Louis Moinet goes Around the World in Eight Days with new colourful novelties

Ever wanted to go around the world in eight days? Well, with the new Louis Moinet novelties, announced at Watches and Wonders 2024, you can! Inspired by the classic adventure novel, Louis Moinet’s Around the World in 8 Days collection brings famous landmarks to life on your wrist.

Louis Moinet has paid homage to Around The World in 80 Days by Jules Verne, with eight new novelties. The collection has been developed by Jean-Marie Schaller, CEO of Louis Moinet, and showcases eight horological timepieces that have elaborately designed dials that look like works of art.

Using a combination of unique materials, like aventurine and rock crystals, each of the Around the World in 8 Days watches are named after a different country and feature colourful and patterned backgrounds of a famous landmark. Complete with alligator leather straps, each watch has a chronograph complication at six o’clock and gold skeletal hour and minute hands, to keep the dial background the star of the show.

The eight watches from the collection are Paris, Abu Dhabi, Bangkok, Kuala Lumpur, Singapore, Tokyo, San Francisco and New York. Throughout the past week and during Watches and Wonders, each day has been marked by a new watch in the above order.

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Since there are only eight watches rather than 80 like the book, let’s take a quick look at each watch. The Paris watch has a jigsaw puzzle background made of 81 interlocking pieces that makes a map of Paris. Slightly raised off the dial is the Eiffel Tower which gives a three-dimensional effect. The Eiffel Tower is sculpted by hand using a fragment of an original beam.

Next is Abu Dhabi which has a hand-painted rock crystal base that shows off the Sheikh Zayed Mosque in all its colourful glory. The Bangkok watch has a birds-eye view of its floating market, complete with water lilies, boats and hats. The water has been given a maze-like pattern which makes the dial look like it’s moving.

The Day 4 watch is for Kuala Lumpur, which shows the Petronas Towers, the tallest buildings in the world. Made using silver and engraved with microelectronic circuits, the towers sit on a silicon dial and have a 3D effect. The next watch is for Singapore which features multiple different buildings from the country in bright blue and orange colours.

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The Tokyo watch might be my favourite, as it has a metallic paper origami crane at the centre, atop a backdrop of Mount Fuji, made from aventurine. In black and purple colours, the dial is surrounded by hand-painted cherry blossoms. Finally, the San Francisco watch shows the Golden Gate Bridge in silicon wafer with microelectronic circuits, and the New York watch shows the city’s skyline in rainbow colours with The Statue of Liberty at the bottom right.

Each watch is powered by the Caliber LM135 Manufacture movement that offers 28800 VPH (4 HZ) and 96 hours of power reserve. It can be viewed via the case back and the outside of the case has inscriptions of ‘Around The World In 8 Days’ and the country that the dial represents.

For even more luxury, each Louis Moinet novelty from the collection is presented in a leather-covered trunk with an old map of the world inside. Both the watches and presentations feel like a masterpiece, and something fun to collect if you’re a fan of Louis Moinet, the original novel or just an avid watch collector.