Louis Vuitton&rsquo;s 1988 classic wristwatch gets a modern interpretation that&rsquo;s limited to 188 pieces.

When Louis Vuitton launched its first-ever wristwatch in 1988, the Maison didn&rsquo;t follow the usual rules. Instead, it tapped Italian architect Gae Aulenti &mdash; fresh from transforming Paris&rsquo;s Gare d&rsquo;Orsay into a museum &mdash; to design something that captured the Maison&rsquo;s spirit of travel and innovation. What came out of it were the LV I and LV II, pebble-shaped, lug-free watches with a crown positioned at 12 o&rsquo;clock. They were deeply original watches that stood apart from the era&rsquo;s traditional forms.
Collectors later gave them a nickname that stuck: the Monterey, a playful twist on the French montre (meaning &ldquo;watch&rdquo;), filtered through an American accent. It became a cult classic &mdash; one that, in recent years, has resurfaced on the wrists of both tastemakers and vintage dealers.

Now, nearly four decades later, Louis Vuitton revives that icon for a new generation. The new Louis Vuitton Monterey is more of a reinterpretation. Guided by Matthieu Hegi, artistic director at La Fabrique du Temps Louis Vuitton, the watch preserves the graphic DNA of the original while introducing a level of refinement that only today&rsquo;s in-house craftsmanship can achieve.
&ldquo;Reinterpreting a creation means respecting its design and spirit,&rdquo; Hegi says. &ldquo;We maintain the same graphic codes, but strive for a more modern and elevated feel.&rdquo;
At 39mm, the case remains perfectly rounded. Crafted from 18K yellow gold and polished by hand to a mirror finish, it has a sleek, continuous profile, punctuated by the crown at 12 o&rsquo;clock with a distinctive Clous de Paris texture.
Inside, though, everything is new. The original quartz movement has been replaced with the LF T MA01.02 automatic caliber, designed and assembled at La Fabrique du Temps. It beats at 28,800 vibrations per hour and offers a 45-hour power reserve. Even the rotor, crafted from 18K pink gold and sculpted with V-shaped notches that echo Louis Vuitton&rsquo;s monogram flower, is a statement. Beneath, the closed caseback is discreetly engraved &ldquo;1 of 188&rdquo;.

Where the Monterey truly shines is on its dial. A pure white Grand Feu enamel dial replaces the original&rsquo;s printed face. The technical feat requires over 20 hours of meticulous handcrafting, with each layer of enamel powder applied by hand, then fired at temperatures nearing 900&deg;C. A single imperfection means starting over from scratch. White enamel, in particular, is notoriously difficult to perfect. Absolute consistency is needed in texture and tone, and can only be achieved through multiple firings and fine adjustments by artisans at La Fabrique du Temps. The luminous, almost opaline surface looks almost like porcelain when it catches light.
The red and blue twin scales &mdash; the Monterey&rsquo;s defining graphic codes &mdash; return, recalling Aulenti&rsquo;s original design. The dial is signed Louis Vuitton Paris and Fab. en Suisse, while the hands pay their own tribute: syringe-style hour and minute hands in red lacquer, and a blued-steel seconds hand.
The case is a sculptural object in itself. Its &ldquo;pebble&rdquo; profile feels as relevant today as it did in 1988s, but the new iteration refines every contour. The crown&rsquo;s geometry has been widened for better handling, while the case&rsquo;s smooth curvature has been optimized for balance. Each component &mdash; from the bezel to the caseback &mdash; has been manually polished at La Fabrique des Bo&icirc;tiers Louis Vuitton, the Maison&rsquo;s specialized case-making workshop. Even the strap attachment system remains true to the original &mdash; a quick-release mechanism that makes switching straps simple, though the engraved edition number (&ldquo;1 of 188&rdquo;) remains hidden beneath the leather, visible only to the wearer.

Louis Vuitton&rsquo;s relationship with watchmaking has always been unconventional. Where others built their reputations through centuries of production, the Maison entered the field later, with design as its cornerstone. The original LV I and LV II were born from the same curiosity that defined the brand&rsquo;s trunks and travel pieces, from a desire to make functional objects that transcend function.
The Monterey continues that lineage by merging design and craftsmanship, and celebrating savoir-faire. There&rsquo;s also poetry in the watch&rsquo;s name. Monterey began as a mispronunciation, but it became its own identity, much like the watch itself &mdash; a great reminder that innovation often starts in the space between intention and accident.

Courtesy of Louis Vuitton.

The Louis Vuitton Monterey Is Back, And It Finally Gets the Treatment It Deserves

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