Louis Vuitton brings its journey full circle with the Escale au Pont-Neuf pocket watch, a new masterpiece that honors the House’s Parisian roots. After debuting with a design inspired by the Amazon, this latest creation shifts focus back to where it all began — the heart of Paris, near the Pont-Neuf bridge, home to the Louis Vuitton headquarters.
The Escale au Pont-Neuf is the second exceptional piece in the Escales Autour du Monde collection, which celebrates Louis Vuitton’s rich heritage in trunk-making and craftsmanship.
This latest timepiece captures a stunning autumn scene on its dial. The Louis Vuitton headquarters, the Samaritaine department store, the Pont-Neuf bridge, and a barge loaded with trunks gliding along the Seine are all depicted in intricate detail. The dial comes to life with seven animations and thirteen moving elements, activated by a slider at six o’clock, offering a dynamic tribute to the city and the House’s legacy.
The watch features a gold compass at 12 o’clock spinning under a blue sky dotted with LV Monograms. The barge slowly moves across the dial, carrying trunks that open to reveal golden flowers, while a French flag and a bright orange banner highlight the Louis Vuitton headquarters. Above, two sparrows perch among autumn leaves, adding a natural touch to the scene.
Beyond its artistic dial, the Escale au Pont-Neuf showcases unmatched watchmaking expertise. The manual winding LFT AU14.03 calibre, developed entirely in-house at La Fabrique du Temps Louis Vuitton in Geneva, drives the animations and includes a minute repeater chiming hours, quarters, and minutes. Unlike traditional watches, the hour and minute hands are placed on the caseback, allowing the dial’s animated theater to take center stage.
The movement itself is a marvel. It contains 561 components and took 500 hours of hand assembly and finishing by a single watchmaker. Fine details like more than 630 beveled angles, hand engraving, polished screws, and gold elements showcase the incredible craftsmanship. The ruby settings feature yellow gold prongs for the first time, and the wheels connecting the tourbillon are made of solid gold.
Artistry extends to the dial’s Métiers d’Art techniques, where delicate gold bas-relief engravings bring every element to life. The tiny trunks, sparrows, leaves, and even the bridge’s gargoyle faces are carved with painstaking detail. The white gold barge features miniature windows and golden LV Monogram trunks — the smallest ever made by Louis Vuitton.
Enameling further elevates the watch’s realism. Using miniature and champlevé enamel techniques, the in-house master enameller recreated the Pont-Neuf landscape with over 30 colors and 30 firings. The dial’s sky shifts in tone, and every moving element required 10 to 15 enamel layers, totaling 300 hours of enameling work.
The Escale au Pont-Neuf also comes with exclusive leather accessories. A handcrafted gold chain, a bespoke trunk made in the House’s historic Asnières workshop, and a doctor’s-style bag inspired by a 1906 motor travel piece complete the set. Both leather goods are crafted in Louis Vuitton’s signature Saffron color, emphasizing the travel spirit that defines the collection.
The creation of this pocket watch demanded a staggering 1,000 hours of work by watchmakers, engravers, and enamellers — a process spanning two and a half years. It represents the most complicated and sophisticated movement Louis Vuitton has ever produced, a true testament to the future of La Fabrique du Temps and its ongoing pursuit of creative and technical excellence.
With the Escale au Pont-Neuf, Louis Vuitton offers a technically impressive and artistically rich watch that celebrates its history, its home in Paris, and its future in fine watchmaking.
