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Louis Vuitton Tambour Only Watch 09

For one synonymous with the art of travel, Louis Vuitton reflected long on the science of time keeping. It took almost 150 years before the company presented its first collection of timepieces – Tambour, named after the first watch made in the Western world in 1540.

To master the craft of watchmaking as it has in perfecting the art of travel, Louis Vuitton established a specialized workshop in La Chaux-de-Fonds, Switzerland. The workshop looks out onto snowy peaks while pure and natural light floods in. Though its equipment is state-of-the-art, the brand reckons that its most precious assets are the 50 or so skilled engineers and artisans it employs, who, enriched with the brand’s heritage, create its identity.

In 2002, Tambour, Louis Vuitton’s first watch, was launched. Typically Louis Vuitton, it had a lustrous brown flawless saddle-stitched strap and discreetly engraved Monogram motif. Everything about Tambour spells Louis Vuitton – including the 12 letters of its signature marking the hours around the circumference of the case.

“Our Only Watch piece this year,” says Albert Bensoussan, Watch & Jewellery Director at Louis Vuitton, is a concept watch created by Paul Pettavino and the Louis Vuitton watch team. The concept is based on a new way to read the time. It has a sophisticated mechanism that turns cubes to create an unusual way of reading the time. It also has a second time zone function.”

The watch has several elements that clearly identify it as a Louis Vuitton watch – it has the shape of the Louis Vuitton Tambour, which is one of their most sought after watches. “I especially like the fact that this watch has a strong masculine quality and that it is extremely refined even though it is a watch that is quite sophisticated in its construction,” says Bensoussan. “The construction of its movement has lots of elegance in its execution and style, both elegant and very convincingly masculine.”

“We wanted to do something very special, something unique,” says Benoit-Louis Vuitton, watch product manager at Louis Vuitton. “And as we are launching a new watch with a special new mechanism, I went to Monaco with our designer and we talked about the development of the concept with Luc’s son, Paul Pettavino.

“Instead of having hands for the hours the watch has cubes that turn at every hour position says Benoît-Louis Vuitton. “The idea is that of squares, cubes, and geometry. At school Paul is learning about the great explorers of the world and Jean-Philippe felt that cubes made him think about the Inca civilization, continents and travel.”

As in previous Only Watch years, the brand is incorporating Paul’s favorite color, orange – the watch dial will be in gray and orange. The back is engraved with “Only Watch 2009”. The hours are indicated by rotating the cubes, the minutes by one hand and there is a second time zone: the yellow hand – evocative of the yellow stitching on Louis Vuitton bags.

The movement is automatic, with watchcase in white gold and bracelet in orange alligator. The conception of the movement and its manufacture is totally Swiss made – conceived and assembled at the Louis Vuitton workshops in La Chaux-de-Fonds. The only part of the piece that is not Swiss made is the presentation case.

As trunk and travel case makers, Louis Vuitton wanted to do something that was very “Louis Vuitton”, something that was fun and different. “The presentation case has been made at our workshops in Asnières on the outskirts of Paris,” says Albert Bensoussan, “our historic center where the famous Louis Vuitton travel cases are created and made.”

“We asked Paul to adapt the inside of the presentation case and to design his own personal logo to be reproduced on the outside of the case,” says Benoît Vuitton. “As he is a kind of explorer he incorporated a world ready to be conquered, the sword of an explorer and a “P” in the shape of a key – because he is able to conquer and open all the doors of the world.”

The presentation case is in the famous Louis Vuitton damier square pattern, which, in black, is the new pattern for men. The inside of the case is in orange and contains not only the watch and its certificates but also separate drawers containing travel booklets.

“Paul chose three continents and drew just one or two introductory designs for each in travel memento booklets,” says Benoît-Louis Vuitton. “These are included in the case and are intended for the purchaser to complete with his own travel memories.”

Like many of the participants in Only Watch, Albert Bensoussan and Benoit-Louis Vuitton have been greatly touched by the approach of Only Watch. “I met Luc Pettavino in Lausanne about four years ago,” says Albert Bensoussan. “I didn’t know him before, but based on our meeting we made the decision to participate – we had no idea of his personal history or that his son suffered from the disorder. Two years later, we had the idea to suggest that we work with Paul on the next watch that Louis Vuitton would be offering to Only Watch.”

“I was asked to do it as a job,” says Vuitton, “but now it is something more for me, I feel attached, engaged, involved and excited with what we are doing and what Only Watch is achieving. For Louis Vuitton it is quite rare for us to participate in anything without organizing the whole event. We are not just giving a piece – Paul has a history, we have a history and we want to work together to achieve something that is important – raising money to support research into this pathology is why we really wanted to have something personal, sensitive – the best way for people to understand is to understand the whole story,” concludes Benoit-Louis Vuitton.

 

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For more information contact:
Ita McCobb
Patrizzi & Co Auctioneers SA
Tel +41 22 318 28 38
e-mail i.mccobb@patrizziauction.com

Audrey Baylac
Association Monégasque contre les Myopathies / Monaco Yacht Show
Tel +377 93 10 41 70
e-mail audrey@monacoyachtshow.mc