Taylor Swift unveils a Louis Vuitton Tambour and the watchmaking community turns upside down

Text by Ana Franco.

4 photos

The biggest pop star of our time has worn a watch, and we celebrated as if our son had won an Oscar. Because Taylor Swift, who is a benchmark for just about everything, doesn’t usually wear one. The last time she did, at least in public, was at the last Grammy Awards, the most important awards in the music industry. Then she wore a tiny black and white vintage square watch by jewelry designer Lorraine Schwartz, named Concord, around her neck as a choker.

Nine months have passed since then, an eternity for those of us who are more interested in a celebrity’s wrist than in the color of their eyes. But last weekend, as the woman of the moment headed to the Arrowhead Stadium box in Kansas City (Missouri, USA) to watch her boyfriend Travis Kelce play soccer with his team, the Kansas City Chiefs, there was something about her that glittered. Looking closer, we saw that it was a Louis Vuitton Tambour, a similar model to the one worn by Bradley Cooper at the Oscars in March of this year.

The singer and songwriter’s was not red, like the Versace plaid ensemble she wore, but yellow like gold with a white dial. And something more serious than you would expect from a fashion brand watch. The Tambour (drum in French, for its conical shape) is the specimen with which Louis Vuitton, the most profitable ensign of the luxury group LVMH, debuted as a watch brand, in 2002. Last year it entered with it in the segment of luxury sports watches with integrated bracelet, the most successful today in watchmaking.

The Tambour chosen by Swift measures 40 mm in diameter and 8.3 mm thick, and is slimmer than the first ones that saw the light of day 22 years ago. It also features a new movement, the first three-hand automatic designed by Louis Vuitton‘s Geneva-based manufacture, La Fabrique du Temps, in collaboration with movement specialist Le Cercle des Horlogers. It features hours, minutes and a seconds hand at 6 o’clock, visible through the case back. Its power reserve is approximately 50 hours. The price is 59,500 euros. It will be for money.