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- Louis Vuitton has created a one-of-one Unity Time Object for its UNICEF charity auction
- The football-shaped mechanical clock was developed with La Fabrique du Temps Louis Vuitton and L’Epée 1839
- It features a manual-winding movement, skeletonised structure and rotating hour and minute displays
- The piece is set with 144 white diamonds and 120 treated black diamonds
- It comes in a bespoke Monogram canvas trophy trunk handcrafted at Louis Vuitton’s Asnières atelier
- Sotheby’s has listed the estimate as “Upon Request”, with the auction running from 9 June to 18 June 2026
There are few things more beautiful than the art of horology, but Louis Vuitton has made a pretty strong case for the beautiful game.
As part of its latest UNICEF auction piece, the French luxury house has unveiled the Louis Vuitton Unity Time Object, a football-shaped mechanical clock with an eight-day movement, diamond-set time displays, and its own Monogram trophy trunk.
Sotheby’s will offer the one-of-one piece as part of a dedicated online auction running from 9 June to 18 June 2026, with the estimate listed as “Upon Request”. In Louis Vuitton’s language, that means you can’t afford it. But that doesn’t mean we can’t take a look.
A Football Clock with Proper Watchmaking Inside
The Unity Time Object takes its shape from Louis Vuitton’s Monogram canvas soccer ball, then inflates the idea with proper mechanical clockmaking. The piece uses a mechanical manual-winding calibre developed by L’Epée 1839, the Swiss clockmaker known for high-end mechanical table clocks.
The L’Epée 1839 MV.7452/000 movement offers an eight-day power reserve, runs at 18,000 vibrations per hour and uses 22 jewels. Time is displayed through two rotating golden discs, with one handling the hours and the other the minutes. The whole thing is visible through an openwork structure that borrows the hexagons and pentagons of a football, only here they’ve been turned into a skeletonised steel frame.
Key Specs: Louis Vuitton Unity Time Object
- Type: One-of-one skeletonised mechanical clock
- Movement: L’Epée 1839 MV.7452/000 manual-winding calibre
- Functions: Hours and minutes
- Power reserve: 8 days
- Frequency: 18,000 vibrations per hour
- Jewels: 22
- Case: Golden and black steel structure with sandblasted rotating discs
- Diamonds: 144 white round-cut diamonds and 120 treated black diamonds, totalling 1.04 carats
- Size: 150mm diameter
- Weight: 3.3kg
- Presentation: Bespoke Louis Vuitton Monogram canvas trophy trunk
- Estimate: Upon Request
Diamonds, Steel and a Trophy Trunk
We could spend hours staring at this thing. Because while the watchmaking is certainly impressive, Louis Vuitton takes it even further. The Unity Time Object features a golden and black steel structure with golden brackets and two sandblasted rotating discs. The hour display is set with 144 white round-cut diamonds, while the minute display uses 120 treated black diamonds, bringing the total to 1.04 carats.
The clock itself measures 150mm in diameter and weighs 3.3kg, so despite the football reference, this is not something you’ll be kicking around the lounge room. If you do, good luck getting a refund.
It sits on a black leather base with a golden Louis Vuitton stud and is wound with a golden steel key. Then there’s the trunk, because of course there is. The piece is presented in a bespoke trophy-style case finished in Louis Vuitton Monogram canvas and handcrafted at the Maison’s historic Asnières atelier, where the brand produces many of its rare and special-order pieces.
The UNICEF Auction Also Includes Monogram Footballs
The Unity Time Object leads the sale, but it won’t be the only football-inspired piece on offer. Sotheby’s is also listing a series of Louis Vuitton Monogram soccer balls signed by figures from across film, television and K-pop, including Thai rapper and GOT7 member BamBam, American actors Josh Hartnett and Chloë Grace Moretz, Stray Kids’ Australian-born singer Felix and South Korean model-actor Hoeyon, best known internationally for Squid Game.
Each ball is presented with an accompanying Louis Vuitton leather net, with estimates ranging from USD $1,000 to USD$2,000.
All profits from the auction will go to UNICEF in support of its humanitarian work for vulnerable children, continuing a partnership that Louis Vuitton says began in 2016 through its Silver Lockit initiative.
There’s no downplaying the charity aspect of this auction, and while that part matters, we’re still staring at the diamond-set mechanical football clock in a handcrafted Louis Vuitton trophy trunk. Ridiculous, impractical, and almost certainly guaranteed to raise a serious amount of money for a good cause.
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