Page 60 - Sharp Spring 2021
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 WATCHES
Louis Vuitton’s Time Factory
How the iconic luggage-maker earned its place among Switzerland’s most elite watch brands
by JEREMY FREED
 THE LOUIS VUITTON TAMBOUR CURVE FLYING Tourbillon Poinçon de Genève is a watch that few people could have envisioned, and even fewer could have
brought to life. Featuring an open-worked dial, a tourbillon movement, a proprietary carbon case, and the coveted Geneva Seal, its materials, workmanship, and design place it in the highest echelon of watchmaking.
Michel Navas, the Spanish-born head of watchmaking for Louis Vuitton, is the man responsible for the feat. "All my life, I have been interested in complicated devices, constant-
ly looking for the reasons why things were done,” he says. Navas learned the trade from his father, working alongside him from the age of 10, before going on to study watchmaking in Switzerland. Following stints at some of the biggest names in watch design, including Gérald Genta, Audemars Piguet, and Patek Philippe, he founded his own atelier, La Fabrique du Temps (The Time Factory), in 2007.
Louis Vuitton, meanwhile, was founded in 1854 as a maker of fine luggage, a legacy that remains central to the brand’s DNA. After the successful introduction of ready-
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