The Louis Vuitton Escale Platinum Guilloché and Grand Feu Enamel Dial

Following a drastic change of strategy in recent years, Louis Vuitton‘s watchmaking division is being primed to become a serious player. As part of the new strategy, Arnault has taken the flagship Tambour watch, launched in 2002, and revisited it as a luxury sports watch, while the Louis Vuitton Escale was reintroduced as a time-only watch earlier this year. As a brand that forged its credentials on luxury steamer trunks and luggage, the theme of travel underlies much of its communication strategy. The latest LV Escale voyages back in time to benefit from historical métiers d’art techniques to create a stunning wavy blue dial that evokes a nautical adventure.

Designed as a classic, elegant, time-only model, the Louis Vuitton Escale’s 39mm diameter and 10mm thickness position it as a unisex watch. Incorporating features of LV’s steamer trunks, the lugs are shaped like the riveted brass brackets to protect the corners of yesteryear trunks, a design that continues to the hour markers on the dial. This platinum edition of the Escale features refined case finishes with a circular satin-brushed case middle, polished trunk-style brackets and a wide polished bezel.

The dial is an ode to traditional métíers d’art skills like guilloché engraving and champlevé and flinqué Grand Feu enamel techniques. The incredible blue dial ripples with texture and plays with colour to great effect. The first stage involves a solid gold disc with a tiny, raised lip to contain the enamel. The recessed centre is engraved on a hand-operated rose engine to create the hypnotic radial guilloché pattern. An enameller then mixes the enamel pigments and applies them using the champlevé technique to fill the recessed cells. The dial is enamelled on both sides. Known as counter enamel, the coating on the reverse side prevents deformation during firing. After repeated enamel applications and stints in the 800-degree kiln, the translucent enamel reveals the refined guilloché pattern.

The dial is then polished with a diamond paste to a mirror-like sheen before the tricky stage of burning holes into the enamel dial to accommodate the riveted white gold hour markers at the quarters. Framing the spectacular dial is a circular-brushed minutes track with recessed holes and blue studs – like those found on trunks – marking the hours. Time is indicated by white gold faceted dauphine hands and a central seconds hand in titanium.

A sapphire window on the caseback reveals the calibre LFT023 automatic with an off-centred 22k gold micro-rotor decorated with the LV monogram. Designed and conceived by Louis Vuitton’s La Fabrique du Temps and manufactured by Le Cercle des Horlogers, it comes with a Geneva Observatory chronometer certification. Running at 4Hz with a power reserve of 50 hours, the movement has sandblasted bridges, wide diamond-polished bevels and a barrel-shaped like the brand’s monogram flower. The screwed rose gold plaque indicates the 1 out of 50 limited edition status of the watch.

This new Louis Vuitton Escale comes with a matching blue calfskin leather strap with a platinum pin buckle. It is limited to 50 pieces and retails for EUR 75,000. For more details, please visit LouisVuitton.com.