tambour Street Diver now features a display caseback with a semi-smoked sapphire crystal that makes the movement view a bit more “moody.” The movement inside the watch is a Swiss Made ETA 2895 automatic, which has been used for all the mechanical Tambour watches on account of its having a subsidiary seconds dial. The movement operates at 4Hz with about two days of power reserve. As I said before, the Tambour Street Diver opts for a more symmetrical dial layout and thus removes the presence of the date window that on previous-generation models was located at 3 o’clock.

The dial of the Tambour Street Diver is very youthful and trendy but also fun and legible. It has a classicism to it given the focus on readability without extra decorative design elements. The first-generation model was the same but had touches like the use of dark mother-of-pearl for the subsidiary seconds dial material. The Tambour Street Diver borrows a look from the middle-generation Tambour with a diagonal line cutting through it — only in black-on-black colors. This was originally inspired by the iconic red and white diver’s flag, but for the Street Diver, is just a small visually interesting element that adds character to the face when you look closely enough at it.
The hour and minute hands are polished, with the minute hand having a broad “yellow V” arrow end to it. Another Louis Vuitton “V” is located in the design of the 60-minute marker on the internal rotating bezel. The polish of the hands doesn’t really hurt legibility at all, and it does help them match the polished steel parts of the case a bit better. The dial is painted with a fair amount of Super-LumiNova luminant material and over the dial is a flat, AR-coated sapphire crystal.

Attached to the case is a custom black rubber strap that has a neon yellow “Louis” on one end and “Vuitton” on the other. A reverse color strap is also available (yellow rubber with black text) On the wrist, the Tambour Street Diver is extremely comfortable — something which has remained true throughout the entire Tambour watch collection. Also new are the quick-release straps, which make it easy to vary up the fashionability of the Tambour Street diver Neon Black with ease. Of course, you’ll have to do it with straps acquired from Louis Vuitton directly.