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The revamped Escale is the second advance by the house’s watch department in its plan to move entirely into high-end timepieces.
Jean Arnault seemed very happy in mid-June during a video interview from the Louis Vuitton headquarters in Paris.
As the house’s watch director, he had just released a complete reworking of its Escale model, the second move in a long-term plan to reposition Louis Vuitton’s analog watches as solely haute horlogerie. (The brand does offer connected watches as well.)
The new Escale is a time-only watch that has left behind complications such as the world timer that debuted with the design in 2014. But its design details — such as the tiny gold stud indexes that look a bit like nail heads — still reflect the travel heritage of the Paris brand, which has made trunks for 170 years. (The most direct reference may be the lugs, which attach the strap to the case, as they resemble the chunky brackets that reinforce the corners of the trunks.)
The collection has six variations, including two 39-millimeter iterations in rose gold, one with a silvery dial, the other in blue, both of which have been hammered to a grainy texture reminiscent of the Monogram canvas that the house uses for many of its handbags.
Of the two platinum versions, one is a 39-millimeter model with a dial cut from the Gibeon meteorite found in Namibia in the 19th century, and the other, a 40.5-millimeter model with a shiny black onyx dial surrounded by 161 baguette-cut diamonds.
And there are two limited editions, with guilloché and grand feu (great fire) enamel dials. Prices range from $26,500 to $168,000.