Escale Time Zone Blue

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 globetrotters′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 blue dial in the colours of the world

Louis Vuitton has always offered its customers the opportunity to customise their trunks using strips of colour, initials, coats-of-arms and other hand-painted geometric pictograms. This colourful universe and vibrant customisations provide an original source of inspiration for the design of the Escale Worldtime dial.

This year, the dial is adorned with a new colour: a vibrant blue that lends a very contemporary feel to the design.

Using the technique of miniature painting, it took the master craftsman 40 hours to complete a single dial in a dedicated workshop at the La Fabrique du Temps Louis Vuitton manufacture. A total of 38 colours were applied by brush, one by one, in a succession of tiny strokes, before the dial was dried in an oven at 100°C.

The result is captivating, with a sparkling, textured and contrasting finish, further enhanced by the visual effect that separates the glass from the dial. This is why the black triangle topped by a yellow arrow – the only fixed element on the dial, indicating the time and the reference city is positioned directly underneath the glass, so as not to hinder the motions of the mobile discs.

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.