Louis Vuitton Tambour Spin Time

Where Louis Vuitton goes, wanderlust is never far behind. The Maison’s travel heritage is inescapable – but honestly, who would want to escape it? In real life, when passing through grey airports and dull queues of humanity, the glamour of the golden age of travel may sometimes seem out of reach – but in Louis Vuitton’s fabulous world, it’s alive, kicking and ready to be enjoyed.

Just take the House’s horology. The Escale, with its studded indices recalling the lozine nails of Louis Vuitton’s travel trunks. The Monterey, designed to evoke a railway station clock, and even sporting subtle train tracks encircling the dial. And then there’s the Tambour Spin Time: taking its inspiration from the clickety-clack of old-fashioned flap timetable boards, its roots come firmly from the departure lounge, with the hours displayed on spinning cubes. And a new set of additions to this line are making things even more jet-set.

This latest chapter brings five new references into the permanent collection, each taking the Spin Time’s distinctive architecture in a different chromatic – or functional – direction. Pushing its travel companion status in the most literal direction possible with a truly fascinating complication, the Tambour Spin Time Air Antipode Blue comes in white gold and is certainly something we’ve never seen before. Its ingenious display accommodates 24 time zones across its 12 cubes, pairing cities exactly 12 hours apart – Los Angeles with Dubai, New York with Bangkok, and Paris with the Midway Islands. Day and night for each pair are indicated through contrasting backgrounds, while a miniature yellow-painted hour pointer indicates local time, recalling the stitching of Louis Vuitton leather goods. And while the ST12.01 calibre is undoubtedly complex, adjustments are made simple as everything is controlled through the crown.

The Tambour Spin Time Green, in white gold with deep green sunray and sandblasted dial, evokes forests, landscapes and the natural world. Taking more faithfully after the original Spin Time models, first launched in 2009, 12 numbered cubes orbit the dial, rotating sequentially to reveal the current hour. A matching quilted green rubber strap carries the V motif found on the 18-carat rose gold oscillating weight, visible through the sapphire caseback for the first time on a 39.5mm Tambour, for a sense of design coherence that leads from movement to finishing touches. Inside, the in-house ST13.01 calibre reveals its hand-polished anglage, micro-sandblasted bridges and free-sprung balance.

Then comes something altogether more flamboyant. The Tambour Spin Time Australia’s Opal marks the first Tambour case in 18-carat rose gold, its burnished warmth set against a fiery blue Australian opal dial. Indigo, teal and cerulean tones shift across the stone as the light changes, while fragments of opal also appear between the 12 cubes. Baguette-cut diamonds mark the hours, with baguette-cut sapphires tracing the bezel and lugs; altogether, the gem-setting demands three full days of work by the Maison’s in-house specialists.

For those who prefer their colour with a more graphic edge, the Tambour Spin Time Air Blue brings Louis Vuitton’s signature blue to the fore. Here, the ST13.01 calibre appears suspended at the centre of the 42.5mm white gold case, while the 12 rotating cubes spell out Louis Vuitton. Small polished studs crown each cube, a discreet nod to the rivets of the House’s historic trunks, while a matching blue calfskin strap completes the look.

And finally, the collection reaches its haute horlogerie crescendo with the Tambour Spin Time Air Flying Tourbillon Salmon. Its softly hued salmon dial, created with La Fabrique de Temps Louis Vuitton’s in-house La Fabrique des Cadrans, meets a platinum case and tan calfskin strap in a show of subtle class. Beneath it sits the LFT ST05.01 calibre, requiring 50 hours to assemble and combining the floating Spin Time display with a central flying tourbillon. Its cage takes the form of a Monogram flower – a final, unmistakable Louis Vuitton signature hidden within the mechanics.

As new launches go, this is a particularly strong cohort. Groundbreaking complication for the technical whizzkids, on-trend colours for the style-conscious, and a reminder that, at Louis Vuitton, travel is as much about imagination as it is about the destination.