Following collaborations with Rexhep Rexhepi and Kari Voutilainen, Louis Vuittion turns to De Bethune’s Denis Flageollet for its biggest independent collaboration to date, both literally and figuratively.

The release spans two timekeepers — the first is the LVDB-03 GMT Louis Varius, a heat-blued titanium wristwatch that can be wound and set by the LVDB-03 Sympathique Louis Varius, an ambitious métiers d’art Sympathique clock.

Initial thoughts

Having worked on Sympathique clocks for Breguet during his spell at Techniques Horlogères Appliquées (THA) in the 1990s, Mr Flageollet revisits the concept on his own terms. De Bethune is one of the few independent brands with its own clockmaking workshop, which is a testament to Mr Flageollet’s experience gained at THA.

The Sympathique clock is finely wrought, with several charming artistic flourishes embodying De Bethune’s house style with a generous use of blued titanium. While this Sympathique arguably is a historical tribute rather than state-of-the art, it is nonetheless easier to use than its antecedents, with a simplified docking process that doesn’t require the watch’s strap to be removed.

In terms of usability, this Sympathique is arguably the most advanced to date; moreover, both clocks can be paired with any of the watches in the series, an interchangeability underlining the precision of make that was absent in historical Sympathique clocks.

Denis Flageollet at the launch event in Tokyo.

The massive ornamental Sympathique clock is paired with a Starry Varius GMT with a Tambour twist. The choice of complication for the companion wristwatch makes sense — the GMT functionality is a strength of De Bethune and is a natural fit for Louis Vuitton given the brand’s travel focused identity.

Especially surprising is the seamless blending of the De Bethune aesthetic into the Tambour class; the resulting watch looks almost like it was born as an integral whole. And despite the size of the watch, it wears surprisingly compact.

A total of 12 wristwatches will be made — ten are available individually, while the final pair are each included with the two Sympathique clocks. This limitation is likely due to both the inordinate amount of effort the clocks take to build, as well as the smaller overall market for these types of objects. On its own, the GMT Louis Varius wristwatches are priced at €375,000 while the complete set costs about 10 times that figure.

Jean Arnault

A métiers d’art Sympathique

The Louis Varius Sympathique has a historical lineage stretching back to A.-L. Breguet and then François-Paul Journe, and now culminating in Mr Flageollet.

In the early 1990s Mr Journe enlisted Mr Flageollet’s help to build a run of 20 Sympathique clocks for Breguet, requiring Mr Flageollet and the team at THA to transform Mr Journe’s notes and drawings, produced during the construction of the first piece, into technical diagrams needed for the serial production of the remaining 19 clocks.

Standing at 260 mm in height, the clock’s housing is titanium to match the watch and trunk, with polished and flame-blued meteorite marquetry at its base. The gimbal-like design recalls a marine chronometer, and allows the clock to be repositioned freely. While titanium is lighter than most other metals, the clock is still weighs a hefty 10 kg

The rim of the clock is hand engraved with figures inspired by the 19th-century diorama of François Schuiten, depicting wonders from the Himalayas to the African Savanna. The entire ring is made from 18k rose gold, engraved by Michèle Rothen.

Ms Rothen also engraved the matching gold “decorative dome” in the centre with the Hercules constellation. Underneath this dome is the watch’s alcove, where it docks for winding and setting. The dial is a massive disc of mirror-polished and heat-blued titanium carrying a map of the heavens, with even more gold leaf. The master clock displays the time on its on the periphery in a manner clearly Tambour-inspired .

How it works

The clock uses a single square for both winding and setting. Turning the key clockwise advances the time while turning it counterclockwise winds the movement. Once the clock’s two barrels are fully wound, it will run for 11 days, or 264 hours. It employs a constant force escapement, meaning the clock should have the same amplitude on the last day as it does on the first.

When nested in its alcove under the hand-engraved dome, the clock takes between 9 and 12 hours to fully wind the GMT Louis Varius. As part of this process, the time is also adjusted. This happens incrementally every other hour and requires the watch to be within seven minutes of the correct time at the outset.

Most of A.-L. Breguet’s clocks – except for Sympathique no. 128, made for the Duc d’Orléans – worked in this manner. In this sense, the clock’s function might be better described as maintaining the correct time, rather than setting it. De Bethune’s Sympathique dispenses with the watch’s ability to regulate itself based on the magnitude of the correction, partly due to the use of a free-sprung balance in the DB2507LV movement that powers the wristwatch.

The Sympathique also comes in a purpose-built trunk, albeit one that’s far more elaborate in the style of Louis Vuitton trophy cases, such at that built for the Louis Vuitton Watch Prize for Independent Creatives.

The GMT Louis Varius

For this collaboration, De Bethune has transposed its DB25GMT into Louis Vuitton’s Tambour case, crafted in heat-blued titanium for the first time. The construction is similar to that of the Tambour Taiko Spin Time, with separate lugs and extremely fine joinery. In this case, the lugs are platinum, giving the watch outstanding weight balance on the wrist.

This multi-piece construction explains the excavated satin finish on the excavated lug flanks, achieved using laser texturing. The discreet interface between the watch and clock is visible between the lugs at six o’clock.

A miniaturised celestial vault sits at the dial’s centre. Each major star is depicted with a white gold pin, hand set into the perforated blued titanium dial. This includes the stars of the “LV” constellation, while much of the Milky Way is executed in gold leaf, executed in-house, demonstrating De Bethune’s unusual repertoire of in-house skills.

The dial displays local time and date as well as a second time zone, executed with the brand’s signature spherical day/night GMT “hand” that orbits the dial while also rotating – one side is gold for day and the other blue for night.

The dial features an appealing mix of themes, including the modern typography found on Louis Vuitton’s current generation Tambour. The design of the hour and minute hands further emphasises the Tambour influence.

The watch also features a date, which is always handy while travelling.

As we’ve come to expect from Louis Vuittion’s collaborations, the GMT Louis Varius is delivered in a fitted Monogram trunk, and in true De Bethune fashion, the trunk hardware is titanium, and the corner bumpers are heat-blued.

Key specs and price

Louis Vuitton x De Bethune LVDB-03 GMT Louis Varius
Ref. WATI11

Diameter: 45 mm
Height: 14.05 mm
Material: Titanium and platinum
Crystal: Sapphire
Water resistance: 30 m

Movement: DB2507LV
Features: Hours, minutes, date, GMT with day/night indicator, pairing functionality.
Frequency: 28,800 beats per hour (4 Hz)
Winding: Manual
Power reserve: 120 hours

Strap: Alligator and textile straps included, with blued titanium buckle

Limited edition: 10 pieces each (2 more with each Sympathique)
Availability: At Louis Vuitton boutiques
Price: €375,000 excluding taxes

Louis Vuitton x De Bethune LVDB-03 Sympathique Louis Varius
Ref. Q1TA10

Footprint: 310 mm x 266 mm
Height: 260 mm
Material: Titanium, red gold, meteorite
Crystal: Tempered glass
Water resistance: Not water resistant

Movement: DB5006
Features: Hours, minutes, rotating disc, pairing functionality.
Frequency: 18,000 beats per hour (2.5 Hz)
Winding: Key wind
Power reserve: 11 days

Limited edition: 2 pieces
Availability: At Louis Vuitton boutiques
Price: €4 million excluding taxes

For more, visit Louisvuitton.com.