Louis Vuitton has expanded their mechanical endeavours to new heights with the Tambour Bushido Automata. Its price is $755,000, and it draws inspiration from Japanese samurai culture.
At 46.8mm, the pink gold timepiece is the third item in the company’s automata series, after the Tambour Carpe Diem and the Tambour Opera Automata, which were met with huge appraisal, including awards. Each item transports people to different cultures. Earlier models explored European vanitas symbolism and Chinese opera, now to the disciplined customs of old Japanese warriors.
At the core of this creation is a notable mechanical display. A manually wound LV 525 caliber provides power. The movement contains 426 parts and obtains protection from two patents. It took 180 hours to put it together. If someone presses a button, the watch carries out a captivating 16-second animation. This animation includes five separate movements.
During the animation, a samurai mask with a calm face changes drastically. A yokai figure appears and moves to the side. This reveals jumping hours on the helmet’s forehead. A katana shows minutes using a retrograde display. One eye goes from a rounded Monogram Flower design to a pointed one. The jaw opens and displays the word “Bushido” in red Japanese characters. Mother-of-pearl teeth surround the wording. Above Mount Fuji, a deep red sun shows the watch’s 100-hour power reserve.
Louis Vuitton’s in-house crafts workshop, La Fabrique des Arts, developed this item by pushing traditional craftsmanship to its limits. The dial displays several methods. It has bas-relief engraving, paillonné enamel, along with cloisonné work. The helmet makes use of the calamine firing method. It forms a carbonaceous layer. Gold shows through certain areas exposed during this process.
Louis Vuitton expands artistic expression to the whole case and bezel for the first time in its watchmaking history. A samurai travels through Japan on the case sides. Mount Fuji is shown in the background. A red enamel setting surrounds the scene. Artisans achieve the color with a complex hammering and firing procedure. That process takes 200 hours. The pink gold bezel includes small cloud engravings. They incorporate the Louis Vuitton name.
Each Tambour Bushido Automata differs slightly because of the handcrafted character of the artistic methods. The timepiece displays an example of Louis Vuitton’s ongoing development in mechanical storytelling. It beautifully joins horology with decorative arts. The combination results in wearable cultural stories that go transcend traditional watchmaking.
