Earlier this year, Louis Vuitton revised its Escale collection with a few new time-only models in precious metals. The Escale line has been a mainstay for the brand for quite some time and offers a simple platform in which the brand can deliver a wide range of watches, from minute repeaters to classic dress watches. Unlike the brand’s Tambour, which is a bit sportier, the Escale telegraphs a more elegant aesthetic. To finish out the year, Louis Vuitton has introduced the limited Louis Vuitton Escale W3PT21 cased in platinum and featuring a dial that combines grand feu enamel and guilloché — two watch nerd favorites.

 

The Louis Vuitton Escale design is said to be inspired by the brand’s iconic trunks and their hardware. Most noticeable are the “rivet” lugs that sweep up the side of the case, suggesting the metal corner caps of the brand’s recognizable trunks. This new model is made of platinum with a mix of polishing and brushing that adds a bit of contrast and keeps the watch from being too formal. The crown also has a bit of fun: Its octagonal shape and slightly domed head are meant to mimic the rivets of the LV trunks. Measuring 39mm across and 10.34mm thick, including its anti-reflective domed sapphire crystal, the watch has an adequate 50m of water resistance.

The dial is the main attraction here, and each one required four artisans to complete. The current lineup includes textured dials in silver and blue and a meteorite dial. None of those exude the artistry for which LV has become known. The layout remains identical: A satin-finished flange surrounds the dial, with 18k white gold markers and hands (except the seconds which is PVD titanium to ensure smooth functioning). The applied quarter markers are riveted to the flange and dial, the process for the latter requiring lasers.

But the real beauty is the central dial. A white gold blank is used as the base, into which the guilloché is hand-turned. Then LV’s artisans use not one, but two (TWO!) enameling techniques, both of which involve enameling a decorated surface. The first is champlevé, which entails filling in the cuts from the guilloché with the bright blue primary enamel (a layer of enamel applied to the back of the dial that prevents deformation during firing). After that, the flinqué technique (which you can see in the more affordable Etien T02) is used, applying translucent enamel on top as a sort of clear coat. After firing, the dial is lapped with a diamond paste to give it a near-mirror finish.

As with the other time-only Louis Vuitton Escale models, this has a sapphire caseback crystal that puts the in-house automatic micro-rotor movement on full display. The LFT023 was introduced when Louis Vuitton debuted the wholly redesigned Tambour in 2023 and was reused when the Escale was redone this year. The movement was developed by Louis Vuitton at the brand’s La Fabrique du Temps manufacture, in collaboration with Le Cercle des Horlogers (which is headed by a FdT alum). The movement features beautiful finishing, including frosted bridges, polished anglage, and an engraved 22kt rose gold rotor. It runs at 28,800 vph with a 50-hour power reserve and is chronometer-certified to -4/+6 seconds per day.

While it’s not the first limited edition Escale, this new offering is the lucky benefactor of Louis Vuitton’s artistic prowess in a way that the rest of the collection simply can’t compare. While anyone reading the press release for this piece will quickly roll over from the marketing gloss that’s been heavily daubed throughout the copy, the question with any watch is, “Is it attractive?” The answer here, I’d say, is a resounding yes. The Louis Vuitton Escale W3PT21 in platinum with guilloché and enameled dial is priced at $68,000 USD and is limited to 50 pieces. For more information, please visit the Louis Vuitton website.