A rare vintage Louis Vuitton Monterey II watch at auction

Last March, during Paris Fashion Week, some models at the Louis Vuitton show wore vintage Gae Aulenti watches as pendants . A (nearly) forgotten gem from the monogrammed brand, watches from a stock of a few dozen pieces found in the house's archives. These quartz watches dating from the 1980s with a round case and a crown located at 12 o'clock are easy to recognize. These vintage models were then signed by Gae Aulenti, a grande dame of architecture and design, who passed away in 2012, who collaborated with the greatest Italian houses... and transformed the Gare d'Orsay into a museum for François Mitterrand and Anne Pingeot. A watch that should soon be in the news again. It is said that a modern version in solid yellow gold was recently presented to VIP clients of the house during Paris Fashion Week 2025...

Vintage pieces from these early watchmaking ventures by Louis Vuitton, then made with the help of IWC Schaffhausen, aren't exactly easy to find. The taste for vintage watches continues to grow, and the shift pioneered by Jean Arnault, a true timepiece enthusiast, reinforces the desirability of La fabrique du Temps Louis Vuitton. But this summer, it's Joopiter, an auction house founded by a certain Pharrell Williams, that is unveiling a model in its online session dedicated to atypical pieces. This Monterey II from the 1980s has a monobloc ceramic case, revolutionary for the time. With a diameter of 34 mm, devoid of a lug, and its crown at 12 o'clock, it houses an IWC quartz caliber beneath its white dial and is offered on a red leather strap from the brand. Its display combines a railway minute track, Arabic numerals for the hours, and a peripheral red date indication. Its so-called syringe hands fascinate with their original shape and their superposition, with the inscription "Louis Vuitton Paris" appearing at 6 o'clock. This watch, estimated at $8,000 to $12,000, can be purchased by July 29.