Louis Vuitton has added stunning “colored glass” handcrafted enamel to its already impressive in-house flying tourbillon, creating the all-new 41mm platinum and white gold Voyager flying tourbillon “Poinçon de Genève” Plique-à-jour.
By combining the modern flying tourbillon movement developed by La Fabrique du Temps Louis Vuitton workshop with traditional enamel techniques, Louis Vuitton has drawn attention to its extensive mastery of artistic craftsmanship. In this model, the focus is on plique-à-jour, a technique pioneered by Byzantine artisans in the 4th and 5th centuries.
Essentially, this technique involves depositing enamel into open cells and filling them in a “capillary action” manner to color the space.
Craftsmen must apply multiple layers of enamel and fire them in the kiln each time to achieve the correct transparency, culminating in a dial that echoes colored glass windows. Each dial requires over 100 hours of manual work to complete.
Louis Vuitton states that the primary color of the new watch is blue, which poses particular challenges in its production. It further adds, “It took months of research to achieve this blue gradient.”
