Louis Vuitton Escale Time Zone Blue
2017 GPHG Travel Time Category Finalist
Putting the 'fun' into functionality, the Escale Time Zone Blue by Louis Vuitton is bright, cool and colourful, with an outgoing personality, whilst smartly displaying the time around the world from a choice of twenty-four cities.
It's second time around for the Escale Time Zone which contested the first running of this same category last year, only to lose out to the Fabergé Visionnaire DTZ. This time, the pink gold and spectrum of colours have been replaced with stainless steel and a theme of dark blue, but otherwise it's the same watch underneath, although a lot more affordable.
Via its outer disc, marked with the principal cites of the world, and which rotates through the manipulation of the crown, the time at home can be set for reference against the twenty-four hour day and night ring, which also means that all the global time zones align to the location you are in, while the local time displays around the centre on a sapphire dial. The little blue flags are laboriously hand painted and then oven dried, and do have a pleasing eyecatching glaze.
The self winding movement comes from the brand's Swiss manufactory La Fabrique du Temps Louis Vuitton, underlining its commitment to fine watchmaking.
There's a broad diversity among all six preselected finalists in the GPHG 2017 Travel Time category, ranging from the high luxury Haute Horlogerie of Czapek and Manufacture Royale, to accessible yet still impressive watchmaking from Frédéric Constant and Louis Vuitton, and because of that, it's a difficult one to call.
The Watch Press prediction
No. Although I think it will be a strong contender and in the top three at the run-in, but I've backed my favourite elsewhere, and you can only pick one.
The pertinents
REFERENCE: Q5D220
CASE: Steel
BRACELET/STRAP: Leather
BUCKLE: Folding clasp
MOVEMENT: Self winding mechanical. Power reserve: 42 h, 28'800 vph
FUNCTIONS: Hours, Minutes, Global Time
SIZE: ø 39 mm
THICKNESS: 8.8 mm
WATERPROOFNESS: 50 m
PRICE EXCL.VAT: 5'934 CHF
