Louis Vuitton Announces The Five Finalists For the 2024 LV Watch Prize for Independent Creatives
Gearing up for the final run, the five finalists for the LV Watch Prize will present their timepieces to the jury members at the Fondation Louis Vuitton on February 6
Exactly a year ago, Louis Vuitton announced its biennial Watch Prize for Independent Creatives — inviting diverse talents — from watchmakers and designers to entrepreneurs and recent graduates. This unique initiative by the world’s largest luxury group, attracted almost 1000 submissions, shortlisting 20 semi-finalists. The evaluation, conducted by a Committee of Experts featuring 45 fervent watch enthusiasts (including Wristcheck’s co-founder, Austen Chu), emphasized five essential aspects: Design, Creativity, Innovation, Craftsmanship, and Technical Complexity.
Gearing up for the final run, we now have the five finalists for the 2024 Louis Vuitton Watch Prize for Independent Creatives. As promised, Jean Arnault and his team of experts have meticulously shortlisted the most promising names in independent watchmaking for a year-long mentorship program at La Fabrique du Temps. “The Louis Vuitton Watch Prize exists because we believe that the future of watchmaking belongs to the dreamers and rule-breakers who meet the highest standards of craftsmanship. I would like to congratulate our five finalists- in your hands, the horizon for Independent Watchmaking is looking very bright indeed”, says Jean Arnault, Director of Watches at Louis Vuitton.
As per the brand's official statement, the five finalists will present their timepieces to the five jury members—Carole Forestier-Kasapi, Auro Montanari, Rexhep Rexhepi, Jiaxian Su and Michael Tay—at the Fondation Louis Vuitton on February 6, 2024. The winner will not only enjoy a mentorship with the experts at La Fabrique du Temps but also a grant of Euro 150,000 to commence a professional journey from the most advantageous standpoint.
Here’s a look at the five finalists and their creations.
Simon Brette
Earlier this year, we had a first look at the Chronomètre Artisans at Brette’s workshop in Geneva and were totally blown away by its exceptional finishing and symmetry in design. Inspired by horological geniuses like George Daniels and Derek Pratt, the Chronomètre Artisans is a limited and numbered edition of 12 pieces and is truly a work of art. The 39mm zirconium case is made of three different parts with no visible screws, even the lugs are screwed to the inner case from the inside. The hand-wound Caliber SBCA or Simon Brette Chronomètre Artisan delivers a power reserve of 72 hours and features a stop-second mechanism for precise time-setting. The technical highlight of the watch is its winding mechanism which can be be seen, heard and felt.
Raúl Pagès
The RP1 - Régulateur à détente is a manually wound stainless steel wristwatch distinguished by its unique construction housing an in-house caliber. For this watch, Pagès created his own detent escapement, first developed in 1748 by Pierre Le Roy. Today, it is very much a rarity. The detent uses a single pallet attached to a thin spring blade with one impulse per cycle. This allows the balance wheel a wider rotation and less interference, resulting in much greater accuracy. This rare timepiece is a sophisticated, aesthetically pleasing, and technically demanding watch that is, in many ways, a love letter to the traditions of precision and chronometry.
Petermann Bédat
Inspired by pocketwatches, the Chronographe Rattrapante is a splendid monopusher split-seconds chronograph with a jumping minute counter. Crafted in platinum, the Reference 2941 features an exposed caseback for a glimpse into the intricate movement's design. Gaël Petermann and Florian Bédat created this piece in an exquisite 38.6mm round case adorned with individually soldered stepped lugs and a box sapphire crystal slightly rising above the concave bezel. Positioned at 10 o'clock, the rectangular rattrapante pusher enhances its elegance. In tune with the brand's inaugural creation, the dial incorporates a semi-open layout crafted from platinum and sapphire, offering a captivating view of the split-seconds mechanism. Its design includes two prominent registers and a minute track encircling the periphery.
John-Mikaël Flaux
L’Abeille Mécanique (mechanical bee) in silver and gold is a one-of-a-kind figurative mechanism with an AB-01 movement, manual winding, dedicated key, carrousel movement and a “stinger“ poetics hours indicator. Inspired by the historical symbolism of bees across ancient civilizations — representing the harmony between nature and humanity — Flaux's clock mirrors the precision, intricacy, and hidden complexities of life's mechanisms, often unseen by the naked eye.
Andreas Strehler
Crafted in gilded brass and adorned with lapis lazuli, the Tischkalender Sympathique stands as a mechanical perpetual desk calendar. It is fitted with a “master timekeeper” pocket watch in Damascus steel with sapphire crystal. The man behind this unique creation is Andreas Strehler, an independent watchmaker since 1995. Best known for developing the impressive HMC 341 perpetual calendar movement for H. Moser & Cie., Strehler also created the Dragon Lever escapement for Precision Engineering, which is now used by brands like Armin Strom and Laurent Ferrier.
