Louis Vuitton’s watchmaking journey takes an adventurous turn with the launch of the Tambour Street Diver
Maison Louis Vuitton began its horological journey back in 2002 with the house’s first timepiece, the Tambour. In a way, it is a watch of reinvention. The Tambour presents a watch design that stays true to the house’s origins of travel, adventure and discovery. On top of all that, the unique shape of the Tambour has made it one of the most instantly-recognizable watches of the 21st century. This year, that journey continues with the launch of the Tambour Street Diver.
DIVING, REIMAGINED
As the name suggests, the Tambour Street Diver brings together all the requirements of a traditional dive watch while retaining the colorful, creative and unconventional style elements that have always been central to Louis Vuitton. With its robust and edgy vibes given a sporty outlook, the iconic Tambour has been reimagined by the house for the realm of high-end sports watchmaking with a design that would be at home at the club, beach or office.
The Tambour Street Diver encapsulates the energy and richness of city life. It offers something for everyone in a chic and ultra-modern package. Interestingly, despite the fact that it was born as a watch with an urban outlook rather than as a traditional diving instrument, its underwater credentials have not been compromised. The watch comes equipped with a screw-down crown, boats a water resistance rating of up to 100 meters and features generous coatings of Super-LumiNova on its dial elements as well as its inner rotating bezel. All of these parts bear witness to the functional practicality of this Swiss-made watch.
Furthermore, the Tambour Street Diver also comes with a diving scale, which has been placed below the sapphire crystal on the turning flange—the angled ring at the outer edge of the dial. To this end, there are two benefits for this internal rotating bezel. First, the top of the case is kept clean and minimalistic, which is of course, in keeping with the aesthetics that has pretty much defined the Tambour family. And then, the gentle inwards slope of the flange draws the eye to the center of the dial, which creates a feeling of depth and intensity.
On the other hand, the dive bezel is set via a color-contrasting crown placed at the 1.30 o’clock position, in order to distinguish it from the winding crown at 3 o’clock. To top it off, thanks to the quirky yet inventive “Align the V” concept, the letter V on the diving scale is rotated to align with the color-matched V at the tip of the minute hand. This means that when the two forms an X, it tells the wearers that it marks the very beginning of a dive.
Finally, while the position of the hours is indicated on the case band by the 12 letters “L-O-U-I-S-V-U-I-T-T-O-N,” the time spent underwater is then read on the aforementioned internal bezel—with the first 15 minutes highlighted by a vivid, color-blocked scale.
A NEW PERSPECTIVE
Just like all great designs, Louis Vuitton’s Tambour is timeless and also adaptable. Over the past 19 years, it has taken on various forms—from spectacular high jewelry masterpieces, models with multiple complications, to the acclaimed Tambour Horizon connected watch. The new Tambour Street Diver is no exception. The watch encompasses three automatic models in 44mm and one quartz version in 39.5mm. The whole collection is also completed with the clever quick-change strap system, which further enhances the watch’s capacity to morph from day to evening, casual to formal, sporty to smart. In short, all four interprets the idea of “sports-chic” in their own unique way.
All in all, by keeping its functionality hidden behind a disruptive design, the Tambour Street Diver perfectly mirrors the contradictory city life and the juxtaposition of nature aligning with an urban environment. With that being said, the new timepiece is everything that Louis Vuitton symbolizes—from high artisanal quality, multi-functionality, creative ingenuity and the freedom of expression.
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