Louis Vuitton – TAMBOUR Carpe Diem

 Louis Vuitton – TAMBOUR Carpe Diem Jacquemart Unique Watch 2021

The 21 st century jacquemart watch

Louis Vuitton wanted to give jacquemarts back their original meaning. In order to do this, the framework of the Tambour Carpe Diem was built around two major axes, a perfect mastery of this type of calibre in which the automaton is truly functional  as it tells the time on demand, without hands. By combining exclusive high watchmaking caliber with a subversive Vanitas, Louis Vuitton orchestrates a scintillating show with the Tambour Carpe Diem. This virtuoso timepiece writes a new chapter in the history of the jacquemart watch.

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After having secretly carried out several special orders for automatic watches for a few customers, Louis Vuitton decided to lift part of the mystery by creating a unique model. 

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Two years of development were necessary for the Tambour Carpe Diem to see the light of day and integrate the Maison's watch collections. “Our goal was to think outside the box,” explains Michel Navas, Master Watchmaker at La Fabrique du Temps Louis Vuitton. "We wanted to bring to Jacquemart our vision of the 21st century with all the ardor and creativity that have characterized our House since it invested in watchmaking in 2002." 

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Originally, jacquemarts were automatons designed to strike the hours on church steeples. When watchmakers miniaturized them on watches, their function became essentially decorative - to animate the dial of a sketch -, the time traditionally remaining indicated by classic hands.

Watchmaking performance  

Not content with allowing its model to keep up with the passage of time, Louis Vuitton has added additional horological complications to it.  

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The Tambour Carpe Diem has four. A jumping hour, a retrograde minute, a power reserve display and the automaton's animation mechanism, which are also four in number ... “The feat was to design a mechanical movement that was powerful enough to integrate and smoothly running all these functions that had never been combined before, ”explains Michel Navas.

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On the Tambour Carpe Diem, the time can be read on demand. To reveal it, you have to press the reptile-shaped push-button, to the right of the case.

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The central snake head rises to reveal the hours window placed on the front of the skull while the rattlesnake tail oscillates in the direction of the minutes, positioned under the hourglass of the power reserve. That's when the skull becomes mocking, winks in the shape of Monogram Flowers that appear in one of its sockets.

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His jaw lets out a laugh that spelled out "Carpe Diem". "Seize the present day", in the words of the poet Horace, inviting man to take advantage of each passing day. This striking spectacle which lasts 16 seconds is all the more remarkable as the movements of the reptile like those of the skull are of a confusing, harmonious naturalness. The readability of this unique complication watch is unmatched. 

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Having produced several special orders for watches with automata in secret for a select group of clients, Louis Vuitton now presents the Tambour Carpe Diem, a one of a kind model that combines exclusive high watchmaking caliber with a subversive Vanitas.

Click, to see the large size. ▶ BIG FOTO  

The framework of the Tambour Carpe Diem was built around two major axes, a perfect mastery of this type of calibre in which the automaton is truly functional as it tells the time on demand, without hands.

Click, to see the large size. ▶ BIG FOTO  

By pressing a push-piece, the dial’s miniature scenery comes to life on the wrist and the story’s protagonists, the snake and the skull which perform the role of jacquemarts, indicate the time.

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To this is added another determining feature in the creation of this high-watchmaking timepiece, a unique stylistic approach on the historic symbolic art theme of the Vanitas, tackled in a way that is both positive and subversive.

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Not content simply to allow the model to mark the passing of time, Louis Vuitton has provided additional watch complications. The Tambour Carpe Diem has four of these. A jumping hour, a retrograde minute, a power reserve display and the mechanism of the automata of which there are also four.

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On the Tambour Carpe Diem, the time can be read on demand. To reveal it, simply push the reptile-shaped push-piece on the right of the case. The central snake’s head lifts up to reveal the hour aperture positioned on the forehead of the skull, while the rattlesnake tail oscillates towards the minutes, placed below the power reserve hourglass.

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While Monogram Flowers appear in lieu of an eye, the skull’s jaw emits a mocking laugh from which emerge the words “Carpe Diem” – “Seize the day”, in the words of the poet Horace, encouraging people to make the most of every passing day.

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This amazing spectacle, which lasts for 16 seconds, is all the more remarkable as the reptile and skull move in such a bafflingly harmonious way. Entirely developed and assembled at La Fabrique du Temps Louis Vuitton, this calibre LV 525 demonstrates true high-watchmaking prowess and is currently the subject of several patent applications.

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Another unique feature of the Tambour Carpe Diem is the design of its movement. Visible on the back of the timepiece, the calibre has been assembled in the shape of a skull, echoing the Vanitas on the dial.

An ultra-sophisticated contemporary aesthetic

An ultra-sophisticated contemporary aesthetic Depicted since the 15th century on pocket watches and clocks, these skulls, skeletons and hourglasses are an allegory of the passing of time.

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In order to bring this Vanitas up-to-date, Louis Vuitton has modernised its attributes, entrusting its manufacture to the very best Swiss craftsmen such as Anita Porchet for the enamelling and Dick Steenman for the engraving.

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Over 50 hours’ work were dedicated to enamelling the snake and the dial. To bring to life the rattlesnake that appears in profile on the case’s push-piece, Dick Steenman crafted gold in a profiled, fluid manner in order to accentuate the crawling effect.

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Sculpted from gold with incredible precision, the skull, reptile and hourglass are enhanced by the timeless modernity of Louis Vuitton emblems. Like the Monogram flowers engraved on the skull, tattooed on the snake’s scales or appearing in blood red on the skull’s eye socket.

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The delicacy, transparency and colours of the enamel, which are particularly remarkable and realistic on the teeth of the jacquemart, enhance the relief on the dial, suggesting – even when the hour has not struck – the idea of movement, inspiring the protagonists of the Tambour Carpe Diem in a celebration of existence.

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About Louis Vuitton  

Since 1854, Louis Vuitton has offered unique creations, where technical innovation is combined with the requirement of style while striving for the highest quality. The House remains faithful to the spirit of Louis, its founder and inventor of the " Art of travel ”. Its luggage, bags and accessories were as innovative as they were elegant and ingenious. Even today, daring dictates the history of Louis Vuitton. Faithful to its heritage, the Maison has opened its doors to architects, artists and designers while investing in new areas of expression such as ready-to-wear, shoes, accessories, watches, jewelry, and even perfume. . These products, produced with great care, attest to Louis Vuitton’s commitment to high quality craftsmanship.

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TECHNICAL SPECIFICATIONS

Model: TAMBOUR Carpe Diem 

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• Ref. Q1EN0Y

Movement
Hand-wound mechanical movement developed and assembled by La Fabrique du Temps Louis Vuitton
Jacquemart mechanism featuring 4 animations, jumping hour, retrograde minute hand, power reserve indicator
Calibre: LV 525 
426 components
100 hours of power reserve
21,600 oscillations per hour
48 jewels
Case
18K pink gold case and horns
18K pink gold hand-carved crown and push-piece, push-piece set with 2 rubies
46.8 mm diameter
14.42 mm thickness
Domed anti-reflection sapphire crystal
Water-resistant to 30 m
Dial
Enamel and miniature hand-painting by Anita Porchet (dial, snake & teeth)
Hand engravings by Dick Steenman (dial, snake, skull, teeth & hourglass)
Hourglass made of curved glass
Dial set with a brilliant-cut diamond
Strap
Black alligator strap
18K pink gold double folding buckle

Box
High Watchmaking Trunk

Gem-setting
💎1 brilliant-cut diamond for ~0.02 carat and 💎2 rubies for ~0.01 carat
 

 Price  USD 460.000 $

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Press releases - 2021
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F.P.Journe – Tourbillon SOUVERAIN Gold BOUTIQUE Edition

F.P.Journe – Tourbillon SOUVERAIN Gold Back Dial BOUTIQUE 20th Anniversary Edition 2021

  THE TOURBILLON SOUVERAIN BOUTIQUE EDITION WITH BLACK DIAL ON 18K 6N GOLD CASE IS AVAILABLE ONLY IN THE F.P.JOURNE BOUTIQUES AND ESPACES AROUND THE WORLD.

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 A New Tourbillon Souverain to Celebrate the 20th Anniversary of the Tourbillon Souverain

The innovative and revolutionary horological creator François-Paul Journe has inspired a generation of contemporary watchmakers with the originality of his creations, his quest for precision, his timeless and immediately recognisable style, and his respect for horological ethics and traditions.

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Fascinated by the tourbillon since his youth, François-Paul Journe began to make his first watch when he was 20 - entirely by hand. It was a tourbillon pocket watch. In 1991, he created his first tourbillon wristwatch, selling the very small number of examples to a handful of knowledgeable collectors. In 1999, he launched the first Tourbillon Souverain with remontoir d’égalité in wristwatch form. It was sold by subscription and was much sought-after by collectors who rival with each other to get on the short list of 20 examples.

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The year 2003 saw the birth of the new generation of Tourbillon Souverain, to which François-Paul Journe added natural deadbeat second. Then, to make the watches even more desirable, he produced his haute horlogerie movements in 18k rose Gold, a first in the world of modern mechanical watchmaking.

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To celebrate the 20 th anniversary of this emblematic wristwatch, F.P.Journe has developed a tourbillon whose cage is vertical, rather than the traditional horizontal cage. “I designed this vertical tourbillon so that the tourbillon’s functions remain constant whether the watch lies flat or is placed on its side, and the amplitude is subsequently the same, whether with a deployant clasp lying on the side or with an ardillon buckle lying flat”.

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This vertical tourbillon with remontoir d’égalité and deadbeat second makes one revolution every 30 seconds. This is faster than the usual time of one minute, making the technical prowess even more visually astonishing. Surrounding the cage, a cone-shaped mirror-polished ring concentrates light, reflecting the tourbillon cage. 

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A second reflector was created on the movement side to provide light around the tourbillon cage. The 4N rose Gold bridges that form the dial are decorated with “Clous de Paris” guilloche with, for the first time, an enamel hour dial at 3 o’clock. The new Tourbillon Souverain also features an 80-hour power reserve at 12 o’clock and small seconds at 6 o’clock; the remontoir d’égalité is placed at 7 o’clock.

The constant-force device

“From ancient times, humankind has constantly attempted to measure time by dividing it into equal fractions and inventing the notion of isochronism! Only with the arrival of the first mechanical clocks did specialists begin to seek a means of equalising the force reaching the es-capement. The balance-spring did not yet exist and the so-called “foliot” balance had an irregular beat due to irregular transmission of force because of the imperfections of the gearing. At the time, clocks were equipped with just one hand, which completed a revolution once every 12 hours, since their degree of imprecision did not permit the measurement of minutes. After the invention of the mainspring, which would en-able the construction of table-clocks, 15 th century watchmaker Jost Bürgi had the idea of adding an extra gear representing an inde-pendent system wound in short spurts by the mainspring. The escapement thus ensured a more constant flow and allowed several months of autonomy: this was the first remontoire or constant-force device!

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Later, 17 th century Dutch watchmaker Christiaan Huygens invented the balance-spring and the pendulum. These innovations would give both clocks and watches an unprecedented degree of precision timekeeping: the minute hand became widespread and the constant-force device fell into oblivion for around a century. With the arrival of the 18 th century, known as the Age of Enlightenment, the high requirements relating to astronomical observations and calculations of longitude for maritime navigation called for ever higher levels of precision. As new technical solutions were found, the seconds hand became a common feature on watches of the period. In England, Thomas Mudge invented a con-stant-force device for the H.3 marine chronometer, while famous French watchmaker Robert Robin - Watchmaker to the King - also invented one for his precision regulators. Paradoxically, it was in the 19 th century that the constant-force device became widely used in the construction of clocks intended for buildings - not to remedy any flaws in the springs (since all these clocks ran by driving-weights), but to isolate the time mechanism from the outside hands. This was because the latter were exposed to strong winds and might disturb the mechanism.

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Nonetheless, making a constant-force device was a complex and tedious task, causing it to be almost entirely abandoned in the 20 th century, apart from a few rare exceptions: English watchmaker Georges Daniels used it in a tourbillon pocket-watch; his contemporary Anthony Randall built it into a table-clock based on the principle of John Harrison’s H.4; and I myself have incorporated it into three tourbillon pocket-watches, a so-called “sympathique” clock and more recently for the very first time in wristwatch form with the first model in the F.P.Journe - Invenit et Fecit - collection, the Tourbillon Souverain.

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What is fascinating in the principle of the constant-force device is that each watchmaker who has set out to build one has his own personal interpretation: only the basic idea remains the same.”

 The dead-beat second - the art of making time stand still…

Towards the late 17 th century, as clocks were becoming increasingly precise, watchmakers added a hand that enabled them to measure seconds. These “clocks”, which became “pendulum clocks” thanks to the invention of the pendulum balance by the Dutch watchmaker Huy-gens, were almost naturally equipped with a 1 metre-long balance with a period of 1 second. The dial was marked out into 60 subdivisions so that the hand could jump from one second to the next.

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When the first watches indicating seconds were made, some 18 th century watchmakers wanted to achieve the same visual effect as on clocks. To do so, they invented systems extending the period of the balances, the best-known being the “crown-wheel escapement with pendulum” or the huge balance by Mr. Pouzait. Nonetheless, these systems were rapidly abandoned, since they were detrimental to precision.

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Thus, without an additional system, the hand started to beat out the half-second, the most widespread frequency of the time. The extreme ease with which time could be read thank to a seconds-beating hand, which remained motionless and only moved when the second changed, gave 19 th century watchmakers some new ideas.

Three systems known as “deadbeat seconds” came into use:

The first consisted of a small additional gear train activated by a spring connected to the mainspring. Each second, the hand was released by the watch escapement. This so-called “independent deadbeat seconds” offered the advantage of not affecting the precision of the watch and could be disconnected at will by the user.

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The second comprised an additional gear-train running from the escape-wheel to an additional seconds wheel equipped with 60 teeth held by a spring. This extremely simple system was extremely prejudicial to precision.

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In the third, a so-called “single-beat escapement” waited for the balance to complete two oscillations in order for the escape-wheel to move forward every second. These escapements were extremely popular in watches produced in China, since according to Chinese philosophy, this corresponded to making time stand still. Time was no longer in control, since it was mastered by the wearer…

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Today, the Tourbillon Souverain is equipped with a “natural deadbeat seconds” device. The latter is mounted on one of the wheels of the con-stant-force device and cannot in any way affect the precision of the watch.  

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TECHNICAL CHARACTERISTICS

Collection: BOUTIQUE  SOUVERAIN

Model: Tourbillon SOUVERAINE BOUTIQUE Edition
This edition is available only in the F.P.Journe boutiques.

Mouvement
Calibre 1519
    18K rose Gold
    Manual winding
    29 turns of crown
Dimensions:
    Overall diameter : 34.60 mm
    Cased-up diameter : 34.20 mm
    Overall height : 10.00 mm
    Height of winding stem : 3.66 mm
    Diameter of stem thread : S1.20 mm
Balance:
    4 inertia weights
    Flat Anachron balance spring with Philips overcoil
    Pinned stud
    Free-sprung
    Spring pinned to collet
Frequency:    21'600 VPH, 3 Hz
Inertia:    11 mg/cm2
Angle of lift:    52°
Amplitude:
    0h dial up : > 260°
    24h vertical : > 260°
Main characteristics:
    Vertical Tourbillon with constant force and dead second
    2 position winding crown
    Manual winding in position 1
    Time adjustment by crown in position 2
Escapement:
    15 tooth escape wheel
    90° anchor fork
Indications:

•     Hours and minutes at 3h
•     Small second at 6h
•     Power reserve at 12h
•     Vertical Tourbillon at 9h

Power reserve:    80 ± 2 hours
Decoration:
    High quality
    Guilloche Clous de Paris on bridges
    Circular Geneva Waves on base plate
    Screw heads polished and bevelled
    Pegs with polished rounded ends
Case
    Platinum or 18K 6N Gold
    Diameter: 42.00 mm
    Height: 13.60 mm
Dial
Dial formed by the 18K rose Gold bridges engraved, painted, and decorated with “Clous de Paris” guilloché with a Grand Feu enamel hour dial at 3 o’clock in 18K white Gold
Number of components:
    Mouvement : 230
    Cased on leather strap : 260
    Jewels : 32
Strap
Black alligator with 18K red Gold or Platinum clasp

⭕️ Patents

• 1️⃣ European patent — EP 1760 544 A1

Power reserve indicator device

• 2️⃣ European patent — EP 1528 443 A1

Remontoir and deadbeat seconds

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Press release - 2021
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MONTRES JOURNE SA
Brigitte Bocquet-Makhzani - Communication
International PR & Events Manager
17, rue de l’Arquebuse – 1204 Geneva – Switzerland
Tel : +41 (0)22 322 09 09
Fax : +41 (0)22 322 09 19
e-mail: bmakhzani@fpjourne.com
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