Louis Vuitton offers its vision of watchmaking with artistic and technical twists on a familiar complication
Three models. Three guises. Louis Vuitton’s mascot Vivienne takes her place on the dial across a trio of references in the new Tambour Slim Vivienne Jumping Hours line, which offers a playful, whimsical take on watchmaking—with metiers d’art to boot. This is yet another of the maison’s unique interpretations of watchmaking, with a creative vision given form by keen technical capabilities.
A Unique Format
The Tambour Slim Vivienne Jumping Hours is a time‑only watch, but displays the hours and the minutes in a highly atypical way via a modified jumping hour complication. Typically, this complication involves an aperture in the dial that displays the hour digitally via a disc, which makes an instantaneous jump at the start of every hour to reflect the new time—hence the complication’s name. Meanwhile, the minutes are shown via a traditional minutes hand that sweeps around the dial on its own.
Read more: How Female Watch Collectors’ Tastes and Purchasing Habits Have Evolved
For the Tambour Slim Vivienne Jumping Hours, however, the eponymous complication is executed across two apertures. This works by displaying the current hour alternatingly between the two apertures, with the other window showing a decorative motif that’s special to its particular watch instead. Visually, this is a treat for its wearer; at the start of every hour, the current hour and motif appear to switch sides as the two discs advance instantaneously.
