Louis Vuitton: It’s About Time

When Louis Vuitton invited us to Hong Kong for the launching of its watches, we wondered: What do the timepieces look like? But more importantly: How will Vuitton launch its newest product this time?

Through the years, we have been amazed at the creativity and sophistication with which Louis Vuitton holds its launchings. The venue, the concept and the details always leave us breathless. From the invitation to the food to the flowers to the interior design, a Louis Vuitton launching stirs the senses and excites the intellect.

Always shunning the expected five-star frills chosen by most companies for launchings, LV consistently injects an element of surprise and wonderment into its events.

To celebrate 100 years of the monogram, years ago, LV created dioramas with miniature LV symbols or products at the walkway towards the Hong Kong Country Club.

To launch its pens, LV created an academe ambience, where else but at Hong Kong University where Chinese sages and graphologists were on hand to analyze your handwriting. The event brought together Asian writers and celebrities, including our very own Richard Gomez and Lucy Torres.

To introduce its Taiga bags for men, LV chose an empty building where models crept in and out of elevators, in James Bond fashion, to show the line of briefcases and handcarried bags for men. From the Philippines, businessmen Ricco Ocampo and Mario Katigbak and designer Efren Ocampo joined other Asian icons acclaimed as the Taiga Men.

To open its first global store showing that it stood strong even after the Asian flu, LV led guests through a maze of candle-lit corridors to a huge dancehall where you could check on the latest LV designs through peepholes. Marvelling at the mega event were invited Philippine celebrities Sharon Cuneta, Aga Muhlach, Kiko Pangilinan, Bernie and Marilen Concepcion, Ricco and Tina Ocampo.

And now, to launch its timepieces, this year, LV certainly did not disappoint.

Our group of lifestyle editors was fetched from the Shangri-La Hong Kong where we were billeted, and brought via bus to the Hong Kong University. At the stairway, we were met by robust-looking men with drums. Why drums? The first collection of Louis Vuitton watches is named Tambour, like the name of the first watch in the Western world, created in 1540. It was called a "clock-watch Tambour." (Tambour is the French word for drum).

There is always symbolism and depth in LV events, and this time we felt the merging of tradition with modernity. As always, floral arrangements were starkly modern and minimalist. Mix the scent of modernity with the texture of classic tradition by way of very old Vuitton trunks piled atop each other at the entrance and you get the picture.

There was definitely something old and something new in this setting. But wait. We were each given a piece of unique eyewear installed with a mirror near the lens facing the ceiling, such that as we would be able to see the ceiling without having to look up. This we wore as we sauntered through a dark room where the light focused only on Louis Vuitton products hanging from the ceiling. What a thrill!

Then we entered an all-red room where the LV watches were displayed in transparent cases. Wonderful.

Back to the reception area, Jean-Louis Roblin, Louis Vuitton’s accessories department director, explained to us what makes the new LV watches tick.

Since LV began in 1854 with luggage, later evolving into a fashion house creating bags, shoes, scarves, shawls, palm pilot cases, pens and clothes, it certainly is the right time now for an LV watch.

Roblin stressed that the Tambour line of watches is something that reflects LV’s classic and rich heritage while at the same showcasing modern technology.

"The leather straps with fine leatherworker’s stitching carry Old World charm. The attachment pin detailing evokes the handles of LV luggage. There is the feel and smell of natural leather which is very Vuitton," Roblin explained.

At the same time, there is precision, reliability and perfection as only Swiss watchmakers can achieve, and high-tech sleekness that a very fashion-forward company like Louis Vuitton goes for.

Roblin stated that there are many details on the face, side and back of the watch put in so refined a manner. "The 12 letters of Louis Vuitton subtly circle the case on the sides like the 12 hours of the clock. The LV logo is also etched on the back," Roblin explained, as if saying fake watchmakers have to reckon with so many details.

Vuitton products are among the most copied in the world, and we are almost sure that after the Tambour watches are introduced in LV shops this September, there will soon be imitations in the Asian night markets. Such is the fate of objects of desire.

But of course, fashionistas buy only from LV shops. (In the Philippines, the LV store is located at 6750 Ayala Avenue. For inquiries, call 813-0637.)

Tambour quartz watches come in three sizes – men’s, medium and women’s.

GMT Movement (dual-time function, effectively illustrates the art of traveling with LV. It offers the possibility of having two dials on the same watch. The yellow hand indicates the hour of the second dial.

Tambour’s Automatic Chronograph watch comes with a natural color calfskin wristband, a steel casing and brown dial, embodying all the values of Louis Vuitton.

Then there is the Louis Vuitton Cup Automatic Chronograph with a brown alligator wristband that comes in a limited and numbered series of 277.

Since 1983, LV has been associated with the world’s most prestigious yachting competition – the America’s Cup. The LV Cup designates the top challenger and prepares him to face the holder of the America’s Cup.

To celebrate this event which takes place in New Zealand from October 2002 to February 2003, LV created this limited-series chronograph.

Like its line of luggage, will Louis Vuitton’s Tambour watches click? Only time will tell. But this early, while the watches are still being delivered to LV stores, orders have been coming in every day and every hour.