Two days ago, on July 5, 2023, at the Musée d'Orsay in Paris, Jean Arnault the Director of Watches at LVMH and the fifth and youngest son of tycoon Bernard Arnault introduced the new revamped Louis Vuitton Tambour. Luckily, I was not invited to the press trip for the presentation of this watch and regardless of that, I would’ve still expressed my thoughts the same way. The new Louis Vuitton Tambour watch has been presented as a blend of elegance and craftsmanship by La Fabrique du Temps —an LVMH watch manufacture that is to be positioned as a ‘horological powerhouse’ by the Arnault dynasty.
Based on what LVMH says, the new Louis Vuitton Tambour combines the brand's timeless elegance with exceptional craftsmanship, pushing the boundaries of horological innovation and design. The Tambour collection, originally launched by Louis Vuitton in 2002 has now taken on a new realm with a more sleek and thinner design and with a unisex approach looking to fit all wrist sizes.
The Tambour watch showcases a harmonious blend of traditional watchmaking techniques and contemporary aesthetics but with a new bracelet that reminds me a lot of an Omega Constellation. Now, bear with me as I have not perused the watch in the metal and I am voicing my opinion based on the stock and live pictures I’ve found on Instagram.
Does the watch look nicer and more proportioned? Yes, it does. With a case diameter of 40 mm and a thickness of 8.3 mm, this new generation of the Louis Vuitton Tambour is almost as thin as an Audemars Piguet Royal Oak ‘Jumbo’ Extra-Thin —8.1 mm thick— and much thinner than a Royal Oak reference 15510 —10.5 mm thick.
One of the most striking features of the Louis Vuitton Tambour watch is its iconic round case, crafted with meticulous attention to detail. The case seems to be exquisitely finished but I won’t pass full judgment until I get to see it in person.
Do I like the ‘Louis Vuitton’ engraving on its bezel? No, I don’t. Does its sleek curves and flawless finishes reflect the brand's commitment to perfection? Most likely yes and from the pictures the watch looks quite nice.
At the heart of the Tambour watch beats the newly developed Swiss-made automatic movement with micro-rotor calibre LFT023. This in-house 31-jewel movement is fully visible through the sapphire display case back and seems to have been finished with 'haute horlogerie’ finishings and that is something that I will have to see in person and under my loupe to confirm that the finishings are what they claim to be.
Now, for a stainless steel watch priced close to $20K USD —$18,500 USD to be precise—, I expect the movement to look much better in person than in the pictures to be totally in line with its steep price tag.
Why do I say steep? Because ultimately the brand name on a watch, means a lot to me, and in my book, this is still a Louis Vuitton watch. To me, Louis Vuitton is synonym for ‘malletier’ and not necessarily for ‘horloger’.
The dial of the new Louis Vuitton Tambour blends in classic and modern design cues but it wants to be very Vacheron Constantin FiftySix looking in my opinion and it’s nearly impossible not to see the similarities here if you pay close attention to the ‘sector’ dial look with concentric areas and applied Arabic numerals.
Now, considering the importance LVMH is giving to their La Fabrique du Temps watch manufacture, I was expecting to at least for once get more details about the movement and the watch itself on the Louis Vuitton website, but I am not surprised, because the target market for LV watches couldn’t care less about the horological aspect of watches.
In conclusion, I think the watch is nice but not $18,500 USD nice. Do I expect my opinion to change once I see the watch in the metal? Not really. I just call a spade a spade, press trip included or not.
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