Escale au Pont-Neuf

The Escale au Pont-Neuf is the second exceptional creation in Louis Vuitton’s Escales Autour du Monde pocket watch collection, this time celebrating the Maison’s Parisian home beside the Pont-Neuf — the city’s oldest bridge.

Uniting Haute Horlogerie complications and exceptional Métiers d’Art, the piece features a minute repeater, a tourbillon, and seven-automaton animation, all powered by the manual-winding LFT AU14.03 calibre. Developed entirely in-house, this is the most complex movement ever created by La Fabrique du Temps Louis Vuitton, requiring over 500 hours of assembly.

The dial is brought to life through seven animations and 13 moving elements: A gold compass at 12 o’clock spins clockwise and sits prominently in a blue sky subtly accented by LV Monograms. Meanwhile the barge moves from right to left, and which carries a selection of Louis Vuitton trunks that slowly open to reveal golden LV Monogram flowers. The French flag floats on the boat's bow, while a vibrant orange banner marks the location of the Louis Vuitton headquarters in the distance. Above, a pair of sparrows perch on branches adorned with autumn leaves, overlooking the scene.

All elements are carved in very thin layers of gold using the bas relief engraving technique where the subject is sculpted directly on the surface. Complementing the spectacular engraving work is the miniature and champlevé enamel techniques used across the creation. 30 colors were ultimately chosen, in varying shades of green, blue, brown and white. In total 500h were needed to craft the dial.

The pocket watch features a beautifully engraved case, in volume with different motifs echoing Art Nouveau motifs, while the bezel is set with 60 baguette-cut colored stones totaling 3.85 carats.

The piece is presented in a bespoke trunk made in Asnières, with a unique doctor’s bag whose design has been especially designed to hold the pocket watch at its center.