Art Deco darling

Art Deco is enjoying a resurgence 100 years after the style’s formal introduction at the 1925 Exposition Internationale des Arts Décoratifs et Industriels Modernes in Paris. We romanticise bygone eras in uncertain times, especially those associated with grandeur and optimism.

In the post-pandemic world, like the post-World War 1 era that gave impetus to the Deco movement, we seek audaciousness, luxury, and escapism — qualities the style embodies. Highlighting the complex relationship between aesthetics, economics, and culture, the height of the movement also coincided with the Great Depression, its indulgent aesthetics perhaps justified as aspirational escapism: films such as Metropolis and Grand Hotel, and architectural statements such as the Empire State Building, are all symbols of progress and hope amid financial ruin.

We’ve found interior, furniture, fashion, and jewellery designers channelling these style cues in recent seasonal collections. For watchmakers, though, Art Deco’s bold geometric forms, ornamentation, and appreciation of luxurious materials and craftsmanship have been a constant source of inspiration: brands such as Patek Philippe, Cartier, Jaeger LeCoultre, Vacheron Constantin, and Longines have a wealth of shapely archival references to draw on.

Reissues and modern interpretations of past models appear each year, now alongside more contemporary designs such as the avant-garde De Bethune DB28 or the luxuriously minimalist H. Moser & Cie Streamliner, which takes inspiration from the futuristic, aerodynamic locomotive and industrial-design references of the more streamlined late-Deco period. Undoubtedly, we will see further expression of Deco’s exuberant flair in watch design and métiers d’art over the coming months.

Louis Vuitton’s forays into watchmaking began mere decades ago. Still, the archives of the 171-year-old maison reveal the considerable influence of the Deco style, particularly on Gaston-Louis Vuitton’s innovative luggage designs of the 1920s, through which he captured the spirit of a new society and their modes of high-speed travel. The latest LV Tambour Convergence is a nod to that era’s montres à guichet (window watches, usually featuring jumping hours). Futuristic looking for the time, these timepieces are distinguishable by their solid polished-metal face plates with small apertures for a fleeting “digital” reading of hours and minutes.

Among the period listings found at recent Phillips auctions, rare jumping-hour watches have secured impressive sales figures, confirming the growing interest in Art Deco watches among serious collectors. Examples include a pure-lined rectangular Audemars Piguet “heure sautante” (circa 1921) and the highly prized Cartier Tank à Guichets (circa 1928) — Cartier’s first jumping-hour model, reintroduced in 1996 to celebrate the company’s 150th anniversary, and again to the Collection Privée in 2004.

While the Tambour Convergence alludes to these fine examples, this guichet is not a jump hour: instead, it features a “dragging indication” with smoothly rotating hour and minute discs that precisely yet transiently relay a moment in time peeping through the arabesque “clouds” of its apertures. Two models are available — one in hand-polished 18kt rose gold (ref W9PG11), the other in platinum (W9PT11) — with the face plate of the platinum model featuring a glittering surface of 795 snow-set diamonds of various sizes, requiring highly skilled handwork and evoking the polished shark’s skin “shagreen” finish so popular on Parisienne furniture of the Deco period.

Both models are exquisitely executed, with the naming of the collection pointing to their unique time display as well as the “convergence” of in-house mastery at the LV watchmaking ateliers in Geneva — movement design at La Fabrique du Temps, case-making at La Fabrique des Boîtiers, and rare handcraft at La Fabrique des Arts. They are powered by the new in-house automatic Calibre LFT MA01.01 with a balance frequency of 4Hz, a 45-hour power reserve, and a free-sprung balance.

The beautifully finished movement with its large 18kt rose-gold rotor is on view through an open case back. The Convergence has a perfectly gender-neutral case diameter of 37mm with a thickness of 8mm. While replicating the drum shape with its cambered sides that taper towards an inflexion point, the collection also demonstrates the potential for diversification within the recently updated (2023) Tambour line. The vintage-inspired lugs are unique to the Convergence, featuring hand-polished upper surfaces with the lateral exteriors hollowed out and micro-sandblasted for a contemporary feel. They are presented on calf leather straps with LV pin buckles and are water-resistant to 30m.

Priced from around R690 000 at louisvuitton.com or enquire through SA stores at 011 784 9854 and 021 4059 700.

From the April edition of Wanted, 2025