Around the world with the Louis Vuitton Escale collection

Two years since Louis Vuitton first relaunched its Escale collection, with each timepiece drawing inspiration from the classic design language of the travel-focused maison, it has become once more synonymous with the ‘romance of discovery. Now, the watchmaking maestros at La Fabrique du Temps Louis Vuitton have introduced five new haute horlogerie complications, powered by four brand new calibres, to the permanent Escale collection.

Chief among the new launches are two impressive, updated expressions of the emblematic Worldtime – the Escale Worldtime and Escale Worldtime Tourbillon – featuring new in-house movements, platinum cases, and distinctive dials that allow the wearer to read 24 time zones at a glance. The collection is completed by two versions of the elegant Escale Twin Zones and a new Escale Repetition Minutes.

“This new chapter for Escale is aligned with the transformation we have been going through over the last four years” says Jean Arnault, director of Louis Vuitton Watches. “The challenge for us was to elevate historical icons like the Worldtime to our new craftsmanship standard and the difference is incredible. Details around the case, dial, movement finishing… all the details were carefully thought through.

“An added touch to this new Escale collection is the clever use of the Twin Zone complication. which indicates time all around the world. effortlessly,” he says. “A clever twist by [master watchmakers] Michel [Navas| and Enrico [Barbasini] on a decades-old complication.”THE WORLD AT A GLANCE

First debuted in 2014, the Escale Worldtime is truly a marvel of form and function, simultaneously displaying 24 time zones in stylish design. Reimagined for 2026, the Worldtime and Worldtime Tourbillon are now available in platinum with a stunning blue dial that perfectly blends métiers d’art with haute horlogerie.

The Worldtime is powered by a new in-house LFT VO 12.01 movement. The grained blue centre dial pays tribute to the canvas texture of Louis Vuitton’s Monogram trunks, while the 24 flags – representing major world cities – are inspired by historical Louis Vuitton motifs from the age of ocean liners.

“The Worldtime is where the Escale story truly began,” says Matthieu Hegi, artistic director of La Fabrique du Temps. “Bringing it back wasn’t just a choice – it was essential to honour the complication that defined the collection.”

The flags and Monogram Flowers are each hand painted in miniature, with a total of 35 colours applied using a fine-tipped brush before each colour is set by oven-drying – a process that takes a full week to complete, per dial.“Every Escale Worldtime dial is the work of a single artisan, who works one brushstroke at a time from start to finish,” says Matthieu. “The flag motifs aren’t just decoration, they’re part of [Louis Vuitton’s] visual language. Each one embodies a fragment of our history.”

The Escale Worldtime Tourbillon, meanwhile, takes the design to another level of technical achievement. Powered by the in-house LFT VO 05.01 movement, the dial mirrors the composition of its sister-watch, with 24 flags orbiting around a central star-shaped Monogram flower tourbillon. Here, the flags are not painted but rendered in grand feu enamel by a master enameller – each hue is applied by hand in a sequence of more than 40 firings at temperatures of 730 840°C.

“The Worldtime has always been about motion, not just across time zones, but in how the watch feels alive,” says Michel Navas, master watchmaker and co-founder of La Fabrique du Temps. “Introducing the flying tourbillon at its centre amplifies that energy. It gives the complication a visible heartbeat.”VERSATILE ELEGANCE

For those who don’t need the whole world on their wrist, the no-less-impressive Escale Twin Zones answers a question that frequent fliers have been asking for decades: how a dual time watch can effectively handle time zones found in specific regions that have a 30- or 45-minute offset. Offered in two expressions – a warm rose gold and haute joaillerie platinum edition – the Louis Vuitton Escale Twin Zone provides an elegant solution through a refined new movement that allows for precision and versatility across two time zones.

Core to the Twin Zone’s design is the two sets of hands, mounted on the single axis, allowing for independently adjustable hour and minute hands. The full-bodied hands indicate local time, while the skeleton hands indicate home. Ingeniously, the skeleton hands can be hidden from view when the wearer is at home and only one time zone is required. A discreet day/night indicator at the top of an engraved globe provides a subtle hint at the timepiece’s capabilities.“The idea was to make a travel watch that works for everyone, not just those in the usual 24 time zones,” says Michel. “The Twin Zone allows for half-hour and quarter-hour offsets without adding complexity for the wearer.”

Powered by the new in-house LFT VO 15.01 calibre, the rose gold model features a silvery globe dial engraved with fine and polished meridians and parallels, with a sunburst satin finish to bring the dial’s refined cartography to life.

The platinum high-jewellery expression  evokes the night sky with an aventurine dial spotted with 120 baguette-cut diamonds to represent moving stars. Blue studs denote the hours, while the case and bezel are set with 170 baguette-cut diamonds and a single saffron-coloured sapphire is set into the polished case back.

“The gem setting is executed with the same precision and intent as the movement itself,” says Matthieu. “With more than 300 diamonds in total, the watch offers extraordinary presence. It’s a true expression of our savoir-faire in both haute horlogerie and haute joaillerie.”TIMELESS RESONANCE

Completing the new collection, the Escale Minute Repeater (below and right) brings a musical resonance to the timeless collection. A fourth new in-house calibre, the manually wound LFT SO 13.01, powers both the minute repeater and jumping hours complications. Developed by master watchmakers Michel Navas and Enrico Barbasini, who both worked with the legendary watchmaker Gérald Genta in the 1990s during his collaboration with La Fabrique du Temps Louis Vuitton, the calibre lovingly reimagines Gérald’s classic minute repeater for the Escale collection.

The centre dial is handmade on a traditional rose engine, adorned with a flammé guilloché pattern that radiates from the centre to catch and reflect the light – a feat that took artisans up to 60 hours to achieve. The dial is then coloured to achieve the distinctive grey hue.

A large jumping hours aperture sits at six o’clock, while the retrograde minute hand glides back to zero at the top of each hour. Inside the case, the calibre’s black-polished hammers and gongs are hand-shaped, cut and adjusted for optimal vibration and amplitude, and tuned by ear to achieve a crystalline chime. The minute repeater is activated by a slide seamlessly integrated into the design of the lugs – as Matthieu explains: “It respects the silhouette of the Escale and makes the activation of the repeater an almost private act; the complication is revealed only to the wearer.”

An anthology rooted in travel and craftsmanship, the Escale collection celebrates Louis Vuitton’s ‘art of discovery through high watchmaking.

“The new Escale represents functional watchmaking at its finest,” says Michel. “Each calibre was designed with clarity and precision in mind; complications that truly serve the traveller, finished to the highest standards of haute horlogerie.” 

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