HERMES LEGENDARY HOUSE DOESN'T JUST CREATE AN AMAZING HOURS. HE MANAGES IN ANY CIRCUMSTANCES TO LIVE AT OWN TIME.
Benefis prima
Indeed, it seems that Hermes is decisively breaking out of a number of other companies. The brand not only does not belong to any major concern, remaining completely independent, but is still managed by the descendants of the founding family, who do not rest on their laurels, but continue to personally create the design and mechanics of new deceptively simple watches.
First of all, this refers to the Arceau collection, which in recent years has changed images with the speed of the benefit of theatrical prima. The elegant round case became the receptacle of the magnificent tourbillon, inspired by an old elevator in the Hermes boutique on Arceau Lift Tourbillon, and the unique mechanism, at the request of the owner of the "hanging" arrow in an undefined position (Arceau Le Temps Suspendu), and the exquisite lunar calendar ( Arceau Phase de Lune).
Gentleman, lady and elevator
The Arceau collection is a vivid example of what happens when aristocrats create watches for aristocrats, paying little attention to trends. As a result, the laconic ease of design is so far from reality that it allows this watch to remain a relevant accessory for many, many years to come.
Arceau was created over 30 years ago and has since been released without significant changes, while many works of that time now seem hopelessly outdated. Arceau is the quintessence of Hermes style, a brand that, however, has always achieved amazing results with minimal means. Although La Montres Hermes officially appeared in 1978, the Parisian Fashion House has been producing watches since the 1920s in collaboration with Jaeger-LeCoultre. The first was a golf watch, created in 1928 by Thierry Hermes specifically for the Prince of Wales.
Creating the Arceau collection was also a kind of design experiment. Henri d'Origny, a baron and socialite dandy, one of the permanent and most famous artists of Hermes, the author of accessories for equestrian sports and other men's wardrobe items decided on it. Arceau was conceived not quite like a watch, namely, as a status accessory that complements an ensemble of gloves, a tie and cufflinks - an ensemble that will immediately make it clear that this is a gentleman. Or a lady, because the model was not only timeless, but also universal.
In 2012, in commemoration of the 175th anniversary of the Parisian House, two manufactory mechanisms appeared exclusively in the Arceau collection, exclusively produced at the Vaucher factory in Swiss Fleurier, co-owned by La Montres Hermes: the men's automatic caliber H1837, named after the year the company was founded, and H1912, used mainly in ladies' jewelry models. His name is also associated with the history of Hermes - in 1912 a photograph was taken in which Jacqueline Erme, the granddaughter of the founder of the House, was captured with a porte-oignon watch. This was the name of the system that allows you to wear a pocket model as a wrist.
In 2013, the company added a third manufactory caliber - H1923, equipped with a tourbillon, where the carriage design was inspired by the interior elements of the historic Parisian boutique of the brand, in particular, the elevator door installed in 1923.
Precious Puzzle
This year, exclusive mechanics received no less exclusive design. In the Lift Cheveaux collection, the carriage of the “elevator tourbillon” in the form of intersecting letters “H” hovers above the dial made using the cloisonne enamel technique.
Arceau Millefiori presents the art of crystal processing. Exceptional wrist and pocket watches are unique in their characteristics: their dial is inspired by 19th century paperweight, which was once created at the Saint-Louis Royal Crystal Manufactory, owned today by Hermes. The dials are decorated with bright floral patterns made by hand-made technology two centuries ago, when the master blew the finest tubes of glass with colored enamel, cut them into pieces resembling microscopic candies, and then painstakingly gathered them into “bouquets”.
For the production of the new Cheval d'Orient series, specialists used the French metal lacquering technique. This approach, traditionally applied in Japan and China only to wood, required a change in the technology of applying the color palette. For the brightness of the thumbnails depicted, each applied layer required drying for at least ten days. As a result, on a black background of three Cheval d'Orient models, oriental horses flaunt with colorful Persian blankets.
