Founded in 1854 with creations dedicated to the art of travel, Louis Vuitton progressively diversified to become the world-renowned luxury brand we now know. Right from its beginnings in watchmaking, with the 2002 launch of the Tambour collection, it earned recognition within the industry. In 2014 the various Swiss production workshops were grouped within the Fabrique du Temps Louis Vuitton in Meyrin, in the Canton of Geneva. The first Louis Vuitton watch collection was named Tambour for its resemblance with the drum of the barrel, the source of energy for mechanical movements, as well as evoking the first miniature watch created in the West and bearing this name in the 16th century, and above all the drums of the famous Japanese Kodo troupe whose name translates as ‘heartbeat’. Round and yet unlike that of any existing model, the case features an eight-sided crown, while its flanks bear the letters of the brand name – of which there are 12 by a happy coincidence – engraved facing the numerals or hour-markers. The stellar model among those launched in 2002 and the most technical of them all at the time, the Tambour LV277 is a chronometer-certified watch equipped with a high-frequency chronograph displaying fifths of a second. The brown shade of its dial echoes the canvas materials for which the brand is known, and particularly the chequered canvas created in 1888 and presented at the Paris World’s Fair, just a year before the Eiffel Tower rose out of the ground, while the yellow of the chronograph hands reflects the linen thread, coated with natural beeswax, used for saddle stitching. At the start of 2013 Louis Vuitton launched a new version of its iconic Tambour LV277. It featured a larger case - 44mm instead of 41.5mm - framing a refined dial with a sunburst brown background and a time display by means of pink gold hands, numerals and hour-markers. The considerably enriched Tambour collection comprises models for both men and women. The array of horological complications it offers naturally includes the GMT function for travellers as well as Regatta functions in reference to the Louis Vuitton Cup. In addition, La Fabrique du Temps has ventured into the development of exclusive functions such as the Spin Time displaying time on rotating cubes – a nod to the chequered canvas – or the bi-chronograph that can record two times on two separate counters and display the differential on a third – a tip of the hat to match racing in the America’s Cup. Novel case shapes followed, with the Tambour Moon’s inward curve or the Tambour Curve in titanium and CarboStratum® which reverses the caseband’s curve. Executions such as these have welcomed complications, including the flying tourbillon baguette movement inside the Tambour Moon Mystérieuse, released in 2018. Released in 2022 for the Tambour’s 20th anniversary, the Tambour Twenty anniversary edition is an unmistakable tribute to the original. Its LV277 movement is on a Zenith El Primero base.

• Tambour watch that recalls the shape of Kodo drums • Emblematic colours: brown for the dial and yellow for the chronograph hands