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louis vuitton | tambour bushido automata

Louis Vuitton’s latest high watchmaking feat comes wrapped in lacquered discipline. The Tambour Bushido Automata is the third automaton piece from La Fabrique du Temps, and perhaps its most intricate yet — a singular blend of horological complexity, decorative craft, and samurai philosophy.

As its name suggests, the timepiece draws from Bushido, the centuries-old code that governed the conduct of Japan’s samurai class. Honour, discipline, courage — those ideas take literal form on the dial, where a Samurai mask springs to life at the touch of a button. Five animations unfold: the hours appear on the warrior’s helmet, while the minutes are sliced into view by a katana blade. It’s theatre in miniature, but backed by technical power — specifically, the LV 525 calibre, an award-winning movement developed by the Maison for its on-demand automata.

It’s not the first time Louis Vuitton has played with jacquemarts, the animated figures traditionally found on clock towers. The case, dial and mask are executed in a rich mix of engraving and grand feu enamelling, techniques chosen to echo the precision and artistry of the samurai themselves. Every surface is laboured over, from the metalwork to the lacquering, and treated like armour.

Find out more here.

photography. Louis Vuitton
words. Gennaro Costanzo