The Louis Vuitton x De Bethune LVDB-03 Louis Varius Project, With a Rare Sympathetic Clock

Here’s the third of the five collaboration watches done by Louis Vuitton with some of the most revered independent watchmakers. Indeed, following the LVRR-01 Chronographe à Sonnerie made with Rexhep Rexhepi, founder of Atelier Akrivia, and the LVKV-02 GMR 6 made with Finnish-born watchmaker Kari Voutilainen, it’s time now for LV to unveil its project with De Bethune. And while we were expecting to see yet another wristwatch, co-founder Denis Flageollet decided to bring the whole concept to another level by adding something much more complex next to the wristwatch initially planned, the first mechanical sympathetic clock since 1991, when T.H.A (a venture of Flageollet with V. Halter and F.P. Journe) created some movements for Breguet. Meet the impressive Louis Vuitton x De Bethune LVDB-03 Louis Varius Project.

Created in close collaboration with Master Watchmaker Denis Flageollet, co-founder of De Bethune, the Louis Varius Project brings together two feats: a rare modern interpretation of the Sympathique (or sympathetic) clock, an 18th-century marvel, and a unique version of De Bethune’s iconic DB25 GMT Starry Varius.

The wristwatch, a Tambour-cased DB25 GMT

Let’s first start with the simplest part of this LVDB-03 Louis Varius Project, the wristwatch. One, because it’ll be realtively easy to explain. Second, because 10 examples of this wrist-worn collaboration will be available as stand-alone objects. We’ll get to the Sympathique part later.

So what we’re looking at here is basically a mix-and-match between Louis Vuitton’s Tambour Taiko-shaped case and the movement and display of a DB25 GMT Starry Varius. Starting with the case, it measures 45mm in diameter and 14.05mm in thickness, but surprisingly wears much smaller on the wrist. Produced in titanium (with polished and sandblasted surfaces) by LV La Fabrique du Temps, it is then sent to De Bethune to be thermally blued, in a classic DB style. The result is the emblematic, deep, vibrant colour that Flageollet is known for, but here on a round drum-shaped case with the 12 letters of Louis Vuitton on the bezel. The case is finished with platinum lugs, polished and with laser bead-blasted interiors for contrast.

The right side is home to a platinum crown, which bears Louis Vuitton’s iconic Monogram Flower and combines polished, sandblasted, and satin-brushed finishes. Beyond its visual identity, the crown serves as a point of connection with the Sympathique system, reinforcing the watch’s functional dialogue with the Sympathique clock. But more on that later.

In the same vein, the dial merges LV Tambour’s sporty identity with classic De Bethune features. The centre of the watch consists of a blued titanium element with a Milky Way constellation rendered by gold pins and gold leaves. But here, a unique map of stars discreetly aligns to reveal the letters “LV” integrated into the constellation. Surrounding the dial, a spherical day-and-night indicator completes two full rotations every 24 hours, offering a continuous and intuitive reading of time across zones. Based on De Bethune’s patented spherical moon-phase construction, the indicator is crafted in 5N rose gold (indicating the day) and flame-blued steel (indicating the night). Finally, a date indication sits around the centre dial, with its own blued arrow-shaped hand.

The hour chapter ring is, on the other hand, typical LV and utilises the style that defined the Tambour sports watch back in 2023. The blue polished indexes and Tambour-style numerals are set onto an opaline surface, while time is indicated by faceted, polished blued hands.

Under the sapphire caseback sits De Bethune’s Calibre DB2507LV, a reinterpretation of the movement found in the DB25 GMT Starry Varius. This hand-wound movement, with the signature V-shaped bridge on top, offers 5 days of power reserve thanks to its double self-regulating barrel. It is regulated by a blued-titanium balance wheel (beating at 4Hz), manually poised with white-gold inserts and paired with a balance spring featuring a flat terminal curve, ensuring both stability and precision. A silicon escape wheel and De Bethune’s proprietary triple pare-chute shock-absorption system further enhance chronometric performance.

Conceived for travel (obviously, considering the LV connection), the movement displays hours and minutes, a second time zone (GMT), a day/night indication, and a jumping date. The decoration is what you expect from a DB watch, mixing modern looks and traditional decoration with a hand-polished titanium deltoid bridge and a hand-finished, polished balance bridge. The centre of the movement is finished with Microlight Côtes de Bethune.

The watch comes equipped with two interchangeable straps, one in blue fabric lined in black leather and an extra-soft cognac alligator strap fully lined in alligator leather. Both straps are secured by a polished blued titanium pin buckle. The wristwatches are delivered in dedicated titanium High Watchmaking trunks, made of titanium with blued titanium corners. A custom leather travel pouch is also included, specifically designed for the LVDB-03 GMT Louis Varius.

Available in 10 stand-alone examples, the Louis Vuitton x De Bethune LVDB-03 Louis Varius wristwatch is priced at EUR 375,000 excluding taxes. But if you think that this is already quite a steep price, it’s nothing compared to what to expect for the 2 other wristwatches, which are delivered with their own sympathetic clocks…

The LVDB-03 Sympathique Louis Varius

Let’s now move to the real star of the show, the reason why this Louis Vuitton x De Bethune collaboration feels all the more exceptional, the Sympathique or sympathetic clock. First, what is a sympathetic clock? This specific, rare and complex device is once again an invention of the great A.L. Breguet, which he created in 1795 as a way to automatically synchronise a portable pocket watch with a more precise master clock. The clock’s mechanism enabled owners to wind their pocket watch overnight and retrieve it fully reset in the morning. While only five such clocks were made during Abraham-Louis Breguet’s lifetime, the idea was further refined by his own son and has fascinated generations of watchmakers.

In the early 1990s, Denis Flageollet played a pivotal role in creating a modern interpretation for Breguet, together with his partners of Techniques Horlogères Appliquées (THA), transforming the original pocket watch into a tourbillon wristwatch with a constant-force remontoir for greater precision, while introducing a series of technical refinements without compromising the spirit of its founder. Ever since, no other brand has embarked on the idea of creating a sympathetic clock, except Urwerk with an atomic clock sympathetic concept.

More than thirty years later, Louis Vuitton and De Bethune have embraced the challenge of reimagining this historic clock, mostly driven by the creativity and ingenuity of Denis Flageollet. The base of this LVDB-03 Sympathique Louis Varius is a key-wound movement manufactured entirely by De Bethune and created exclusively for this project. Comprising 763 components and equipped with two large barrels and a remontoir d’égalité, the in-house calibre delivers outstanding stability and autonomy. Beating at 18,000 vibrations per hour, it offers an impressive 11-day power reserve.

The docking interface – the key to the Sympathique function – is discreetly concealed beneath a domed, engraved cover on the upper tier of the clock. Crafted in rose gold, the dome is adorned with the constellation of Hercules.

When placed in its cradle, the LVDB-03 GMT Louis Varius wristwatch engages the clock through its crown. Over the course of 10 hours, the system automatically winds the watch, and every two hours, a dedicated mechanism housed at the back of the timepiece resets its display to match the master clock, bringing the two into synchrony. The watch can be rewound in as little as one night when the watch is regularly paired with the clock. The LVDB-03 Sympathique Louis Varius allows the watch to dock without removing its bracelet or performing any preparatory steps. The user needs only unbuckle the strap and place the watch directly into the receptacle.

The clock itself is particularly impressive and designed as a marine chronometer on its base, with adjustable orientation. The clock is anchored to a titanium base that is decorated with a marquetry of blued meteorite, and when in its reference position, mirroring a marine chronometer, the clock measures 310 mm in width, 266 mm in depth, and 260 mm in height. For the decorative part of the clock, framing the central element, Denis Flageollet turned to Belgian illustrator François Schuiten, who created three landscapes featuring immersive scenes of exploration. These intricate illustrations are fashioned in 3 separate elements in 5N gold engraved by Michèle Rothen. The dial is made of blued titanium, adorned with a gold-made Miky Way and indicates hours and minutes with triangular hands.

As the wristwatch, the Louis Vuitton x De Bethune LVDB-03 Sympathique Louis Varius is delivered in a (huge) trunk inspired by the brand’s trophy trunk, and is once again made of titanium with blued corners. Only two complete sets, including the LVDB-03 Louis Varius wristwatch and the Sympathique clock, will be made. The price… EUR 4,000,000 excluding taxes. But then again, the execution is astonishing, the idea of creating a sympathetic clock is brilliant, and the rarity of this high-watchmaking object makes the price almost irrelevant.

For more details, please visit louisvuitton.com and debethune.ch.