Designed by BBDC – Berra Blanquer Design – this watch was most notable for its drum-shaped case and unusual flared profile, which was wider at the base than at the top, including a wide caseband, the perfect canvas to engrave the 12 letters in the name Louis Vuitton, aligned with the hour markers.
Although it wasn’t LV’s first-ever watch, it marked the debut of its watchmaking strategy. The first Louis Vuitton Tambour appeared in 2002 as a traveller’s watch with a GMT function – which made sense given the brand’s historical ties to travel. And we’ll tell you all about it in our exclusive video with Jean Arnault posted above. Now under the direction of Jean Arnault, Louis Vuitton watches and its manufacture La Fabrique du Temps, have conceived the new Louis Vuitton Tambour, which returns as a new contender in one of the most disputed categories, the luxury sports watch with integrated bracelet. After two decades of loyal service, it is time for the Tambour to reinvent itself and write a new chapter. In 2002, Louis Vuitton premiered the Tambour watch, a model immediately recognisable thanks to its drum-shaped case ( tambour in French). However, the French powerhouse is looking at luxury in all categories and, since 2002, has accumulated impressive watchmaking expertise. In preparation for the cutover, production of the outgoing watch models was halted 18 months ago and the new models won’t roll into stores until September, which Arnault described as a pause that would allow the brand to explain the new direction to would-be buyers.Ĭonsidered a unisex model, the new 40-mm Tambour watch will come in two steel options with either a silver-gray or a deep blue dial, both priced at 19,500 euros a steel-and-gold model one in solid 18-karat yellow gold, and a rose gold version.Īmong the immediately visible design changes are the absence of lugs and the integrated bracelet but also a slimline profile of just over 8 millimeters - against 13 for the current Tambour designs - that has been designed to appear even thinner.The world’s most valuable luxury brand, Louis Vuitton, is intimately associated with leather goods and fashion. This is the “good fortune of being part of a big house that’s historically believed in watchmaking,” initiated with the 2002 launch of the first Tambour design and furthered by investing in La Fabrique du Temps to “create high watchmaking in a more spontaneous way, without having to think about an immediate return on investment,” he said. But we are installing ourselves step by step, building a stable business.” “We’re not going for an exceptional success or launching with a bang. “We aren’t going to change strategy midway because it didn’t work,” he continued. He is “not interested in tripling the business by maximizing, lowering prices and doing more volume.” Instead, this step is about “leveraging the know-how of our craftspeople and ensure that a client entering a Louis Vuitton store - for the watches or by chance - will see that have a level of execution on par” with watchmaking pure players.Īrnault said the move was part of a long-game strategy that stretches to 2030, “whatever the result of this collection.” In a nutshell, the positioning is about showing how serious the French luxury house is about its watchmaking chops. “There’s also this idea of respecting long-standing clients and bringing value to what they’ve already collected.” It’s to ensure that our historical collectors, our brand aficionados can recognize themselves in a more entry-level high-end watchmaking piece,” he continued. “Our goal is not to put a watch on everyone’s wrist.
“Whatever the performance we have today - and it’s rather good - I’m not looking at it to pilot this change,” Arnault said, deeming the Tambour iteration the brand’s biggest watch launch of the past 20 years. All of these will be covered by a five-year warranty, up from three.Īccording to the executive, today’s Louis Vuitton watch clientele is split between those who buy watches as fashion accessories and watch enthusiasts and collectors.īut the perspective of losing the first category doesn’t faze him, even though he imagines them reaching for the connected watch and its customizable digital watch faces to match their outfits. The brand’s lineup will go from more than 100 active references to around 20, including a handful of women’s watches, the connected Tambour Horizon Light Up watch, the Tambour Street Diver launched in 2021, and the five new Tambour models, with high watchmaking on top of that. The 40-mm three-hand Tambour is a more unisex model, available in steel, steel-and-gold and solid gold.
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