The Convergence was followed by a (probably) coincidental slew of other reveals from brands including Cartier, Jaeger-LeCoultre and Bremont that revived the ‘jump hour’ system of time display after it had been largely ignored for almost a century.
LV chose to launch the 37mm Convergence with two models, a platinum version set with 795 diamonds and an 18 carat pink gold offering which it described as ‘a true horological artefact, telling time via its interior mechanism and simultaneously recording the passage of time on its exterior surface….’.
And now that extensive ‘exterior surface’ that a jump-hour mechanism can free-up has been exploited as a blank canvas on which to create the quite spectacular Tambour Convergence Guilloché pictured here.
Just one look confirms that the watch is a masterpiece of the engraver’s art, but the story behind its development makes it even more interesting.
That’s because it has been created using two historic, manually-operated machines: a rose engine from 1850 that produced the pattern around the circumference of the case, and a ‘straight line’ lathe that cut the mesmerising ribbons radiating from beneath the digital time display.
But producing the Convergence Guilloché wasn’t simply a matter of pulling the dust sheets off a couple of machines that had been left lying around at the manufacture.
“Many machines of this type were thrown out of watch making workshops when more sophisticated, electrically-powered and computer-controlled versions started to become available,” explained Michel Navas, the genius watch maker at La Fabrique du Temps Louis Vuitton and the manufacture’s co-founder.
“Thankfully some were saved by people who realised their importance, and we have been dedicating a lot of time to tracking them down and putting them back into use. We now have five.”
The two used to create the Convergence Guilloché were found by 70-year-old master guillocher Marc Ferland, who then spent several years renovating them and producing the correct tools to create the desired finishes.
Ferland retired after a long career with Audemars Piguet – but his passion for engraving soon drove him back to work.
According to Navas, the Convergence Guilloché could only be created through the close co-operation of Ferland and Matthieu Hegi, artistic director at Louis Vuitton Fabrique du Temps.
The pair are said to have worked together for around six months to ensure the tooling was correctly adapted to suit Matthieu’s proposed design, and that the design itself was of a form that the machines of this type were capable of creating.
As the finished article demonstrates, everything came together nicely (after a mere 16 hours of engraving).
The textures and finishes have an ‘analogue’ quality that a modern, computer driven machine would never be able to match, resulting in a superb play of light and a palpable feeling of hand-made luxury.
But this watch is not just about the case.
The in-house calibre LFT MA01.01 movement that powers the ‘converging’ hours and minutes discs is also beautifully finished with sand-blasted and micro-blasted bridge finishing, a perlaged main plate and clear (not coloured) jewelling.
Finished-off with a blue calfskin strap to complement the blue Arabic markings of the time discs and to contrast with the warm, pink gold of the case, the Tambour Convergence Guilloché is truly covetable.
So covetable, in fact, that it might even tempt lovers of watches with conventional dials to wave goodbye to their hands….
The Louis Vuitton Tambour Convergence Guilloché is priced at Euros 59,000.
