Watches and Wonders Week brought the leading names in watchmaking worldwide together for more than ten days this past April in Geneva and Shanghai. The most important online and offline watch event ever held, it was a global showcase for the watch industry’s most respected watch brands to showcase their exceptional timepieces. One of the standouts at this year’s event was the Louis Vuitton Tambour Carpe Diem watch where, with the press of a button, a diamond prompts the snake to move through the skull, opening its mouth to reveal the words “Carpe Diem”, latin for Seize The Day.
Louis Vuitton Tambour Carpe Diem Watch
A highly sophisticated timepiece, the gothic looking Louis Vuitton Tambour Carpe Diem Watch pushed the boundaries of high watchmaking for the Louis Vuitton brand, who presented it along with others at the 2021 Watches and Wonders Week.
The one-of-a-kind vanitas-inspired piece from Louis Vuitton’s high watchmaking collection reveals the time, with the push of a button, though a clever interplay of the dial’s miniature skull and enameled snake.
The watch, clad in an 18k pink gold case, has a hand carved crown and a push piece shaped like a snake set with 2 rubies for the eyes.
The highly detailed face of the watch includes hand engravings of the dial, snake teeth, skull and hourglass by Dick Steenman with enameling of the dial, snake and teeth by Anita Porcher. Both Steenman and Porcher have created dials for many of the world’s top watch brands.
The hourglass is made of curved glass and the moving snake is wrapped around a single, brilliant cut diamond.
The Tambour Carpe Diem has multiple, highly sophisticated complications such as a jumping hour and retrograde minute, 4 animations and a power reserve indicator. Watch as the dial’s miniature skull and snake do a little dance while emitting Horace’s famous words “Carpe Diem” in the video below.
The Louis Vuitton Tambour Carpe Diem Minute Repeater Specifications
Movement:
LV 525 Calibre: mechanical movement with manual winding, developed and assembled by La Fabrique du Temps Louis Vuitton
Jacquemart mechanism featuring 4 animations, jumping hour, retrograde minute hand, power reserve indicator
426 components
100 hours of power reserve
21,600 oscillations per hour
48 jewels
Case:
18K pink gold case and horns
18K pink gold hand-carved crown and push-piece, push-piece set with 2 rubies
46.8 mm diameter
14.42 mm thickness
Domed anti-reflection sapphire crystal
Water-resistant to 30 m
Dial:
Enamel and miniature hand-painting by Anita Porchet (dial, snake & teeth)
Hand engravings by Dick Steenman (dial, snake, skull, teeth & hourglass)
Hourglass made of curved glass
Dial set with a brilliant-cut diamond
1 brilliant-cut diamond for ~0.02 carat and 2 rubies for ~0.01 carat.
Strap:
Black alligator strap
Buckle:
18K pink gold double folding buckle
Price: $459,000 (subject to change)
Images and information courtesy of Louis Vuitton and Watches and Wonders