Louis Vuitton launches Escale, the second watch collection under 26-year-old chief

SINGAPORE – In 2021, Mr Bernard Arnault – chairman and founder of LVMH, the world’s biggest luxury goods company – caused a stir when he made the youngest of his five children head of the watchmaking division of French luxury house Louis Vuitton (LV).

Many wondered if it was too mammoth a task for someone who was then just 23 years old.

Undeterred by the chatter, Mr Jean Arnault buckled down to work with La Fabrique du Temps – LV’s watchmaking arm – and, in July 2023, unveiled a gloriously facelifted Tambour, one of the fashion house’s most iconic timepieces.

Also boasting the LFT023 – a new micro-rotor, chronometer-certified calibre devised by La Fabrique du Temps’ famous founders Michel Navas and Enrico Barbasini – the new Tambour was an immediate hit.

The buzz around his debut has yet to die down, but Mr Arnault is already on to his second act, which continues the new direction he has charted for the company and focuses on solidly constructed sports-luxe models. 

The latest Escale collection – with four references fashioned from either rose gold or platinum – updates a watch launched 10 years ago. Featuring highly textured and tactile surfaces, the time-only three-hand models pay homage to LV’s savoir-faire in trunkmaking.

The dial in the rose-gold models, for instance, is a direct reference to the finely grained surface of the Louis Vuitton Monogram canvas. Prices for the timepieces in the Escale collection are between $38,500 and $245,000.

“If you want to know a funny story, we started designing Escale before designing the Tambour,” says Mr Arnault, 26, in a Zoom interview from Paris.

He was referring to three stunning Escale Metiers d’Art Cabinet Of Wonders pieces which were released in March. Flaunting mechanical wizardry as well as intricate decorative artistry, the watches – featuring a dragon, a snake and a koi garden – were inspired by the colourful collection of antique Japanese tsuba (sword guard) owned by the late Gaston-Louis Vuitton, grandson of the brand’s founder Louis Vuitton.

“We thought it was too good an opportunity not to try and design a three-hand watch from those three pieces,” says Mr Arnault, who has a master’s degree in mechanical engineering from Imperial College London and another in financial mathematics from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.

Designing a three-hand watch, however, is far from easy, he adds.

“You have such a large canvas in front of you with nothing – no complication, no counters – to design around, so you have to build the space around it to make it as attractive and proportionate as possible,” he says.

One of the biggest challenges, he adds, was to make every trunk-inspired element functional. The lugs attach the strap to the case, the pin at the buckle holds the sleeve together and the four indexes on the dial secure the dial’s two parts. The back of the watch features a reference number plaque historically used on LV trunks.

“We had never done a three-hand watch before, so we had to start from scratch. What kind of indexes, hands and texture on the dial do we use? Because of all the different techniques needed, it was actually harder to design than the Tambour.”

A significant challenge was the dial’s construction. Unlike traditional designs where the chapter ring goes up to bring more light, Mr Arnault’s team chose a downward slope to enhance the trunk-inspired aesthetic. This required innovative techniques, including a reflective coating to ensure the dial is well-lit.

The central second hand also proved tricky. Initially, the watch was designed as a two-hand model due to power reserve concerns. However, the team found a solution by using a perfectly curved titanium second hand – a first in the watch industry – to balance the weight and energy consumption. This ensured that the Escale’s power reserve matches the Tambour’s 50 hours without sacrificing functionality.

One of the first things Mr Arnault did when he took on the job was invest in human expertise.

“When I first arrived, we installed the principle of one watchmaker taking care of one watch from start to finish. That, for me, is extremely important because it brings the human back into the manufacturing regardless of the techniques that are used.

“So, even for a three-hand model which doesn’t have any engraving, enamelling or crazy techniques we’ve used in the past, you can still tell that there’s a human touch to it because someone took care of the watch from start to finish,” he says.

His vision for the new collection is clear: Escale will exclusively use precious metals or exotic materials, avoiding non-precious metals such as steel. This direction aligns with his goal of positioning LV in the realm of high watchmaking.

Asked how Mr Bernard Arnault rates his performance since coming on board, Mr Jean Arnault says: “You have to ask my boss how my performance is, you know?

“But I think, so far, the excitement around our watchmaking is pretty interesting. I have to say I see and meet a lot of collectors who tell me that, for the first time, they are considering buying a Louis Vuitton watch. For the first time, they’re also looking at what we’re doing, even if they haven’t bought yet.

“I think the true measure of success will be seen in 10 years because, for me, Tambour is only one stone. Escale is another stone. We are building a house, so there are many different stones that will need to put on. And I have great products in mind for next year, 2026 and 2027.”

He has mapped out clear strategies for his other projects too, from collaborations with independent watchmakers to the reinvigoration of Daniel Roth and Gerald Genta, two storied independent brands owned by LVMH.

In 2023, LV released the LVRR-01 Chronographe a Sonnerie, a collaboration with Atelier Akrivia, a Geneva-based independent watchmaking house which makes about 40 watches a year.

“There’s going to be another one this year,” Mr Arnault says, but declines to give more details.

Meanwhile, Gerald Genta dropped three evocative timepieces inspired by the 1994 Oursin on June 7, offering a preview of the brand’s in-house experimental laboratory codenamed Gentissima.

Mr Arnault is sanguine when asked what he thinks of the slowdown in the luxury market and the weakened demand for luxe watches after several years of explosive growth.

The watch market was abnormally robust during the Covid-19 pandemic, fuelled by closed borders which curtailed travel and retail spending, and crypto gains.

Brands, he says, should not overproduce or pressure retailers to get inventory when growth has slowed.

“I think that will be a catastrophic situation, because then retailers would either struggle to sell the pieces or have to sell them at a heavy discount, which would then ruin all the work the brands have done, or make them go under, which would be even worse for clients and the business.

“The pandemic brought on some abnormal situations, but I think it’s a healthier market now because prices have gone back to normal levels. You know, having some references which are $20,000 at list price and $180,000 on the second-hand market makes no sense. I’d rather buy an apartment or house with that.”