LVMH Watch Week: 2025 is an exceptional year for watchmaking (#1/3)
Between Paris and New York, the LVMH group’s watchmaking week once again surprised connoisseurs by unveiling exceptional creations that combine aesthetic sophistication with technical feats. In this first episode, we explore the remarkable Daniel Roth Extra-Plat Souscription watch, the incandescent Gérald Genta Gentissima Oursin Fire Opal, and the ethereal Louis Vuitton Spin Time collection, which takes us on a journey to six dream destinations. Fasten your seatbelts, we’re taking off for the land of watchmaking excellence.
DANIEL ROTH, Extra Plat Souscription
Inspired by the Tourbillon Souscription watch, originally created by Daniel Roth himself in 1990, the Extra Plat Souscription version incorporates the aesthetic details of the Tourbillon Souscription, which was introduced last year at LVMH Watch Week 2024 in Miami and analyzed in the article “Daniel Roth Tourbillon: The Triumphant Return of an Icon.”
Now at the helm of the Maison, Michel Navas and Enrico Barbasini, founders of La Fabrique du Temps Louis Vuitton, are committed to honoring the heritage of this brand with remarkable traditional craftsmanship while incorporating the latest technological advancements. Limited to just 20 pieces, this timepiece features a double-ellipse case—35.5 mm wide by 38.6 mm long—adorned with a perfectly centered gadroon and equipped with slightly curved lugs to seamlessly fit the wrist’s contours.
Distinguished by its mere 7.70 mm thickness, it houses a dial with exquisite decorations. Crafted by hand using a guilloché machine dating back to 1935, the clous de Paris pattern adorns the 18-carat yellow gold base.
The hour track features a filet sauté pattern executed using an 1850s machine. To enhance the overall harmony, the Roman numerals, serial number, and “Daniel Roth” inscription at 12 o’clock are tinted blue, echoing the finely blued hands. Matching the case’s silhouette, the manually wound shaped movement was developed and assembled at La Fabrique du Temps Louis Vuitton. It features a variable-geometry balance wheel oscillating at a frequency of 4Hz (28,800 vibrations per hour) and offers a power reserve of approximately 65 hours. Geneva stripes, perlage, and anglage contribute to the beauty of the caliber, which can be admired through a sapphire caseback, available upon request, as the watch is originally fitted with a solid caseback.
Limited to 20 pieces – CHF45,000 (excluding tax)
Technical details:
Case
3N Yellow Gold
Dimensions: 38.6 x 35.5 mm
Thickness: 7.70 mm
Dial
Hand-guilloché Clou de Paris pattern
Produced in-house at La Fabrique du Temps Louis Vuitton
Blue font
Hands
Thermally blued steel hands
Water Resistance: 30 m
Lug Width: 20 mm
Strap Material: Calf leather
Caliber DR002
Manual-winding Manufacture movement developed and assembled at La Fabrique du Temps Louis Vuitton under the supervision of Michel Navas and Enrico Barbasini
Frequency and Power Reserve: 65 hours – 4Hz
Dimensions: 31 x 28 mm
Thickness: 3.1 mm
Components – Rubies: 143 – 21
LOUIS VUITTON, Spin Time Collection
One of Louis Vuitton’s horological symbols, the Spin Time complication, unveiled in 2009, surprises with its three-dimensional jumping hour display. Inspired by the flap panels found in train stations and airports, this time-reading mechanism, inseparable from the concept of travel, takes center stage during the LVMH Watch Week 2025 with the Tambour Taiko Spin Time collection, which features six remarkable pieces, including the Tambour Taiko Spin Time Air Flying Tourbillon and the Tambour Taiko Spin Time Air Antipode. To maintain a sense of unity, both 42.5mm models are crafted from white gold and feature an entirely openworked grey dolphin dial. Continuing from the previous Tambour model, presented in 2023, the Tambour Taiko case—referencing the drums used in Japanese ceremonies—displays double-finished lugs, with both mirror-polished and microbeaded surfaces, integrated into the case, giving it a more streamlined look. While each piece is powered by an automatic movement with various technical characteristics but commonly offering a power reserve of approximately 45 hours and a balance wheel oscillating at 4 Hz, the movement is also equipped with an 18-carat rose gold oscillating weight, bordered with a multitude of engraved “V”s. Another shared feature is the rotating cubes, now with a curved profile, which function in the same way: the instant and simultaneous jump of two cubes during the time change. To achieve this, engineers developed a patented Maltese cross gear, located at the base of each cube. This ingenious mechanism ensures easier time setting and allows for advancing or reversing the time without damaging the movement.
Tambour Taiko Spin Time Air Flying Tourbillon
The Louis Vuitton Tambour Taiko Spin Time Air Flying Tourbillon combines two exceptional horological complications: the floating Spin Time Air display and a flying tourbillon.
This technical challenge required a complete overhaul of the base caliber to integrate these mechanisms within a limited space, primarily occupied by the twelve rotating cubes. The flying tourbillon, positioned at the center of the dial, completes one rotation per minute and features a hand-crafted steel cage shaped like the Monogram Flower.
Its complex architecture required adapting the gear train and repositioning the minute hand beneath the cage. The polished lower plate reflects each component of the tourbillon. This timepiece embodies a horological feat, elevated by refined design and remarkable technical expertise.
€190,000
Consult the technical specifications of the Tambour Taiko Spin Time Air Flying Tourbillon.
Tambour Taiko Spin Time Air Antipode
A small revolution in the world of world-time displays: the exclusive movement of the Tambour Taiko Spin Time Air Antipode combines jumping hours with the Worldtime complication, allowing simultaneous reading of the time across 24 different time zones with a day/night indication.
The local time is read as follows: the minutes are indicated by the only hand present on a rotating disk representing the Earth, while the hours are displayed by a yellow arrow, a reference to the Maison’s iconic stitching.
As for the other time zones, they are displayed by the twelve cubes, each indicating the time for two cities located twelve hours apart, hence the name “Antipode.” This is a first in watchmaking. Furthermore, the background color of the cities indicates whether it is day or night.
€110,000
Consult the technical sheet of the Tambour Taiko Spin Time Air Antipode.
Consult the technical sheet of the Tambour Taiko Spin Time collection.
LOUIS VUITTON, Tambour Convergence
This new reinterpretation of the Tambour is a tribute to the era’s aperture watches. Slightly more refined than its counterparts, the Tambour Convergence stands out primarily for the originality of its time display.
Indeed, the hours and minutes are displayed through two distinct apertures, sculpted into a metal plate, revealing two satin brass discs with blue-decaled numbers and indexes. The metal plate differs between the two models in the collection. The first, made of platinum and paired with a blue calf leather strap, serves as the decorative element of the watch, featuring a remarkable snow setting made up of a myriad of diamonds – 795 in total.
Approximately thirty-two hours of work were required by the artisan to cover this surface, made up of seven different diameters, ensuring the setting is perfectly invisible. The second version, in rose gold, is paired with a brown calf leather strap with yellow stitching, echoing the color combination of the luxury brand’s iconic trunks. Its polished case invites the possibility of personalizing the watch with an inscription.
Both feature a diameter of 37 mm, a thickness of 8 mm, and water resistance up to 30 meters. They are powered by an in-house automatic movement, offering approximately 45 hours of power reserve and equipped with a rose gold oscillating mass, bordered with “V” engravings, visible through a transparent case back.
W9PT11 – Platinum and diamonds – €67,000
W9PG11 – Rose gold – €37,000
Consult the technical sheet for the Convergence watch in rose gold and the Convergence in platinum and diamonds.
THE LOUIS VUITTON WATCHES WEBSITE
GERALD GENTA, Gentissima Oursin Fire Opal
The Gentissima Oursin Fire Opal watch sparks desire with its design that recalls a sea urchin, the marine animal that inspired Gérald Genta in 1994 when he imagined this collection. The 36.5 mm yellow gold case evokes the spherical body of the echinoderm, while its spines are represented by the multitude of fire opals—137 in total—each individually screwed onto a yellow gold stem.
Striking with originality, this ring of fire encloses a carnelian orange dial, adorned with a smooth crystal on the outside and an octagonal faceted crystal on the inside. Very minimalist, it allows the vibrant color to speak for itself, only punctuated by tiny yellow gold buttons as hour markers, and hands covered in pink luminescent material. Delivered on a black alligator leather strap, the model beats to the rhythm of a Zenith Elite automatic movement. Visible through a sapphire caseback, the movement features a hollowed yellow gold oscillating mass, embellished with small dots, reminiscent of the opal beads scattered across the case.
Price upon request – Available in May 2025.
Technical Details:
Case
Yellow gold 3N enhanced with 137 fire opals, each screwed onto yellow gold 3N stems.
Dimensions: 36,5 mm
Thickness: 9.64 mm
Water resistance: 30 m
Dial
Orange cornelian with 3N yellow gold hour markers for the 5-minute markers
Hands
Yellow gold 3N
Movement
Caliber: GG-005 – Zenith Elite with redesigned oscillating weight
Power reserve – Frequency: ~50h – 4Hz.
Diameter: 25.6 mm.
Thickness: 3.65 mm.
Components: 126
Strap
Lug width: 17,5 mm
Strap material: Black alligator leather
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