Louis Vuitton upgrades Tambour with a new in-house movement, a sleeker case and an integrated bracelet.
In the twenty-plus years since Louis Vuitton debuted its first Tambour watches, the global fashion house has achieved a goal that still eludes many much older watchmakers: to create a case shape and watch than can be easily recognized while on a wrist across the room.
Louis Vuitton has carefully tailored Tambour’s drum-shaped case while also applying technical and aesthetic updates. The collection’s success has eased the French couture house’s entry into high-end watchmaking, steering Louis Vuitton into position as a peer among the world’s leading makers of high-end watches.
This year, Louis Vuitton updates Tambour with new finishes and a decidedly slimmer, sculpted case. The new collection is more luxurious overall and notably highlights an all-new in-house movement and a sleek integrated steel bracelet.
Two new models
Two new steel watches launch the collection’s upgrade. One is a chic monochrome model with a silver grey dial and the second one sports a deep blue dial. Both are built to highlight the new unisex 40mm by 8.3mm case, its new caliber LFT023 and the new bracelet. A rose gold model and a two-tone gold and steel edition are also now available.
The movement here is Louis Vuitton’s first proprietary automatic three-hand movement. It has been designed by La Fabrique du Temps Louis Vuitton in conjunction with movement specialists Le Cercle des Horlogers. 
With its 22-karat gold micro-rotor, stylized Louis Vuitton decor, micro-sandblasted bridges, polished edges and chamfers, the new caliber announces a new era of three-hand movements for Tambour, which has previously utilized modified ETA-based and Zenith-El Primero-based calibers, as well as quartz movements for certain models. 
Boasting a strong fifty-hour power reserve, the new movement is chronometer certified, with timekeeping accuracy of between -4s and +6s per day. The certification, from the Geneva Chronometric Observatory under the auspices of the TIMELAB Foundation, ensures that the movement complies with ISO 3159 a serious level of accuracy that befits this new higher-end Tambour series.
“With this launch, we seek to open a new chapter in the history of the Maison’s watchmaking by creating a watch with strong horological credentials while identifiably Louis Vuitton in style”, adds Arnault.
The watches
Louis Vuitton has retained Tambour’s curves for these new designs, but has softened them with fluid edges and a curved back that gently hugs the wrist. The sloped, sandblast-finish bezel here is thinner than on existing Tambour models, but still retains the twelve Louis Vuitton namesake letters at each hour mark.
Louis Vuitton has taken great care to bring comfort to its premiere integrated steel bracelet. The bracelet, particularly novel for Tambour, offers no hint of even the small lugs we’ve seen previously within Tambour. Its clean integration into the case echoes the almost sporty look you’ve likely already seen in other well-known, high-end integrated steel watches. 
A closer look at the bracelet reveals links that are convex on both sides to create a rounded profile, which guarantees smooth contact with the wrist. The folks at Louis Vuitton, a company built on fine leather products, remind us that this new bracelet, while all steel, offers “slim, curved links providing a close and comfortable fit on the wrist to rival the softest leather strap.”
Louis Vuitton has brush-finished the new Tambour case and bracelet—with a few exceptions. These include the polished bracelet chamfers and central links and the polished, drum-shaped crown.
The dial
Tambour’s new, three-dimensional dial features micro-sandblasted surfaces, gold indexes and a clean layout despite the seconds sub-dial. The markers are nicely separated as are the minute ring and the hour ring, all of which enhances the sense of balance on the dial. 
Louis Vuitton revels in the details here. The watchmaker has paired recessed five-minute markers with raised, applied hour markers. The company explains that this difference in the height level of the markers allows for quick reading, since the light interacts variably between them. All numerals and hands are filled with Super-LumiNova.
Price: $18,500. The collection also includes a rose gold edition, price at $52,000, and a two-tone model price at $26,500.
Specifications:
Louis Vuitton Tambour, silver dial (W1ST10)
Case: 40mm by 8.3mm stainless steel, sapphire crystal and back.Water-resistant to 50 meters.
Dial: Grey/silver with small seconds counter at 6 o’clock; white gold hands, numerals and indexes, with SuperLumiNova coating on the hands and numerals.
Movement: Automatic caliber LFT023, visible through the sapphire caseback, 22-karat rose gold micro-rotor, 50 hours of power reserve, 28,800 vph, certified chronometer by the Geneva Chronometric Observatory.
Bracelet: Stainless steel with invisible 3-blade folding buckle.
Price: $18,500.
Louis Vuitton Tambour, blue dial (W1ST20)
Case: 40mm by 8.3mm stainless steel, sapphire crystal and back.Water-resistant to 50 meters.
Dial: Blue with small seconds counter at 6 o’clock; white gold hands, numerals and indexes, with SuperLumiNova coating on the hands and numerals.
Movement: Automatic caliber LFT023, visible through the sapphire caseback, 22-karat rose gold micro-rotor, 50 hours of power reserve, 28,800 vph, certified chronometer by the Geneva Chronometric Observatory.
Bracelet: Stainless steel with invisible 3-blade folding buckle.
Price: $18,500.
A second model, a limited edition Supermarine Ocean chronometer (and boasting its chronometer rating on the dial) offers a sharp-looking grey-dial with blue SuperLuminova indexes.
