Escale Time Zone

 
ESCALE TIME ZONE
 
A designer of items for travel and for life, Louis Vuitton love to use the symbolism of its inimitable trunks, essential accessories for travellers who cross the world with elegance and refinement.
 
This year, Louis Vuitton presents the Escale Time Zone watch. A contemporary interpretation of globe- trotters′ timepieces, this steel watch now offers the possibility of viewing the time in the 24 time zones in a different and totally intuitive manner. It offers a new interpretation of GMT movements.
 
A case with timeless lines
 
With its satin-brushed (middle) and polished (bezel) steel case, the Escale Time Zone watch evokes the world of contemporary watchmaking and the grand tours of yesteryear. Protecting the case, its horns adopt the distinctive shape of the corners of Louis Vuitton trunks, an instant reference to epic journeys.
 
With a diameter of 39mm, the Escale Time Zone watch is 8.4mm thick. The dial is attractively open thanks to the delicacy of its polished steel bezel, allowing for optimum readability of the time in 24 time zones.
 
Thanks to a sapphire crystal, the case back reveals an aluminium disc coupled with an oscillating weight that turns energetically around a large graphic LV.
 
A multicoloured dial
 
Adopting the aesthetic codes of the colourful world of the Escale Worldtime, the dial of the Escale Time Zone watch toys with the colourful geometric motifs that have always been used by Louis Vuitton’s customers to personalise their trunk. Bands of colours, crests, initials and other geometric pictograms are hand-painted by transferring them to the dial.
 
Transferring is a process whereby the paint – contained within the hollow of a picture – is transferred to the dial using a silicon-coated rubber stamp. The transfer is carried out by hand, colour after colour, guaranteeing a precise marking suited to all types of shape and graphic.
 
Positioned at the centre of the sapphire crystal, a disc with understated stripes - bearing the inscription Louis Vuitton Time Zone - evokes the shape of a stylised globe. A delicate minutes hand and a small triangle positioned on an invisible disc dedicated to displaying the local time stand out from this circle.
 
A new travel complication
 
A classic GMT function displays the time in a second time zone thanks to an additional hand or an aperture dedicated to this function. The Time Zone watch instantly provides the current time in the 24 time zones defined by Sir Stanford Fleming and ratified by the International Meridian Conference of 1884.
 
The master watchmakers of La Fabrique du Temps, Louis Vuitton have therefore created a new travel complication that is easy to use, universally understood and playful.
 
In two rows of colour, the rim of the dial bears the cities’ initials. A 24-hour disc, directly adjustable by the crown, allows the time of reference to be set opposite the name of the desired city, and therefore all the others. At the centre, the local time is displayed in traditional fashion thanks to a small hour hand marked by a triangle and a minute hand.
 
With its unique functions and original graphic look, the Escale Time Zone watch transfers Louis Vuitton’s passion for travel to watchmaking, drawing inspiration for its silhouette and functions from the history of the brand and its famous trunks, reinventing its codes to create a modern-day traveller’s watch.