Louis Vuitton watchmaking is on fire.
In 2023, the company shocked the watch world with a collaboration with indie darling, Rexhep Rexhepi of Akrivia. His workshop makes just 50 timepieces a year—not the kind of atelier you would expect a luxury conglomerate like Louis Vuitton to bring into its fold and it’s certainly not the kind of partnership one would expect a master of horology to even consider. Now, French house has partnered with another independent watchmaking master, Kari Voutilainen.
Earlier this year, during LVMH watch week, the company released timepieces that caught the collective watch cognoscenti’s eye including a sleek gold guichet watch with barely visible branding (it also came in platinum and diamonds) and toned-down version of its highly recognizable Spin Time in muted hues like soft cornflower blue with a khaki leather strap. Even a rainbow watch was set so the gems just barely show for a discretely appealing touch on a Tambour model—a line that now features serious movements and finishing.
What this all signals is that Jean Arnault, the 27-year-old watch director of Louis Vuitton and the youngest son of luxury scion Bernard Arnault, not only has a sophisticated eye, but he’s intent on making the fashion house’s watchmaking part of the conversation in high horology and high-brow collecting circles. “You just get the impression that he’s super smart and detail-oriented and thoughtful product-design-wise—the whole nine yards,” Drew Coblitz, a seasoned Philadelphia-based watch collector, told Robb Report last year. “And the thing that he’s trying to do, branding-wise, is just really hard. It’s got to be one of the hardest things to do in watchmaking.” In other words, it’s a monumental feat to get a watchmaking arm of a fashion house to be taken seriously (some, like Bulgari and Chanel have achieved success), but it’s especially challenging at a house with so much hype surrounding it’s other, more visible and longstanding product categories.
At first glance, the 40.5 tantalum and platinum-cased Louis Vuitton x Kari Voutilainen LKV02 GMR 6 is surprising for its burst of rainbow but it has plenty of Voutilainen’s signatures. You have his masterful hand guilloché work, executed on 18th-century machines, at the center of the dial that mimic’s the French luxury Maison‘s famous Damier pattern. There are his distinctive take on Breguet-style hands. And, of course, there is the finishing for which he has become known: the lug polishing and satin finishing are done by hand; the caseback engraving requires 12 hours of work; and you can see much of the master’s hand on the movement which was designed, built, assembled, and finished in Voutilainen’s workshop.
The pops of color are more than just an eye-catching device. The diamond-polished hour circle is the work of Maryna Bossy, an artisan in Louis Vuitton’s esteemed La Fabrique du Temps watch manufacture. It requires 28 different colors, 32 hours of hand-painting, and 8 hours of firing in a kiln to achieve this kaleidoscope of hues referencing ancient stained-glass windows. But it was the Voutilainen workshop that executed the day/night indicator, which required hand-engraving the sun and moon disc in saffron yellow and cobalt blue which were then painted by hand with enamel to achieve the gradient effect.
Images of Jean Arnault wearing the timepiece on his own wrist have circulated on social media and he makes a compelling case for the timepiece, which arguably looks more subtle and sophisticated on the wrist and comes in a perfect size. But if you’re thinking about splurging, you’ll have to start working on your VIP status at Louis Vuitton. Just five top collectors will get to take one of these GMT watches home, which means you might have to set your sights on the next partnership. Who will that be? F.P. Journe and MB&F are likely ruled out since Chanel owns a stake in both businesses. We could see Greubel Forsey being a fit, especially with its signature 3D globe on models like the GMT Balancier Convexe. But we suspect, a GMT watch won’t be a follow up to this GMT. We would love to see Japanese watch master, Naoya Hida, pair his ultra-refined, nuanced, and traditional aesthetic to the French house. Time will tell.
