Somehow Bradley Cooper made the pivot from blue-eyed hunk in 2009's The Hangover to respected, Oscar-nominated force in front of and behind the camera. In a similar vein, Louis Vuitton has turned up its horological game a big notch in the past decade, and particularly last year when the French luxury fashion house snatched up some awards for a few of its Tambour models. Just like Cooper's 2013 performance in Silver Lining Playbooks was unexpected, LV won these awards under the noses of the established Big Swiss watchmakers, respectively giving the Hollywood and watch elites no choice but to take notice.
And so they did. Indeed, at 2021's prestigious GPHG awards – the watch equivalent to the Oscars, Louis Vuitton's fresh take on a diver’s watch (the cheekily contradictory-named Tambour Street Diver won the Diver’s Watch category) was a game-changer. When the maximalist and rather unhinged design of the rose gold jumping-hour Tambour Carpe Diem – with an LV-branded skull as its centrepiece and deeper meaning within its intricate visage – won the coveted Audacity award, this was a major turning point. And yes Bradley, we could well imagine this slipping out from your tuxedoed cuff at the Oscars.
Anyway, unless your wrist knowledge stops with a ubiquitous Rolex, you can’t fail to notice the rising credibility of Louis Vuitton as a watch manufacturer. Its Swiss-based Fabrique du Temps embodies Haute Horlogerie through tech innovation and its own language of design, so it feels natural drawing a parallel to Bradley Cooper’s lateral move from heartthrob to director.
With those soothing vocals wooing Lady Gaga still fresh in our minds, not much would surprise us about him, and we can say the same of the re-imagined Tambour, which a becoming more of a recognisable shape on the wrist.
With its round, sloping case, what strikes us about the Tambour shape is its versatility. The GPHG-winning Street Diver was a matte-cased tough sports watch, but the Twenty Chronograph has an understated elegance within the same shape. We do love a rich dollop of chocolate – matching Cooper's hair and an ode to LV's OG trunks – and with a few popping touches of yellow, there is a distinct fresh flavour to the Twenty that works well to underline its distinct features.
We have it on good authority that the chocolate dial and smooth case of the new Louis Vuitton Tambour Twenty would sit well in Bradley’s studied watch collection, which includes a brawny Big Pilot from his IWC days and pieces that marks him out as an authentic watch lover. The warm tones of the new Tambour will be well matched by Coop’s vintage Rolex GMT-Master “root beer” given to him by erstwhile mentor Clint Eastwood, and he has also been photographed wearing the sharp wristwear du jour from Bulgari, the sleek Octo.
The Tambour Twenty Chronographs will likely be a commercial success thanks to the fact the letters L and V are attached to it but ever since the opening of Le Fabrique du Temps in 2014, the emphasis has been on craftsmanship rather than a branding effort, and it is paying off. In Bradley Cooper, LV has an ambassador whose more than a name – his ranking in the world of watch aficionados has only risen in stature along with with his well-chosen personal collection, just like the best wrist-art from Louis Vuitton to the point where a piece of smooth-cased watchmaking with a French touch is most desirable.
