While Louis Vuitton are indeed best-known for their leather goods, ready-to-wear clothing and other luxury items, watchmaking has never been something they were too well-known for. While their first efforts as a watchmaker began in 1988, they didn’t begin to take a serious look at watchmaking until the early 2000s, with the founding of Louis Vuitton High Watchmaking, and the introduction of the Tambour collection. Since then watchmaking has grown as a part of their business, and in 2011 they purchased La Fabrique Du Temps, a high-concept movement manufacture founded by the renowned watchmaking duo of Michel Navas and Enrico Barbasini. Then, in 2014, Louis Vuitton built a 4000 square meter facility just for their watchmaking department. All of this is to say that Louis Vuitton has made large efforts in becoming a serious watchmaker, and it shows in their watches as of the last few years. With GPHG awards under their belt, these investments have certainly paid off. Offered here we have one of Louis Vuitton’s most distinctive watches, the Escale Time Zone ref. Q5D23, made as a Japanese limited edition of just 50 pieces. Made of DLC-coated stainless steel and measuring 39mm in diameter, this timepiece is a wonderfully balanced watch that wear perfectly on the wrist for a whole host of wrist sizes. Of course, with its blacked-out aesthetic its colorful world-time dial is what makes this wonderful watch stand out, with each of the cities three-letter abbreviations written in red and a colorful icon place below or above each city that adds a textural component to the black dial. A wonderfully constructed timepiece that shows exactly where Louis Vuitton’s watchmaking has been going over the last few years, the Escale Time Zone ref. Q5D23 is a unique watch that certainly deserves a lot of praise.

While Louis Vuitton certainly wouldn't be the first watchmaker that would come to mind for anyone, it is undeniable that they have made serious progress in recent years to close the gap between themselves and other high-end manufacturers, and the Escale Time Zone showcases exactly how good of a job they have done.