Introducing A Bold New Effort: The Louis Vuitton Tambour Convergence

New releases do not often surprise us at Fratello. Once you know the brands and follow their developments for long enough, most new watches feel somewhat familiar or expected. Well, today’s release does not fall within that category. Today, we welcome the new Louis Vuitton Tambour Convergence collection in the montre à guichet layout.

Louis Vuitton offers the new Convergence in two versions. You can have your pick of a rose gold model or a platinum variant with snow-set diamonds. RJ and Max had the opportunity to photograph the gold one for this article. Both feature a new movement from La Fabrique du Temps Louis Vuitton, caliber LFT MA01.01. Let’s have a closer look!

Montre à guichet

Let me start with a quick look at the concept behind these new Louis Vuitton watches. The French term montre à guichet loosely translates to “window watch.” This usually means you get a closed face with the time displayed digitally through a set of windows. Perhaps the most famous example is the Cartier Tank à Guichets.

Now, there are several ways of executing this concept. The fanciest way is to pair the windows with heures sautantes, or jumping hours. This way, the correct hour always sits front and center within its window until the minutes pass from 59 to 0, when it jumps to the next hour.

The broader aperture around the Tambour Convergence’s hour disc already shows that this is not the chosen path here. Instead, the hours continuously rotate, much as a regular hour hand would. Traditionally, you will find two ways of executing this style. One is to reverse the direction of the movement to indicate time progressing forward. The other is to leave the direction as standard and simply reverse the hours on the rotating disc, compared to how they would sit on a traditional dial. Louis Vuitton opted for the latter, which means that, for instance, at 10:30, the lozenge-shaped marker sits behind the 10 rather than ahead of it. This may take a little getting used to, but it has an equally historical pedigree as the other methods. Luckily, the next hour is always in view, so at 10:30, the marker clearly sits between 10 and 11.

The Louis Vuitton Tambour Convergence’s case

Now that we have a clear idea of the concept, let’s look at the execution. The Louis Vuitton Tambour Convergence houses a brand-new caliber in a 37mm × 8mm case. I could not ask for more perfect dimensions for a formal watch like this. As mentioned, you can opt for rose gold or platinum — more on those options later. Both versions feature two elegantly shaped apertures filled with curved sapphire. A narrow channel surrounds the watch’s face, connecting the apertures with the case’s circular shape. Louis Vuitton likens the time display to a rising sun, and I can certainly see that inspiration.

Fans of the Tambour collection will certainly recognize the overall case shape. The tapered flanks remain, providing a squat stance on the wrist. The equally tapered crown should also look familiar. The sculpted lugs, however, are new. I think they look right at home on the Tambour! The polished top surface contrasts the sandblasted inners.

The base version (if you could call it that) features a rose gold case with a polished face. Alternatively, you can opt for a platinum version with 795 snow-set diamonds of different sizes on the face. These are manually applied by Louis Vuitton’s La Fabrique des Arts.

The Louis Vuitton Tambour Convergence’s movement

Inside ticks the new caliber LFT MA01.01. This automatic movement runs at a 28,800vph frequency and has an autonomy of 45 hours. It also features a free-sprung balance and an 18K gold oscillating weight.

The caliber can be viewed through the sapphire display window in the case back. It reveals some interesting finishes. For example, the bridges feature sandblasting at two different resolutions with attractive raised edges. You might also notice the 26 colorless sapphire jewels, replacing the typical pink rubies.

Initial impressions

I am deeply impressed with the new Louis Vuitton Tambour Convergence. Clearly, Louis Vuitton takes watchmaking very seriously, as shown by its efforts in integrating La Fabrique du Temps and specialized ateliers like La Fabrique des Arts. The results speak for themselves.

I am, however, most impressed by the aesthetics of the Convergence. It reveals a big problem many traditional watch brands face — style. Louis Vuitton puts its know-how in fashion and design front and center here with a supremely elegant creation that oozes style. The brand backs it up with proper watchmaking and metiers d’art. Many traditional watch brands can easily keep up from a watchmaking perspective but not so much from a style and design point of view. Heads of product often carry strong watchmaking or technical credentials but are weaker in design and aesthetics. This is where houses like Louis Vuitton can truly differentiate themselves. The new Louis Vuitton Tambour Convergence is a prime example.

It gets a thumbs-up from RJ

If this is where Louis Vuitton is headed, then the brand can count me on board! Unfortunately, all of this goodness comes at a very serious price. The rose gold version costs €37,000. If you prefer platinum and snow-set diamonds, you must part ways with €67,000.

What do you think of the new Louis Vuitton Tambour Convergence? Let us know in the comments below.