A Closer Look at The Louis Vuitton Tambour Carpe Diem Automaton Watch

In its efforts to become the world’s leading technical watchmaker, the brand recently released the Louis Vuitton Diem Carpe Automaton timepiece for 2021. This high-end watch was developed and entirely produced in-house at Du Temps La Fabrique, the complications specialist in Geneva. One noteworthy feature about this timepiece is its artisanal hand-painting and hand-engravings on the dial, which displays additional hours that a master watchmaker needs to complete to make one Carpe Diem watch. This timepiece is also a minute’s repeater, fitted with a quadruple jacquemart, and it features four automata, besides the retro-minutes-display. Moreover, all engraving on the Caseback is done by Dick Steenman of the Art&D in Geneva, where plenty of effort and time is put in to decorate and build them. Here, we will discuss more about the Carpe Diem Automaton Watch.

Overview

The leading manufacturing brand; Louis Vuitton, began producing luxurious timepieces in the early 2000s, which proved to work well with some of Switzerland’s prominent suppliers and watchmakers. Like other well-known manufacturing brands that have experimented in watchmaking, the brand has dabbled with a wide array of fashion designs and price points when it comes to their timepieces. Even though Louis Vuitton’s prestigious timepieces are impressive, they don’t often get enough respect and attention from several watch enthusiasts because of their flamboyant designs. Nonetheless, this Tambour Diem timepiece is a unique modern-day watch whose artisanal decoration reminisces the transience of high-end material goods and the fragility of life. It also incorporates many of the highly-favored themes in the complex watchmaking designs, movements, and impressive styles. One essential part of the Tambour Diem watch series is that they are specifically designed and decorated to meet the eye of the brand’s most influential group of VIP customers.

Specs

According to Ablogtowatch, below are some of the most evident features of the Carpe Diem watch:

Material: 18-k pink gold
Height: 14.42 mm
Water resistance: 30m
Diameter: 46.8 mm
Movement: LV 525
Frequency: 21,600 ticks per hour (3.5 Hz)
Power reserve: 100 hours
Crystal: Sapphire
Strap: Leather with pink gold folding clasp
Winding: Hand Wind

Functionality: Minutes repeater and a jacquemart with four automatons, i.e., retro- minutes hand, a jaw of a skull, power reserve indicator, and a jumping hour.

Price: $475,000
Availability: At all leading Louis Vuitton boutiques

Dial

The sheer level of artisanal detailing on the timepiece is very impressive, along with the visual complexity of the animated dial. The manufacturing brand incorporated the “memento mori” concept by featuring a skull on the dial of the timepiece and serving as an integrated part of the watch’s movement structural bridge system. The brand’s desire for art and visual glamor is a clear demonstration of a real skull concept being showcased both artistically and technically in this timepiece. Every element of the dial is immaculately engraved – skull, hourglass, teeth, and snake – with exceptional textures of the snakeskin and skull. The snake and dial textures are perfectly accentuated, featuring translucent enamel and teeth coated in blazing white enamel. The impressive aesthetic appearance of the dial from its surface to the other element over it is the work of two skilled artisans; Anita Porchet and Dick Steenman. The natural hand-engraving on the Carpe Diem watch was done by Dick Steenman, who owns the Geneva Art&D workshop and has long been known as the leading specialist for decoration, especially when it comes to gemstone settings. After hand-engraving, the snake, teeth, and dial are perfectly enameled by Anita Porchet, who is probably the most prominent enameller in the watchmaking industry.

Case

On the wrist, the 14mm thick and 46mm wide pink gold case is pleasingly comfortable. If you turn this watch over, you will see the hand-wound LV 525 caliber mechanical movement that features a skull, 48 jewels, and 426 separate components. As a further testament to the brand’s outstanding timepiece craftsmanship, the Louis Vuitton Diem models come with a retro-minute, power reserve display, the automata, and a jumping hour. The resulting effect of the inclusion of these amazing features is one of unique sophistication, from the miniature Monogram snakeskin and the gorgeous hourglass power reserve indicator. According to Wristview, The Manufacturing brand has really overdone itself by releasing a genuinely exceptional high-end watches that reminisces the historic art of automata with the modern-day design prowess.

Movement

The movement of this watch is very impressive and was created by the highly respected, well-known complications specialist at Louis Fabrique du Temps. The Carpe Diem’s movement has an impressive power reserve of 100 hours, and the movement operates at a frequency of 3Hz. The watch features an hourglass power reserve indicator that is presented in a jumping hour format through a window that can be seen on the skull’s forehead. The snake’s tail, which is wrapped around a gorgeous set of diamonds, serves as a reverse minute indicator hand and moves along a 0-60 scale painting on the dial. Moreover, the movement of this timepiece is based on a repeating base initially developed by Fabrique du Temps, which was acquired by the manufacturing brand back in 2012.

Price and Availability

Although the Carpe Diem model does not appeal to everyone, it definitely is an impressive work of art and mechanics that any watch enthusiast can dream of. The manufacturing brand also seeks to stand out from the other luxurious watches by releasing wild, watch design creations that are outstandingly logical and palatable to understand. According to Watchesbysjx, Louis Vuitton has claimed to release around thirty pieces of this watch and will be available at all leading LV boutiques. The average price of the Louis Vuitton Diem Automaton timepiece is $440,000.

Final Thoughts

The Carpe Diem watch is arguably the most impressive timepiece of the years, thanks to its state-of-the-art dial decoration and artisanal design and complication. This watch boasts a gorgeous enamel design that gives it an edge over its rival high-end timepieces. Get started today and get yourself the Louis Vuitton Carpe Diem watch to enjoy these unique features.