The Louis Vuitton Escale might just be my favourite modern dress watch. It’s the right balance of classy and elegant without being overly ostentatious or gaudy. Plus, it is absolutely chock full of small details that make it a fantastic watch to spend time with and study up close. Now, for 2025, Louis Vuitton have released two new ornamental stone versions of the Escale in turquoise and malachite, jumping aboard the semi-precious stone train that is cruising along at full steam at the moment.
Looking at the watches, the biggest thing that stands out is the fact that not only are the dials made from stone but so are the casebands around the outer edges of the cases. It pushes the aesthetic much further and showcases the case manufacturing prowess of La Fabrique du Temps’ specialist case atelier, La Fabrique des Boîtiers. In order to produce the stone case elements, they had to completely reimagine the production process of the model and make alterations to the design in order to accommodate the thicker material. Most notably the diameter has been increased from the 39mm of the standard models to 40mm.
After choosing turquoise and malachite for the two versions, they then had to carefully select each stone to be used and determine whether it was better used for the dial or caseband. Their criteria for the turquoise were that it should have an intense blue colour with plenty of dark veins to add texture and shape to the designs. For the malachite they specifically chose darker green stone.
More broadly the Escale draws its inspiration from one of Louis Vuitton’s other iconic disciplines, making travel trunks for carting your luggage across the world. That’s why the lugs appear rivetted to the sides of the watch like the corner brackets of a trunk. The hour scale takes a similar appearance with its four braces in the cardinal positions. It’s just enough theming to make the watch feel distinctly Louis Vuitton without being an obnoxious fashion watch with the LV logo plastered all over it. It also adds a cool quasi-industrial vibe that feels luxurious like the 20th century age of travel (think Orient Express) setting out to see the world.
Inside is the chronometer certified LFT023 automatic movement with 22k gold micro-rotor with 50-hour power reserve. It looks fantastic through the exhibition caseback with its combination of grained finishing, guilloché and perlage. While looking at the caseback you’ll also spot a small saffron-coloured gemstone opposite the inscription marking it as a limited edition out of 30 pieces. That stone is the symbol adopted by fine watchmaking brands (basically just LV and Patek) meaning the case is made from platinum. While at time of writing there is no official price, I think the region of the previous meteorite platinum version is realistic at £33,500.
Price and Specs:
More details at Louis Vuitton.
I’m really not sure about these two releases (same series but in different colour / materials). My preference out of the two would be the malachite, as it’s not as gaudy as the turquoise, but it’s a step too far to have a case band in the same material rather than the overall case material, but, it’s a Louis Vuitton after all, so has to have it’s typical “look at me” flair to set it apart from less “overt” luxury apparel. Apart from the points I have stated, the watch does have nice visual appeal but the lugs don’t work for me, my design background would have opted for integrated hugs with the case, but if pushed to include the dial material into a case band, I would have twin bands (one above, one below) the central metal frame feature, but that’s just my opinion.
The limited availability and the Louis Vuitton name will of course squarely place this into the very wealthy category.