Not all images were able to load for printing. Please close the print window and try again. The Louis Vuitton Tambour Street Diver Chronograph
There can be no mistaking the provenance of this trendy Tambour Street Diver with chronograph function.
As the leading global luxury goods emporium, Louis Vuitton knows a thing or two about winning design and contemporary trends. The recent appointment of Pharrell Williams as its men’s creative director speaks volumes about its vision of bringing a younger, hipper aesthetic to the Maison. Watchmaking, which became part of LV’s product portfolio in 2002 with the launch of the Tambour, is no different. The award-winning Tambour Street Diver, which joined the collection in 2021, returns with chronograph functions fashionably dressed in bold, contrasting colours.
The Tambour Street Diver is a versatile watch fusing the looks of a compressor-style diver with bold splashes of colours and, most importantly, a trendy urbanite vibe. Clearly aware that most people don’t buy dive watches for diving, LV kept the water-resistance at a reasonable 100 metres but went to town with the design of its Tambour Street Diver that took home the GPHG diver’s watch prize in 2021.
Two chronograph models – Skyline Blue and Neon Black – join the Tambour collection. Presented in two-tone stainless steel cases with a black or blue PVD treatment, the iconic drum-shaped Tambour case has been enlarged to 46mm to accommodate the chronograph movement. Having two chronograph pushers on the right side of the case means that the compressor-style crown has been relocated to the left side.
With its thick 14mm height, there is plenty of retail space on the case for branding and the 12 letters forming “Louis Vuitton” are engraved into the bezel flanks and filled with blue or yellow to match the colour scheme of the watch. The polished steel screw-down crown on the right bears the LV monogram, while the compressor-style crown on the left, used to manipulate the 15-minute diving bezel, is coated in black or blue PVD.
Designed like an arena, the unidirectional rotating two-tone dive bezel is positioned on the sloping walls of the flange that dips to meet the navy blue or black dial. Chunky round and rectangular indices framed in blue or yellow and filled with Super-LumiNova are indicated by a partially skeletonised and lumed hour hand. The all-important minute hand is solid, lumed and has a V-shaped blue or yellow tip to indicate dive times. The central chronograph seconds hand, in yellow or blue, matches the colour of the hand inside the 30-minute totaliser at 9 o’clock, balanced by the small seconds counter at 3 o’clock.
Colour-coordinated rubber straps embossed with the brand name and fitted with a steel ardillon buckle complete the kit and feature the brand’s quick-change system.
Powered by an ETA 2894-2 automatic modular chronograph movement, the caseback has a sapphire crystal porthole printed with the LV monogram that also appears on the rotor. Beating at 28,800vph, the movement delivers a 42h power reserve.
Availability & Price
The Tambour Street Diver Chronograph Neon Black and Skyline Blue join the permanent collection and retails for EUR 9,505. For more information, please visit louisvuitton.com.
2 responses
“They kept it to 100 m because they know people won’t use it for diving.” That is a good one. “Enlarged to 46 mm to accommodate the chronograph movement”. There are plenty of chronographs much smaller than that which also have 100 m water resistance. For this price and size it should have a power reserve of 70 h plus and a depth rating of 300 m. And even then the price is not justified. This is a garish fashion piece for someone who wears designer clothes with the name plastered all over them.
When I think Street Diver, I think “road rash,” or worse. Well considered names are important.
Otherwise it’s interesting-looking, if not really for me. But then again, I am probably not the segment of the market they are looking toward.