The LVDB-03 project unites De Bethune and Louis Vuitton around a clear idea: travel with mechanical dignity. Two modular pieces – the LVDB-03 GMT Louis Varius wristwatch and the LVDB-03 Sympathique Louis Varius clock – revisit the 18th-century Sympathique concept with contemporary tact.
The wristwatch draws on the DB25 GMT Starry Varius, adding a multi-disc local and home time display with a rotating GMT day-night sphere. Inside is calibre DB2507LV with a five-day power reserve from twin self-regulating barrels. Dock the watch in its cradle and the Sympathique function automatically winds and synchronizes it with the companion clock. A quiet party trick, executed for utility, not applause.
Regulation shows De Bethune at work: a blued-titanium balance with white-gold inserts, a balance spring with flat terminal curve, a silicon escape wheel, and the proprietary triple pare-chute shock system. The dial is classic De Bethune – heat-blued titanium, white-gold star pins set by hand, and fine 24K gold leaves applied by Élisabeth – while the case language nods to Louis Vuitton with Tambour Taiko-like finishing and double-finished lugs. Caseback engraving reads “Louis cruises with Denis.” Twelve pieces will be made.
The LVDB-03 Sympathique clock is the anchor. Secured on a titanium base with polish flame-blued meteorite marquetry, it tilts like a marine chronometer for varied presentation. The docking interface hides beneath a domed rose-gold cover engraved with the constellation of Hercules – an elegant lid for a serious mechanism.
Its key-wound movement is entirely De Bethune: 763 components, two large barrels, a remontoir d’égalité, 18,000 vph, and an 11-day reserve. Around it, François Schuiten’s world travels in slow orbit – a steam train on a viaduct, balloons over the savanna, sherpas on high slopes – engraved by Michèle Rothen across more than a meter of 5N rose-gold rings. Time, here, circles rather than marches.
Two bespoke titanium trunks from Louis Vuitton house the ensemble, with heat-blued titanium corner protectors by De Bethune and palladium lozines. Beyond the spectacle, the merit lies in intention: a complication revived for real use, finished with restraint, and built to be worn, wound, and watched.
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