Introducing The Louis Vuitton Monterey In Ceramic

The 2025 revival of the Louis Vuitton Monterey was a curious moment for the brand. Certainly influenced by a recent surge in popularity for the original LV I and LV II watches among celebrities and vintage collectors, it was a small(ish) 188-piece run (priced at $60,000) meant to show the brand was paying attention to what was happening around it. While the original LV I was a quartz watch with several complications, the brand simplified the aesthetics with the revival—gone were the complications and the distinctive, busy dial with all of its markings, as the new Monterey was time-only with a mechanical movement. But that Monterey also demonstrated the craft of La Fabrique du Temps Louis Vuitton, introducing a simpler dial in grand feu enamel. While it may have seemed like a small blip in the brand's overall plans, Louis Vuitton has more to say about the pebble-like designs from 1988 by Italian architect Gae Aulenti—the Monterey Ceramic, a duo of watches that focuses on the smaller LV II.

Now, the Louis Vuitton Monterey Ceramics are not part of a limited edition and officially enter the brand's permanent collection. The cases are faithful to the original, preserving the model's smaller 37mm case size and both original ceramic colours: green and black. The polished, pebble-shaped case is slightly thicker at 11mm, however, because it houses the automatic LFTMA01.02 calibre rather than the original quartz movement. Like last year's Monterey, the Monterey Ceramic loses the complications—in the case of the LV II, that means no more alarm or pointer date. This also means a simpler dial design, with the railroad minutes track serving as the outermost ring.

The black ceramic reference gets the more familiar white dial, with high-contrast black-and-red markings, red brass minute and hour hands, and a blue seconds hand. The green ceramic reference gets a new dial design, with a matching green base, white markings throughout, and a bright splash of colour in the yellow syringe hands. The dials are lacquered with a final layer of matte varnish, offering a slightly textured look that appears quite different from the grand feu enamel in the 2025 Monterey. Although the dial base isn't enamel, these dials still involve multiple firing stages: the dial markings are acrylic-stamped, then fired after each layer. The white dial naturally gets an extra firing stage due to the two colours of the dial. A steel crown sits at 12 o'clock with Clous de Paris decoration.

Turn the watch over, and you'll find the distinctive caseback preserved from the original. There are no lugs. Instead, a suspended caseback gives room for a single-pass leather strap to slip right through. Who's going to be the first to try putting a TGN Nato through this thing?

The new Monterey Ceramic models are priced at A$38,000 and will be available through Louis Vuitton boutiques.

The Monterey has always struck me as a fascinating part of eighties watch design. If not because it seems quite polarising among collectors, it was certainly a commercial flop when it first hit the market. But I have an extreme soft spot for this kind of watch design—this should make sense if you know that I absolutely adore Marc Newson's Ikepod language. Having seen these two new references a few weeks back in Geneva, they look very nice in execution, and I appreciate the new green livery to complement the case colour. The two models have a nice duality: a more "faithful" white dial and black case, and a sleeker, more contemporary tone-on-tone green with gorgeous yellow hands. 

It's interesting to see the attention and backing Louis Vuitton is giving the Monterey, especially now that it's in the permanent collection and no longer just a brief storytelling moment for the brand. I think that, while by no means a value proposition, the wearability and price point of the new ceramic Monterey references will certainly resonate with a larger audience. Whether that means the Monterey's revival and second chance will have more legs than the original, we will see.

Brand: Louis Vuitton
Model: Monterey Ceramic
Reference Number: W0CR11 (Black); W0CR21 (Green)
Diameter: 37mm
Thickness: 11mm
Case Material: Polished ceramic
Dial Colour: White or green lacquer
Indexes: Acrylic stamped
Lume: No
Water Resistance: 30 meters
Strap/Bracelet: Single-pass calf leather strap with pin buckle

Calibre: LFT MA01.02
Functions: Hours, minutes, seconds
Diameter: 23mm
Thickness: 5.4mm
Power Reserve: 45 hours
Winding: Automatic
Frequency: 28,800 VpH
Jewels: 26
Chronometer Certified: No

Price: A$38,000
Availability: Now
Limited Edition: No.

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