Louis Vuitton is a 172-year-old brand and so its partnership with UNICEF might seem just a blink of an eye since it is marking only 10 years in 2026. But Jean Arnault, Vuitton’s director of watches, stressed that the brand’s goal is to have that relationship last for another 10 years — and much, much longer.
“This is just the beginning,” Arnault told a crowd at a dinner at Sotheby’s in Manhattan Tuesday night.
The dinner was to celebrate the decade-long relationship but, equally important, to kick off the auction at Sotheby’s of a unique clock, “the Louis Vuitton Unity Time Object,” being sold from Tuesday through June 18 to raise funds for UNICEF.
“This beautiful clock is being auctioned at Sotheby’s starting today and is one incredible piece of watchmaking that we are continually proud of making at our workshops both at Louis Vuitton and L’Epee 1839, which is a watchmaking factory that we acquired a few years ago.”
But while Arnault beamed about the artistry of the clock, he gave credit for its genesis to Benoit-Louis Vuitton, the company’s director of art, culture and patrimony. Arnault said the executive told him Louis Vuitton had to do something “incredible” to mark the anniversary. It took two-and-a-half years to bring to reality — all 197 pieces of it.
“It is something we will never make again, and something that soon will see a place in someone’s house,” Arnault concluded.
That is, if they win the bidding. As of Wednesday evening, the bid was at $65,000.
