Since the first launch of smartwatches by a luxury Swiss brand in 2015, it’s interesting to see how luxury brands occupy the smartwatch sector. With precious stone and metals handcrafted movements, these brands have to create pieces that become luxury statements and tech wearables. The French luxury house Louis Vuitton has launched its latest Tambour Horizon Light Up – Maison’s third-generation connected watch.
The third generation of Louis Vuitton’s Tambour Horizon, the Light Up, takes connected smartwatches to a new level, offering never-seen-before levels of customization and personalization. On the outside, the Light Up is available in a 44m case in three versions: the Polished Steel, the Matte Black uses PVD coating with contrasting titanium crown and lugs; and the Matte Brown – comes with PVD that bears the brand’s iconic monogram. Louis Vuitton has taken the original Tambour watch silhouette and adapted it for the connected Horizon. The watch features a beautifully designed and engineered curved sapphire glass as the screen, like an infinity pool merging into a distant horizon. There are 24 LED lights behind the Louis Vuitton Monogram ring that light up to create a kaleidoscope of colors when the watch is activated. The Tambour Horizon Light Up is also the first Louis Vuitton connected watch with push buttons on either side of the crown.
LV’s USP – customization shines with the watch as well. The Light Up has eight built-in dial configurations to choose from, including one in a captivating striped animation – a nod to Maison’s iconic early trunks – and another one featuring Vivienne, Maison’s enchanting mascot. The watch face can be customized in a rainbow of colors, including 11 bold new gradients. The brand will add more watch faces dedicated to seasons, fashion shows and significant dates in the calendar. The watch also has a quick strap change system giving owners access to the vast and colorful world of Louis Vuitton Tambour straps and an even deeper level of personalization.
Swiping right brings up ‘My Day’ the home to daily apps and activities like agenda, weather, step count, heart rate and even air quality displays; down brings notifications; up reveals a control panel, covering all manner of functions. On the left is the ‘My Travel’ where travel plans and boarding passes are available, and 30 of Louis Vuitton’s curated City Guides. Replacing Google’s WearOS, the operating system for Tambour’s predecessors, Louis Vuitton has now launched their in-house custom-designed operating system – the Tambour Horizon. The watch is compatible with Android and HarmonyOS smartphones; it is also the first outside Apple’s ecosystem to be accredited as “MFI” or “made for iPhone”.
With a crisp infinity-edge AMOLED screen and colorful bezel display, the Tambour Horizon Light Up includes the lightning-quick Snapdragon Wear 4100 processor, 1GB RAM, and 8 GB Flash memory to ensure smooth graphics. For the first time, a Tambour Horizon line will feature a heart-rate monitor. The watch is water-resistant to 30 meters. Powered with an all-day battery, the brand offers four modes Blossom, Explorer, Submarine and Saver.
The Tambour Horizon Light Up watch seamlessly marries art and technology together and showcases the potential of luxury brands' evolution in the story of high-end connected watches.