On the runway, colourful ramage-embroidered tops and dresses stood out as chic ready-to-wear from Louis Vuitton Cruise 2015 — the second collection by new creative director Nicolas Ghesquière, who staged the fashion show in Monaco, last May.
The signature pattern now adorns bejewelled timepieces available at all LV's stores.
Carrying the LV logo, the Ramage print radiates from the centre of the diamond-set dial. Transferring the pattern onto the dial involves meticulous hand-painting to give the colour, without missing out any specific details of the sophisticated fabric design. This takes a skilled craftsman around 30 hours to complete, which is one of the watchmaking competences at the fashion house's La Fabrique de Temps Manufacture on the outskirts of Geneva.
Officially opened last October, the manufacture allows under-one-roof watchmaking from the designing to assembling of luxurious timepieces.
The hand-painting is coupled with another skill, snow-setting, involving 320 stones to give a dazzling dial. Each diamond is meticulously selected, according to its size, as different diameters must match to create the snow effect.
The two techniques create an optical illusion with luminosity and depth, bringing the Ramage pattern — in three colour schemes — to life on the 30mm watch housed in a white gold case.
The bezel and buckle are also in white gold studded with diamonds to further give the model a sparkling appeal.
The dial comes without numerals so that the hand-painted Ramage motif can truly take centrestage, with leaf-shaped hands in white gold rotating upon it to tell the time.
The three versions of the new watches are coordinated with either pink, turquoise or red alligator strap, to make a fashion statement on the wrist.
