Louis Vuitton Escale en Alaska
With the heat wave we’ve been experiencing, it’s time for something cool – really cool. Every once in a while, a watch comes along that reminds us that haute horlogerie is as much about storytelling as it is about telling time. Such is the case with the new Louis Vuitton Escale en Alaska, the one-of-a-kind addition to the House’s Escales Autour du Monde collection.
Combining extraordinary mechanical complexity with breathtaking métiers d’art, the one-of-a-kind pocket watch transforms an already impressive timepiece into a miniature theatrical performance where engineering and artistry share the spotlight.
Enormous amounts of metiers d’ arts and mechanical prowess went into the making of the unique Louis Vuitton Escale en Alaska watch.
Inspired by Alaska’s spectacular Margerie Glacier, the dial presents a frozen world beneath shimmering Northern Lights. It is, however, more fantasy than field guide. While penguins aren’t native to Alaska, Louis Vuitton takes artistic license, imagining a dreamlike landscape where whales, orcas and playful penguins coexist across drifting icebergs in a scene designed to evoke wonder rather than geographical accuracy.
While beautiful, the real magic begins when the automaton is activated.
There are 17 moving elements on the dial of the Louis Vuitton Escale en Alaska, which is engraved on the case sides.
Developed by La Fabrique du Temps Louis Vuitton, the manually wound caliber comprises 751 components and powers nine separate animations involving 17 moving elements. A blue whale rises gracefully from the sea while an orca opens its mouth to reveal tiny sculpted teeth. Penguins flap their flippers, waddle across the ice and ride a slowly drifting iceberg.
In perfect Louis Vuitton style, the LV trunks situated perfectly on the center iceberg, gently open to reveal Monogram flowers, while a compass rose turns overhead beneath the shimmering sky. Completing the mechanical achievement are two of watchmaking’s most revered complications: a minute repeater and a tourbillon. Together they make this the most complex piece ever created by La Fabrique du Temps Louis Vuitton.
A fantasy view of Alaska, complete with northern lights, graces the Louis Vuitton Escale en Alaska
As impressive as the mechanics are, the artistic craftsmanship is equally extraordinary. Every moving figure was individually hand engraved before master enamelers brought the scene to life using Grand Feu, champlevé, cloisonné and miniature enamel techniques. Working with 32 different enamel colors that required 35 separate firings, artisans devoted more than 300 hours to creating the remarkable depth, color and luminosity of the icy landscape.
Assembly and finishing of the more than 750 parts of the movement required an additional 500 hours, with every visible component painstakingly hand finished to the standards expected of haute horlogerie.
Pocket watches have long offered watchmakers a larger canvas on which to express both technical ingenuity and artistic vision, and Louis Vuitton fully embraces that tradition here.
751 components reside in the tourbillon, minute repeater, automaton movement of the Louis Vuitton Escale en Alaska
Technical Specifications Of The Louis Vuitton Escale en Alaska
Movement: LFT AU14.03 caliber: mechanical manual-wind movement developed and assembled by La Fabrique du Temps Louis Vuitton; 751 components, 8 days of power reserve, 21,600 vph, 81 jewels
Functions: Jacquemart mechanism with 9 animations, minute repeater, tourbillon, hours and minutes
Case: 750/1000 white gold, engraved on the sides, 50mm diameter, 19mm thick, water resistant to 30 meters
Bezel: 750/1000 white gold set with colored sapphires, diamonds and tourmalines
Crown: 750/1000 white gold crown and suspension ring
Chain: 750/1000 white gold
Crystal: Domed anti-reflection sapphire
Dial: Hand-engravings technique (whale, orca, penguins, iceberg, northern lights, compass rose, trunks; Handcrafted enamel techniques, including champlevé, cloisonné and miniature enamel, Gemsetting: 41 baguette-cut colored sapphires for a total of 2,85 carats; 16 baguette-cut diamonds and 1 LV Monogram Star-cut diamond for a total of 1,24 carat; 8 baguette-cut tourmalines for a total of 0.42 carat
Unique piece
