louis vuitton escale time zone

Louis Vuitton Escale Time Zone: The world in colors

A genuine invitation to travel, the name Louis Vuitton encourages globe-trotters to a stopover in time in order to look at new tools that are likely to help them to discover the world. A colorful exploration.

By Vincent Daveau
Contributor

The world today is a global village where all sorts of connections and networks can take us to different parts of the world at the speed of light with a simple click. The small universes we live in may almost make us forget the richness of our world, so great that a lifetime would not be enough to discover it entirely. Yet at the same time, it's a small world and we can find ourselves, as by some kind of magic, on the other side of the world in a matter of hours.

Louis Vuitton Escale Time Zone Louis Vuitton Escale Time Zone

A daring time display

We all know that the time we spend traveling is neither as important nor has the same value as normal time. Louis Vuitton has specialized in this uncommon time dimension since its foundation in 1854. The brand has always strived to offer travelers the most suitable tools for their trips. And that whether going on holidays or crossing different continents only to explore every nook and cranny of the world we all have the illusion of knowing. Then, there are the incorrigible immobile travelers – big multinational executives who are glued to their screen, communicating with far-off branches. For them, Louis Vuitton’s watchmaking division – newly installed in Geneva – has introduced a new range of extremely original timepieces. The original and well-designed "Escale" range grants aficionados the chance to take some distance.

Traveling beyond words

Louis Vuitton’s Escale is no longer the one watch introduced in 2014 but a whole collection focused on travel. Indeed, it has gone beyond words and become a wake-up call for the watchmaking industry – each model houses a very specific watchmaking specialty that provides useful functions.

Louis Vuitton Escale Time Zone Louis Vuitton Escale Time Zone

In 2014, the brand created a buzz with the introduction of the Escale Worldtime, a luxurious piece with a hand-painted dial that featured small drawings inspired by the brand’s logo. That is, the one the brand used to paint on their suitcases for travelers to easily locate their luggage on the landing stage of big transatlantic liners. As its name indicates, the piece was equipped with an original mechanism that displayed universal hours: the time of the city chosen by the wearer with the crown was displayed automatically on the dial whilst their original local time could be seen right across the corresponding city’s name.

This wonderful piece - acclaimed for its harmonious proportions and amazing colored dial - inspired the creation of the Escale Time Zone in 2015. The piece is dedicated to globetrotters and it features a world-time complication as well as a dial with very elaborate aesthetics. Yet, in order to make it more affordable, the amount of time devoted to its manufacturing was decreased compared to the previous watch. Indeed, whilst the drawings on the watch have been perfectly arranged to create the illusion of the previous watch's dial, they have been painted using tampography and in seven colors only.

Louis Vuitton Worldtime Minute Repeater Louis Vuitton Worldtime Minute Repeater

At the heart of time world

The watch's 39-mm steel case is driven by the self-winding ref. LV 87. The timepiece was developed at the workshops of the "Manufacture du Temps". Hamdi Chatti, the brand’s watchmaking CEO, stated that "innovation concerns everyone at the Fabrique du Temps”. This functional piece illustrates the focus of the young brand’s watchmakers on what truly matters. With its 8.4-mm width, the enthralling power of the piece’s dial will appeal to very different tastes.

It should be noted that, similar to the Escale Worldtime, the watch features the colored illustrations that used to be seen on the brand's suitcases.  These are placed between the names of towns that help to identify the different time zones on the dial. A traditional display has been chosen for this reference, whose self-winding caliber is visible through the transparent back. Indeed, two short and traditional hands, partly covered by a lined circle, occupy the center of the dial. They are set through the winding crown, which also sets the two mobile plates that display the world hours in real time whereas the reference time is seen at the center of the dial.

Louis Vuitton dial painting Craftsman painting a Louis Vuitton Worltimer dial

Obvious functioning

To set the visually striking instrument, the town of origin or the one indicating the time zone the wearer is in has to be placed at 12 o'clock and the local time has to be set with the hands. Meanwhile, the world time plate that displays the time in the 24 time zones simultaneously with a two-colored day and night partition follows the movement to point to the hour corresponding to the hours hand's in front of the city of origin.

To avoid mistakes, the wearer will have to remember to set the time world ring – the circle with the 24 numerals – to a.m. or p.m. Once set, the hands will indicate the local time. The numerals on the cities ring are across one another whilst day and night are indicated by the ring's colored zone.

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