Louis Vuitton added ‘watch designer’ to the impressive list of accomplishments by renowned architect Frank Gehry.
The new Louis Vuitton Tambour Moon Flying Tourbillon Poincon de Geneve Sapphire Frank Gehry.
The new results from a collaboration with Gehry and Louis Vuitton, which adds the watch to its collection.
The stunning 48.3mm flying tourbillon watch has a clear sapphire case, dial, crown, lugs, and hands. Its transparent architecture allows the wearer to have an uninterrupted view of the flying tourbillon caliber, which was produced and assembled at La Fabrique du Temps Louis Vuitton.
When creating the new watch, Gehry was inspired by his work at the Fondation Louis Vuitton in Paris and the Louis Vuitton Maison Seoul. For example, the dial echoes Gehry’s rippling glass structure atop the Louis Vuitton Maison Seoul. Like that structure, which appears to float over the building’s roof, the dial on the watch is also meant to recall the airiness of the nautical world.
“My inspiration comes from the sea, fish, boats, the nautical world because they embody the notion of movement, mobility, speed,” said Gehry.“I like to express movement, inject this energy and dynamic into static materials.”
Louis Vuitton explains that its artisans crafted the watch’s crystalline face from a single 200-kilo block of sapphire. With 250 hours of work required to complete just the dial, the project was one of the most ever made by La Fabrique du Temps Louis Vuitton.
The watchmaker’s dial artisans used medical tools to create the asymmetric forms and curves that echo many of Gehry’s architectural projects.
The Louis Vuitton Tambour Moon Tourbillon Poinçon de Genève Sapphire is the first watch with a sapphire dial and case to bear the Poinçon de Genève seal. It is fitted with the manufacturer’s flying tourbillon LFT MM05.01. Thanks to the full sapphire case and dial, the rose-gold-bridged movement is entirely visible. (See below for full technical specifications.)
Price: $935,000.
Specifications: Louis Vuitton Tambour Moon Flying Tourbillon Poinçon de Genève Sapphire Frank Gehry
(Limited edition of five pieces)
Case:
• Case, lugs and crown in sapphire• Frank Gehry’s signature engraved on the case-back • 43.8 mm diameter• 11.27 mm thickness• Anti-reflection sapphire crystal• Water-resistant to 30 meters
Dial:
• Sapphire, polished and mattified by hand, inspired by Frank Gehry’s architectural works
• Sapphire hands, outline in HyCeram Luminex (luminescent pigments)
Movement:
• Caliber LFTMM05.01: mechanical movement with manual winding developed and assembled by La Fabrique du Temps Louis Vuitton
“Poinçon de Genève” certification, visible on the central bridgeFunctions: skeleton flying tourbillon, hours and minutes, Monogram flower tourbillon cage rotating in one minute160 components80 hours of power reserve21,600 vibrations per hour17 jewels
Strap: White taurillon leather strap with a rose gold folding buckle.
Price: $935,000.
