The collaboration between the world’s mightiest luxury brand, Louis Vuitton, and Finnish independent watchmaker, Kari Voutilainen, might at first seem a curiously and vividly contrasting pairing. After all, we are talking about LV, the malletier (maker of trunks) that, over the past 171 years, has shape-shifted into the luxury world’s most titanic force, famed for closing down Paris’ oldest bridge, the Pont Neuf, for its fashion show with Pharrell Williams. In contrast, Kari Voutilainen is a quirky but brilliant watchmaker who once dwelled in relative obscurity. Today, he works out of a former fondue restaurant on top of a hill and is the object of serious cult devotion. So what — or rather, who — is the transom, the Bifröst connecting these two seemingly disparate realms? He is the individual leading Louis Vuitton’s watch division, a young but brilliant leader who has emerged as one of the world’s leading champions of independent watchmaking, Jean Arnault. 

Says Arnault, “The idea behind this watch was to take a travel timepiece and elevate it to a work of art.” Four years ago, Arnault had already expressed his focus on bringing all the key metiers d’art in-house at La Fabrique du Temps. In 2024, we saw that this enabled the creation of the Escale Cabinet of Wonders inspired by Gaston Louis Vuitton’s collection of Japanese Tsuba (samurai sword hilts). Here, we witnessed three-dimensional engraving and translucent enamel in watches such as the Koi’s Garden, or wood, parchment and straw marquetry in Snake’s Jungle. It is this same display of artistry that we continue to see in the LVKV-02 GMR 6, a very special travel watch.

The watch: Two time zones and Voutilainen’s double wheel escapement

The LVKV–02 GMR 6 is a particularly synergistic collaboration between the Finnish master watchmaker and Louis Vuitton’s La Fabrique du Temps, in particular its metiers d’art division that specializes in grande feu enamel, miniature painting and hand engraving. It is in essence a 40.5mm x 12.54,mm GMT watch with a subsidiary seconds at 6 o’clock, a second time zone function and a day night indicator. The movement of the timepiece is made entirely in-house by Kari Voutilainen and boasting his signature balance wheel equipped with a hairspring featuring an outer Phillips curve and an inner Grossman curve. The escapement of his movement is Voutilainen’s version of Breguet’s natural escapement which features two steel escape wheels. More on this later.

Louis Vuitton × Kari Voutilainen LVKV-02 GMR 6. Image: Revolution ©

It functions in the following way. The hour hand and the 24 hour disc with day and night indicator at 6 o clock are synchronized and run together. However, when you press the GMT pusher which is integrated into the crown of the watch, the hour hand becomes decoupled from the 24 hour disc and now becomes your local time. Says Voutilainen, “I made 6 GMT watches starting in 2016, combined with this movement. But they operated differently. The pusher activated the 24 hour disc. This is the very first version where it controls the local time and the 24 hour disc gives you home time.” There is also a power reserve indicator at 12 o clock.

The case: A platinum and tantalum Escale

The case of the LVKV–02 GMR 6 is an Escale, a model re-launched last year in both beautiful metiers d’art versions in the Escale Cabinet of Wonders as well as handsome serial production versions. I found the new Escale case highly appealing in the way that it drew strong references from Vuitton’s heritage as a trunk maker but executed in a horological way. An example of this would be the stylized shaped, soldered lugs that hark back to the 1940’s golden age of casemaking from the likes of Croisier, Wenger, Gerlach even while also echoing the motif of the riveted exterior brass brackets of the maison’s trunks. The Escale case was clearly created by someone with an encyclopedic knowledge of 20th century watchmaking while also a salient expression of the brand’s roots.

The 40.5mm LVKV-02 GMR 6 features a case crafted from tantalum, with the bezel, back, lugs, crown, and strap buckle all adorned in platinum

Now let’s get to the material of the watch which is tantalum and platinum. For several years Jean Arnault has been wearing a piece unique Tambour executed in tantalum (with a blue sapphire set bezel) and his affection for the material is also shared by Voutilainen who is known for crafting watches in this extremely dense and hard to work metal with its seductive grey blue lustre. Naturally the case of the LVKV-02 GMR 6 features tantalum with a platinum bezel, lugs, crown and back case. According to LV, “The lug polishing and satin finishing operations are conducted entirely by hand … The angles are shaped through fine carbronage followed by shaping and polishing the platinum to an impeccable finish.” Apparently the most challenging part of the case is the satin finishing of the mid case made from tantalum which is performed a La Fabrique du Temps, carried out entirely by hand and takes four hours of work.

The dial: A canvas for Metiers d’Art

The dial of this collaborative timepiece is crafted from gold and composed of four parts. The center of the dial is created using Voutilainen’s vintage engine turning machines. The pattern is of course Vuitton’s famous Damier check. He says, “Just this part of the dial alone can take up to two days to execute. But the next section of the dial which is the hour circle is crafted at La Fabrique du Temps, by artist Maryna Bossy who has applied her dexterity at miniature painting in-a motif inspired by ancient stain glassed windows. She uses 28 colors and takes 32 hours to complete each of these hour circles. This section of the dial is then placed in a kiln and fired for eight hours. At any point during this process the colors may change in a way that is unpleasing or cracks might appear and so the rejection rate for these elements is severe.

The center of the gold dial is decorated in Voutilainen’s workshop with exceptional hand guilloché

The diamond-polished hour circle is a masterpiece of miniature painting, hand-decorated by Maryna Bossy, a skilled artisan at La Fabrique des Arts, the Métiers d’Art workshop at La Fabrique du Temps Louis Vuitton. This intricate work involves the use of 28 different colours and requires 32 hours of meticulous painting as well as a total of eight hours of firing

The sun and moon imagery serves as a day and night indicator on the second time zone subdial. Upon close inspection, the pattern reveals the concealed shapes of Louis Vuitton’s famed Monogram flower

Placed on top of this hour circle are hand finished white gold Roman Numerals. The day night disc appears at 6 o clock and is made again by Kari Voutilainen. This is first hand engraved and then it is meticulously painted in Vuitton’s signature colors of saffron yellow and blue enamel. Look closely and you’ll see integrated into the engraved motif Vuitton’s signature monogram flowers.  Says Voutilainen, “The challenge here was to create a degraded effect on the enamel so that it changes from lighter to darker. This is very difficult. We also assembled the entirety of this four-part dial and then had to add the pad printing for the minute markers and the signature it was really challenging because if we got any part of the final process wrong we would have ruined the dial.”

The GMR 6 Movement

The model GMR is a Kari Voutilainen watch, a variation of his Vingt-8 chronometer featuring a power reserve indicator at 12 o clock, and a sub seconds dial at 6 o clock with 24 hour second time zone hand activated by a pusher integrated into the crown and a smalls seconds indicator on the same pinion. The GMT6 in contrast, features a sub dial at 6 o clock (hence the 6) with a 24-hour second time indicator as well as a hand engraved day and night display featuring a hand engraved sun and stars. Note that this second time zone indicator can either be a hand read of a fixed track or the 24 hours display can be integrated with the day night indicator on a rotating disc. The Voutilainen has combined these two models before in timepiece such as the GMT216 GMR which features the engraved day and night indicator of the GMT6 but the power reserve of the GMR. As he mentions earlier he has made 6 pieces of the Vingt8 with the power reserve at 12 o clock, second time zone at 12 o clock with hand engraved day night indicator. But in those watches the crown activated pusher advanced the 24 hour display, while in the LVKR02 GMR 6, the pusher integrated into the crown advances the hour hand. 

Comprising 254 components, the LVOUTILAINEN movement features a very large balance wheel, which is dependent on a unique balance-spring system. The exterior of the spring has a typical Phillipps overcoil, while the internal curve utilizes the little-known Grossmann curve, further enhancing accuracy

The barrel ratchet of each of the five watches made also receives a unique work of art in the form of a kaleidoscopic pattern of multi-hued miniature painting. It has been painted with 27 different colors by Maryna Bossy. 

Beyond the beauty of Kari Voutilainen’s movement architecture, characterized by the stunning finishing with sharp handmade inner angles there are two details that are most renown. The first is his massive 13.6mm free sprung balance wheel and its special hairspring with Philips Overcoil on the outside and Grossman curve on the inside. This is to aid in concentric breathing regardless of the position of the watch. The second is of course his double wheel or Natural Escapement. 

The Natural Escapement

Kari Voutilainen introduced his double direct escapement in the Vingt-8 in 2011, inspired by a Breguet pocket watch with a natural escapement that he encountered during his time as a restorer. He was no stranger to direct impulse escapements, having previously prototyped a detent escapement for Urban Jürgensen.

Unlike a Swiss lever, which delivers two indirect impulses per cycle through a lever relying on sliding friction, the natural escapement delivers impulse directly and tangentially to the balance axis, eliminating the need for lubrication. It achieves this using two contra-rotating escape wheels, each alternately providing direct impulses to the balance in both directions during each cycle.

Voutilainen Vingt-8

The Vingt-8 was entirely developed and built in-house, meaning no high-tech materials, such as silicon, were used, which is a rarity among contemporary interpretations of the natural escapement. This is all the more impressive given the nature of his construction. The two blued escape wheels are rotating independent of each other. In fact, he has created the illusion that the escape wheels are not only disconnected from each other but also from the going train as the fourth wheel is hidden from view. The mating gears on which the escape wheels are mounted are concealed beneath the mainplate on the dial side. Four wheels after the fourth wheel results in a high-inertia system, requiring meticulous optimisation of every aspect of the movement to extract the best possible performance. The massive balance wheel is attached to a hairspring with both a Breguet overcoil and a Grossmann inner curve, enhancing isochronism and reinforcing its dedication to classical horology at the highest level. Notably, Kari has achieved a degree of scalability with the escapement, as it is incorporated into all derivatives of the Calibre 28.

Each watch will be delivered in a bespoke Louis Vuitton travel trunk

The significance of this collaboration

I was privileged enough to be seated opposite Arnault when the inspiration to collaborate with the world’s leading independent watchmakers struck him. We were both lamenting that there was no more Opus — the collaborative Harry Winston project that catapulted watchmakers like F.P. Journe, Vianney Halter and Felix Baumgartner to horological stardom — when I saw the thought coalesce in his eyes. To be fair, it was a generous gesture, as he would be giving these watchmakers the biggest stage in the luxury world. In turn, they would reciprocate by bringing their unique technical and craft-based acumen to these projects, effectively transforming Louis Vuitton into a crucible for innovative horological ideas. Having a bit of insight into the future of these projects, I know that one such collaboration aims to write a new chapter in watchmaking history. So the objectives here are lofty. 

The Case for Independent Watchmaking

Why independent watchmaking? I’ve been fortunate enough to know Jean Arnault for nearly seven years. When he was just a student, he politely reached out to purchase a collaborative edition watch I had made with a brand that his family owns. Naturally, I was impressed by his manners and we became friends. Initially, he was very focused on vintage watches. I recall him being rather passionate about the Patek Philippe 3448, for example. Then, something happened — he discovered independent watchmaking. He explains, “I was initially very interested in vintage watches. But the more I thought about it, the more the idea that the greatest achievements in watchmaking had all been done in the past didn’t sit well with me. I wanted to identify what was truly great in my era, and that was when I really became passionate about these creators who distill their unique voices so passionately into their timepieces.” 

Arnault became so passionate about independent watchmaking that he did four extraordinary things. First, he created the Louis Vuitton Watch Prize for Independent Creatives, to discover and celebrate the next generation of independent watchmakers. Raúl Pages was the recipient of the inaugural prize in 2024, and as he says, “It has changed my life completely. The awareness that came from winning that prize has given me everything. My business is secure. My life is great.” Second, Arnault empowered two veteran master watchmakers, Enrico Barbasini and Michel Navas — the founders of Louis Vuitton’s manufacture, La Fabrique du Temps — to work like independent watchmakers. This has brought a renewed sense of passion and creativity to their work with Louis Vuitton. Third, Arnault resurrected two of the most fabled names in independent watchmaking, Daniel Roth and gérald genta. And finally, he embarked on a new series of collaborations with independent watchmakers.

Louis Vuitton × Akrivia LVRR Chronographe à Sonnerie

The first of these collaborations was with Rexhep Rexhepi, resulting in the LVRR-01 Chronographe à Sonnerie, a double-sided tourbillon with a monopusher chronograph that features a chiming function each time the chronograph counter passes 60 seconds. The front of the watch shows off the movement under a smoky sapphire crystal. The tourbillon, chronograph and sonnerie mechanisms are seen here, as well as a reverser mechanism for the hands of the watch to appear on the movement side. On the other side of the watch is a grand feu enamel dial dedicated exclusively to the chronograph counter, configured for 60 seconds and 60 minutes. It features a blue hand and track for the seconds, while the minutes are indicated by a red hand and track. The case of the watch is reminiscent of the Tambour, though that design has evolved very beautifully in recent years. It was crafted in a process overseen by the late Jean-Pierre Hagmann, a genius casemaker renowned for his work on Patek Philippe’s chiming watch cases. The LVRR-01 Chronographe à Sonnerie was unveiled at an event in Montecito, California, in 2023. 

Vuitton’s latest collaboration with Kari Voutilainen was unveiled in Phuket Thailand and represents a worthy successor to the Rexhepi collaboration. As it will be made in just five examples, it will have been sold out by the time you read this. But the commercial impact of this project was not the priority for Arnault. He explains, “It is about amplifying the voice of independent watchmaking and showcasing the craft of the very best watchmakers. This particular watch also allowed us to celebrate the incredible artisan working for Kari but also at La Fabrique du Temps. For Kari I know he works in this artisanal way to keep crafts alive and to ensure they are transmitted from one generation to the next. From the bending of his hairsprings, to the regulation of his escapement, to the guilloche a main on the center of the dial or the hand engraving on the day night indicator and of course the enamel, these are all crafts that we are endanger of losing if we don’t continue to celebrate their relevance. That is the beauty of this project for me and for Kari as well. In the end I think we succeeded into transforming the travel watch into a work of art.”

Tech Specs: Louis Vuitton × Kari Voutilainen LVKV-02 GMR 6

Movement: Manual-winding Kari Voutilainen GMR 6 Calibre; 65-hour power reserve
Functions: Hours and minutes; central seconds; power reserve indicator; second timezone; day/night indicator
Case: 40.5mm × 12.54mm; Escale case in tantalum and platinum; water-resistant to 30m
Dial: Hand guilloché gold dial
Strap: Gray fabric strap with brown leather lining or anthracite Exo alligator strap with black leather lining; with platinum pin buckle
Price: €550,000 (incl. taxes)
Availability: Limited to 5 pieces