The best new watches from Louis Vuitton, Chaumet and Cartier
It’s exciting when a luxury brand changes a key piece, especially when it’s this radical.
It’s not bizarrely uncommon for a watch brand to overhaul its entire offering, but it’s always interesting when it happens. This is the case at French maison Louis Vuitton, which under the direction of watch director Jean Arnault, has reimagined its most iconic watch, The Tambour. Elsewhere this month we are taking a look at all things French horology, with a focus style and savoir-faire.
A star is reborn
Louis Vuitton Tambour
Jean Arnault, the youngest son of LVMH founder Bernard Arnault, has big ambitions for the Louis Vuitton watchmaking universe. Since joining the maison in 2021 and becoming its watch director a year later, he has introduced an independent watchmaking prize, cleared out 80 per cent of the current stock and overhauled production at the house’s La Fabrique du Temps watchmaking manufacturer. But most buzzed about is his complete reimagining of Louis Vuitton’s best-known watch, the Tambour. The sturdy Tambour (the French word for drum) has changed very little since its launch in 2002. Well, until the July debut of this super slimmed-down version, a chic signal that Louis Vuitton is entering the integrated sports bracelet and the higher craftsmanship game. This 40mm stainless steel version, part of a five-piece collection, runs on the new LFT023 movement, designed by La Fabrique du Temps Louis Vuitton. $31,000
Garden party
Chaumet Hortensia watch
Empress Joséphine, wife of Napoleon and eternal muse for French jewellery maison Chaumet, was a deeply competitive and highly original gardener. Her love for the botanical remains a constant source of inspiration for Chaumet, known for its delicate and realistic depictions of all things vegetal. This affinity is fully expressed in a new iteration of the Hortensia watch, the name also a nod to Empress Joséphine’s daughter, Hortense de Beauharnais. The 28mm mother-pearl dial is crafted in rose gold and surrounded by a diamond-set bezel adorned with sculpted hortensia flowers also set with diamonds. The bracelet can be easily swapped – leather lizard for day or satin for the eve, perhaps – and straps come in a slew of colours from green to navy. Approximately $27,627
Taking flight
Cartier Santos-Dumont Skeleton Micro-Rotor
In 1904 Brazilian aviator Alberto Santos-Dumont asked Louis Cartier to design a watch befitting a dashing pilot. The result changed horological history, with the Santos-Dumont among the first ever men’s wristwatches and certainly the first pilot’s watch. In 2023 the maison introduced three new skeletonised versions of the classic timepiece, including this elegant stainless-
steel version (there are also rose gold and limited-edition yellow gold versions). The hallmarks of the original remain – a square case with its rounded edges, exposed screws on the bezel, the sapphire cabochon on the crown – but the new 9629 MC automatic micro-rotor skeleton calibre that is both the movement and dial is suitably modern. A nod to the watch’s story
can be found, too, in the tiny model plane that sits on the micro-rotor at 8 o’clock. A whimsical reminder of the thrill of adventure. $50,500
