The Escale's lugs allude to Louis Vuitton's iconic trunks, resembling the angled form and riveted exterior of the trunks' brass brackets and corners that reinforce them. SINGAPORE – In 2021, Mr Bernard Arnault – chairman and founder of LVMH, the world’s biggest luxury goods company – caused a stir when he made the youngest of his five children head of the watchmaking division of French luxury house Louis Vuitton (LV). Many wondered if it was too mammoth a task for someone who was then just 23 years old.
Undeterred by the chatter, Mr Jean Arnault buckled down to work with La Fabrique du Temps – LV’s watchmaking arm – and, in July 2023, unveiled a gloriously facelifted Tambour, one of the fashion house’s most iconic timepieces. Also boasting the LFT023 – a new micro-rotor, chronometer-certified calibre devised by La Fabrique du Temps’ famous founders Michel Navas and Enrico Barbasini – the new Tambour was an immediate hit. The buzz around his debut has yet to die down, but Mr Arnault is already on to his second act, which continues the new direction he has charted for the company and focuses on solidly constructed sports-luxe models.
The latest Escale collection – with four references fashioned from either rose gold or platinum – updates a watch launched 10 years ago. Featuring highly textured and tactile surfaces, the time-only three-hand models pay homage to LV’s savoir-faire in trunkmaking. The dial in the rose-gold models, for instance, is a dire.
