BY SAM DELAWARE
Brought to market in 2020 as part of Louis Vuitton’s summer collection, The Escale Line (French for “stopover”) is a range of travel related essentials – luggage, hardgoods, etc. Though each unique, the standout pieces have been the handcrafted watches which certainly evoke the same spirited globetrotting ethos of the Parisian fashion house.
While the collection saw the addition of a number of interesting timepieces since 2020 and each watch has most often released as a limited edition run.
The Escale W3PT21 in full Platinum with a stunning Grand Feu Enamel and Guilloché dial will be the last addition to the Escale collection until the start of 2025.
The Escale W3PT21 maintains a full platinum case finished with a cadence of high polish and horizontal brushing across the fixed bezel, riveted lugs, and octagonal Louis Vuitton embossed crown which affords 50m of water resistance.
Across the wrist the Escale W3PT21 measures 39mm in diameter with a slim 10.34mm thickness.
Taking a total of 4 detailed artisans to complete, each dial is a stunning combination of a gold base, a brushed flange around the perimeter housing blue dot hour markers, 18k white gold plated hands, and radiant hand-etched guilloché decoration. Champlevé and Flinqué enamel processes are overseen by the artisans to render each surface in a vivid translucent blue that allows the patterning to stay visible on the surface which is then finished with a diamond polishing paste achieving a mirror-like shine.
Visible through a bright sapphire exhibition caseback framed by a polished riveted boundary, the Escale W3PT21 employs the self winding caliber LFT023. Among its most notable features is a 22k pink gold micro rotor spinning freely to provide the 50 hours power reserve when fully wound. Oscillation occurs at 4hz/28,000vph, the movement also coming chronometer certified by the Geneva Chronometric Observatory to ISO 3159 standards.
Matching the highly saturated dial is a blue calf leather strap which concludes with a case matched platinum pin buckle.
Quite typically for the Escale family, the W3PT21 is limited to only 50 handcrafted pieces and carries a significant sticker tag of $68,000 USD.
