Hands-On With One Of The Very Few LVKV-02 GMR 6 Watches
Less than a month ago, I found myself in a White Lotus-esque setting on an island in Thailand. I’ll spare you the details of the moment I stepped on a frog with my bare foot, but the scenery was incredible (it was my first time in Thailand). Still, I was there on a three-day mission! Louis Vuitton was announcing its collaboration with watchmaker Kari Voutilainen. The two parties are producing a limited run of only five LVKV-02 GMR 6 watches, and they invited watch media to cover this special introduction.
Louis Vuitton and Kari Voutilainen in Thailand
Louis Vuitton also invited many clients and utilized this stunning location to showcase the latest novelties. It was captivating to view the Louis Vuitton pavilion, where all the recent Tambour Taiko Spin Time models and other collections were on display and demonstrated. The brand transformed the entire pavilion into an impressive exhibition venue, allowing guests to explore all the new items and observe artisans at work, showcasing their skills, such as manual engraving.
In addition to the new LVKV-02 GMR 6 watch, we had the opportunity to preview some upcoming releases under embargo. However, you’ll need to exercise a bit more patience for those!
The LVKV-02 GMR 6 on the wrist
You might have already read our introduction article on this new collaboration between Louis Vuitton and Kari Voutilainen, but in case you haven’t, you can find it here. Today’s article focuses on its wearability and my view of the watch rather than providing a rundown of the specifications and features. Did I already say it was brutally hot in Thailand? Nevertheless, I had a great time trying the new LVKV-02 GMR 6 inside (and outside) the Louis Vuitton venue. Jean Arnault and Kari Voutilainen were also there to present and explain the watch to us.
The danger of using “soldier shots” or renders of a watch is that they suck all the life out of the subject. For example, there are no reflections, whereas, in reality, a watch always has reflections. Post-processed photographs are very clean but rarely show a realistic image of the watch. Even though I was on location for this watch’s reveal, I received the press materials before I saw the watch for myself. I was impressed by the (hand)work on the dial and the movement of the LVKV-02 GMR 6, but seeing it live a few hours later made a big difference. Not only do the colors on the dial appear brighter and more vibrant, but the tantalum case with its platinum elements also shines more in real life.
On the dial, the Voutilainen and Louis Vuitton logos are merged to underline the collaboration between the two watchmaking houses.
Miniature paintwork on the dial
The thing that surprised me the most was how amazingly good the miniature paintwork on the dial and cover of the mainspring barrel looked. The day/night indicator at 6 o’clock was especially stunning to observe up close.
On my 18cm wrist, this 40.5mm by 12.54mm watch wears perfectly. As I wrote above, it’s much more colorful in person than in the press images. Louis Vuitton’s artisans filled the hour ring with enamel (miniature) painting, and the center of the gold dial shows Voutilainen’s stunning guilloché work.
At 6 o’clock, there is a sub-dial for a second time zone, featuring a sun in saffron enamel and a night sky in blue. It takes quite a while for the artisans to get the colors and effects just right. At 12 o’clock, there’s a power reserve indicator on the guilloché dial. The long hands are perfectly readable and have the typical Voutilainen design, with blued circles and (gold) arrow pointers.
GMR 6
The team at Kari Voutilainen’s workshop designed and produced this watch’s hand-wound movement entirely in-house. As you can see in the image, the watchmakers applied Côtes de Genève and perlage decoration to this caliber. They also crafted the movement’s mainplate and bridges out of German silver and the wheels out of gold. Voutilainen’s GMR 6 caliber (with a dual-impulse escapement) ticks at 18,000vph and offers a 65-hour power reserve. You can admire this movement through the sapphire window on the back of the watch. You will immediately notice the large balance wheel and the multicolored miniature painting on the cover of the mainspring barrel. In addition, there is a small plate on the movement indicating that the watch is a limited edition of just five pieces. Engravers also put the phrase “Louis cruises with Kari” on the case back.
The large, winding octagonal crown is easy to grasp, and winding the movement feels very smooth. While the 20mm gray fabric strap may look a bit stiff, thankfully, it is plenty comfortable on the wrist. It comes equipped with a platinum Louis Vuitton-signed pin buckle.
Some afterthoughts
With only five pieces available (for €550,000 each) and two prototypes for the manufacturers, this LVKV-02 GMR 6 collaboration watch is only for the lucky ones. Louis Vuitton delivers each watch in a bespoke and hand-painted trunk. But the LVKV-02 GMR 6 is truly impressive on the wrist, and I hope these watches will find their way to wrists and not remain in their trunks. Louis Vuitton and Kari Voutilainen using tantalum and platinum for the case was an interesting choice. As my colleague Dave explained in this article, tantalum is a dense and heavy material. As seen in some of the images above, the tantalum mid-case has a nice blue hue and combines nicely with the polished platinum elements.
Now that we’ve seen Louis Vuitton collaborations with Akrivia and Kari Voutilainen, I am looking forward to the next! How about you?
