Introducing: Louis Vuitton Brings Back The Monterey (Live Pics)

What We Know

The LV Monterey has been quietly asserting itself into the watch world zeitgeist for a few years now. It was spotted on Tyler, the Creator’s wrist back in 2023, before resurfacing across TikTok via the usual vintage-watch suspects. Earlier this year, it even walked the Louis Vuitton Women’s Fall/Winter 2025 runway, where LV’s Artistic Director of Women’s Collections Nicolas Ghesquière and stylist Marie-Amélie Sauvé accessorized models with original LV I pieces on wrists and draped across necks. Just this week, the LV II appeared on the runway for the upcoming Spring/Summer 2025 collection — this time, worn as a belt decoration. Today, the maison has made the modern Monterey official: a 39mm yellow-gold revival of Louis Vuitton’s first wristwatch, reimagined with a white Grand Feu enamel dial, powered by the in-house LFT MA01.02 automatic movement, and limited to just 188 pieces.

The Monterey began life in 1988 as the LV I and LV II, two watches designed by Gae Aulenti, the Italian architect and designer best known for transforming Paris’s Gare d’Orsay into the Musée d’Orsay, as well as her sharp, modernist furniture and interiors that helped define postwar Italian design. “It’s not possible to define a style in my work,” Aulenti told The New York Times in 1987 — a quote that lands especially well here. For Vuitton’s first foray into watchmaking, Aulenti designed the watches, and IWC manufactured them under the leadership of Günter Blümlein. 

The result was a duo of quartz models: the LV I, a 40mm world timer with moon phase, date, and alarm in yellow gold limited to 100 pieces, and the LV II, a 37mm ceramic alarm watch produced in a run of 4,000. An extremely limited run of white gold LV Is was produced, as seen in a 2023 “NWA” Instagram post from Jean Arnault. These were ambitious but imperfect. Both models were plagued by production delays and technical hiccups, and their price points — high for the era — made them a tough sell. At the time, the Monterey was expensive, confusing, and probably a little ahead of its audience. Seen now, though, its pebble shape, 12 o’clock crown, and early material experimentation read less like a misstep and more like a rare, eccentric detour that eventually aged into cult status.

The new Monterey stays remarkably true to the original while flexing what Louis Vuitton’s manufacture is capable of doing today. The 39mm yellow-gold case is fully polished in-house, topped with that signature crown with Clous de Paris decoration at twelve, and the lugless quick-release strap system hidden beneath the leather. The enamel dial is the real showstopper: pure white Grand Feu enamel, notoriously difficult to perfect, requiring over 20 hours of layering and multiple firings at up to 900°C. 

The design has been noticeably simplified compared to the original, stripping away complications in favor of a cleaner, more graphic presentation that puts the enamel work front and center. Red and blue scales, stamped in successive firings, give the watch its graphic punch, while lacquered syringe hands and a blued seconds hand echo the original layout. Inside beats the LFT MA01.02 automatic calibre, with a rose-gold rotor and discreet poinçon seal, offering 45 hours of power reserve.

What We Think

By the time this modern Monterey arrived, it wasn’t emerging from obscurity — it was already having a moment. But the way Louis Vuitton has chosen to bring it back sets it apart from the usual vintage reissue playbook. The Monterey was never a sleeper hit waiting to be rediscovered; it was an eccentric late-’80s experiment that only recently found its footing with a new generation of collectors and fashion insiders. Rather than simply leaning on nostalgia, Vuitton has approached the revival as a precise, self-contained gesture — a way to honor a cult favorite while flexing what the brand can now execute in-house. 

Strategically, this isn’t the start of a new product line or the launch of some mass-market crowd-pleaser. It’s a one-shot — a deliberate, tightly controlled drop. “For us, it’s more a nod to the past — but in a modern way,” says Jean Arnault, Louis Vuitton’s Director of Watches. “We could have done it in many different ways. We decided to do it the way La Fabrique du Temps would’ve done it today if it were a new watch: enamel dial, automatic movement, everything in-house.” He’s also keen to emphasize that this is as much about respecting the people who got there first as it is about showing off the manufacture’s capabilities. “I want to respect the collectors who bought the vintage pieces — it requires a lot of trust in us,” he adds.

Of course, we’re all aware that we reside in a landscape overrun by vintage reissues — brands leaning heavily on nostalgia, reissuing greatest hits to capitalize on warm feelings and proven silhouettes. The Monterey sits slightly outside that pattern. The original watches weren’t a commercial success, nor were they harbingers of Vuitton’s future in watchmaking — they were more of an eccentric detour, products of their era that only just collected their cool points more recently. Vuitton isn’t trying to rewrite history here; it’s acknowledging a cult favorite and handling it with precision. With just 188 pieces, this isn’t a mass resurrection. It’s a sharp, deliberate revival.

The Basics

Brand: Louis Vuitton
Model: Monterey
Reference Number: QAA03 

Diameter: 39 mm
Thickness: 10.7 mm
Case Material: 18k yellow gold
Dial Color: White Grand Feu enamel with red and blue scales
Indexes: Printed Arabic numerals and railway track
Lume: None
Water Resistance: 30 m
Strap/Bracelet: Black leather strap with quick-release system; 18k yellow-gold ardillon buckle

The Movement

Caliber: LFT MA01.02 (in-house automatic)
Functions: Hours, minutes, seconds
Diameter: 31.0 mm
Thickness: 4.2 mm
Power Reserve: 45 hours
Winding: Automatic
Frequency: 4 Hz (28,800 vph)
Jewels: 28
Chronometer Certified: No
Additional Details: Rose gold micro-rotor; manufactured and finished at La Fabrique du Temps Louis Vuitton; Geneva Seal hallmark.

Pricing & Availability

Price: $59,000 USD
Availability: Available now through Louis Vuitton boutiques and selected stores worldwide
Limited Edition: 188 pieces

For more, click here.