Category: Hermès Watches

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Hermès Cape Code Crépuscule

Hermès has called on the services of one of Switzerland’s foremost silicon experts for a creative project sculpted using nanotechnology.

Neuchâtel-based Swiss Center for Electronics and Microtechnology (CSEM), which has developed technical silicon-based watchmaking solutions for Patek Philippe, Girard-Perregaux and Swatch Group, first met with Hermès Cape Code Crépuscule in 2018 to discuss the venture.

The decision was made to create a dial from a silicon wafer featuring the “intimate and refined Crépuscule” motif from design and graphic artist, Thanh-Phong Lê.

The appearance and color of silicon is dependent on how much of the material is deposited on the 0.5mm thick dial plate during production, allowing “an infinite palette of subtle and unique shades.”

Through photolithography, blue light is used to print the motif before a final “gold-coating stage.”

The 29mm x 29mm stainless steel case is paired with a blue calfskin strap, while a quartz movement keeps time. Known for the «square in a rectangle” case formed by two «anchor chain» half-links, the Hermès Cape Code Crépuscule watch is now available with a blue-tinted monocrystalline silicon dial.

In 2018, Hermès initiated a meeting with the Neuchâtel-based Swiss Center for Electronics and Microtechnology (CSEM) as part of its search for a technological innovation that would be dedicated to creativity. This gave rise to a project for a dial made from a silicon wafer, which was to feature the intimate and refined «Crépuscule» (dusk) motif by designer-graphic artist Thanh-Phong Lê. The dial with its slender gilded hands reveals the bluish shades sprinkled with yellow gold achieved by this unique method combining creativity and nanotechnology. A navy blue calfskin single or double tour strap crafted in the Hermès Horloger workshops sets the final touch to the Cape Cod crépuscule watch.

Used in microelectronics for its semiconductor properties, the silicon wafer was chosen here for its purely aesthetic qualities, representing a first. Depending on the amount of material deposited during production, its colour varies across an infinite palette of subtle and unique shades. This Hermès Cape Code Crépuscule highly technological process is carried out by specialised engineers in the CSEM labs. The dials of the Hermès Cape Cod crépuscule Hermès are created from a single 0.5 mm thick plate, which is coated in an extremely precise manner with a tiny (72-nanometre) film of silicon nitride to obtain the desired intense blue colour.

Then comes the photolithography stage, during which Hermès Cape Code Crépuscule the wafer is exposed to a blue light so as to print the pattern. The process involves several successive baths, before the gold-coating stage, followed by other baths to remove any superfluous material. Finally, the plate is precisely cut to the shape of the Cape Cod case.

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Hermès Slim d’Hermès Minuit au Faubourg

The Hermès Slim d’Hermès Minuit au Faubourg by Montres Hermès is an offbeat horological creation that plays on the worlds of pop art and Paris.

Produced in two series of 24 timepieces each, this Hermès Slim d’Hermès Minuit au Faubourg watch comes with an artistic dial inspired a silk scarf designed in 2014 by Dimitri Rybaltchenko.

The miniature painted dial gives a picture of the city of Paris. The Eiffel Tower stands out against a sky streaked with clouds and studded with aventurine stars. The legendary sloping zinc Parisian roofs reflect the bluish gleam of the moon and the rosy glow of the setting sun. The dome of the Invalides can be seen in the distance, along with its neighbouring obelisk on Place de la Concorde. A few streets away, the wings of the Moulin Rouge spin in the summer wind.

But the essential element lies at 24 Rue du Faubourg Saint-Honoré. This is where «Hermès Sellier” took up residence in 1880.

On the top floor sits a secret garden surrounded by a column-lined terrace. At the call of his name, beamed as an H from the top of the Eiffel Tower, Super H is ready to take flight. His cape flutters in the wind, revealing his initial: an orange-brown «H». A beam of light made of Super-LumiNova is projected from the Eiffel Tower. At night, it sparkles near the dial surface, tracing the outlines of the Super H banner. All around it, the Parisian scene is hand-drawn in micro-painting. Its multiple layers – particularly the thicker one in Super- LumiNova – give the dial a slightly grainy texture, like a canvas. Entirely hand-crafted and resulting from more than 50 hours of work, each dial will be unique. The 39.5 mm white gold case houses the Manufacture Hermès H1950 self-winding movement. Agile hooves, a confident trot. Suppleness, grace and elegance. It is midnight on the Faubourg and the City of Light is about to hum to the winged cavalcade of Super H! The Eiffel Tower stands out against a sky streaked with clouds and studded with aventurine stars, majestically overlooking the legendary sloping zinc Parisian roofs that reflect the bluish gleam of the moon and the rosy glow of the setting sun. The dome of the Invalides can be seen in the distance, along with its neighbouring obelisk on Place de la Concorde. A few streets away, the wings of the Moulin Rouge spin in the summer wind. But the essential element lies elsewhere.

Where? 24 Rue du Faubourg Saint-Honoré. This is where «Hermès Sellier” – as mentioned on the wall sign – took up residence in 1880. On the top floor sits a secret garden surrounded by a column-lined terrace. At the call of his name, beamed as an H from the top of the Eiffel Tower, Super H is ready to take flight. His Hermès Slim d’Hermès Minuit au Faubourg cape flutters in the wind, revealing his initial: an orange-brown «H». A superbly proud and majestic comic-strip Pegasus, he stirs the imagination: what will happen? Why was he called? Where will he fly to?

One thing is for sure: Super Hermès Slim d’Hermès Minuit au Faubourg will fly off draped in a soft luminescence, thanks to the artisans at Hermès Horloger. A beam of light made of Super-LumiNova is projected from the Eiffel Tower. At night, it sparkles near the dial surface, tracing the outlines of the Super H banner. All around it, the Parisian scene is hand-drawn in micro-painting. Its multiple layers – particularly the thicker one in Super- LumiNova – give the dial a slightly grainy texture, like a canvas.

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Hermès Arceau Répétition Minute So Black

Issued in a numbered 24-piece limited series, the Hermes Arceau Lift tourbillon répétition minutes so black watch by Hermès features a black grand feu enamel dial revealing part of its captivating mechanism. It combines two magnificent horological complications. The complex mechanism of the double-gong minute repeater can be admired through the horse-shaped dial cut-out. The flying tourbillon is revealed through a round aperture at 6 o’cloc

The double-H tourbillon structure of the Hermes Arceau Lift tourbillon répétition minutes so black watch is inspired by an emblematic motif of the Hermès boutique in the Faubourg Saint-Honoré in Paris. This distinctive design surmounting the carriage and barrel bridge echoes the shape of the wrought iron adorning the entrance, railings, staircase and elevator of the Parisian establishment. Swept over by slender, hollowed-out hands, the dial is punctuated by sloping numerals evoking a galloping horse, the signature of the Arceau line. The dial cut-outs and the sapphire case-back reveal the Manufacture Hermès H1924 mechanical hand-wound movement ensuring a crystal-clear chime for the minute repeater. The titanium case measuring 43 mm in diameter is fitted on a matt black alligator strap.

Hermes Arceau Lift tourbillon répétition minutes so black watch is on a tear this year, like a runaway horse pulling a carriage full of the GPHG awards it racked up a few weeks ago. The brand won both the Mens’ and Ladies’ complications categories with their respective Arceau Le Temps Voyageur models. It still may come as a surprise to a lot of the watch community, however, that the maison has so many complicated offerings in its catalogs that many haven’t even made it to its website.

Case-in-point: Hermes Arceau Lift tourbillon répétition minutes so black watch. Though not GPHG award-nominated (I’d imagine it would be in the running for any “longest name” category) it’s still a technical marvel. In this case, the achievement is not just making a watch with a tourbillon and a minute repeater, rather, it’s the fact the designers have paid homage to the brand’s heritage, showing their confidence that Hermès can hold its own against the big names of the watch industry. Assuming there’s not a lot of crossover between the Birkin bag crowd and the general watch world, I’d suspect that quite a few people would look at the Arceau Lift Tourbillon Repeater (as I’ll call it for some semblance of brevity’s sake) and not understand why a horse is staring back at them through the partially skeletonized dial. I didn’t really even see the horse on the dial at first, nor did I question why the Arceau watch, with its peculiar lug design, looked the way it did in the first

How foolish of me, in hindsight. But each motif is there for a good reason – reasons that lead me down the rabbit hole of creative and horological design at Hermès. Inside the case is more than just a tourbillon and a minute repeater, it’s also a lesson in what makes Hermès Hermès. It just so happened that Laurent Dordet, the CEO of Hermès Horloger, was in New York for the grand reopening of Hermès flagship boutique on Madison Avenue. Despite a late celebration the night before (packed with celebrities, food trucks, and its own musical), Dordet met me over lunch to help me better understand both the watch and the brand – straight from the horse’s mouth, so to speak.

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Hermès Cape Cod Chaîne d’ancre

The Hermès Cape Cod Chaîne d’ancre appears dressed in diamonds and obsidian to reveal new precious and distinctive facets of its personality. In 1991, the Cape Cod watch was born under the bold pencil strokes of Henri d’Origny. The designer was supposed to make it a square watch. His creative freedom decided that it would be «a square in a rectangle». Both impertinent and rigorous, the Hermès Cape Cod Chaîne d’ancre overturns codes and freely connects styles. Its original case is composed of two «anchor chain» half links, a motif created by Robert Dumas in 1938. The motif inspired by a boat chain is anchored on the dials of the Cape Cod and reveals a plurality of fanciful touches. This year, the Hermès Cape Cod is once again transformed: shimmering with diamonds and carved in obsidian stone – a grey vitreous volcanic rock – or sandblasted, gilded and lacquered, its distinctive graphic shape plays with materials and textures. Hovering between contrast and harmony, a first Hermès Cape Cod Chaîne d’ancre features a precious rose gold case set with 52 diamonds, framing an obsidian dial stands out, illuminated by interlaced links set with 181 diamonds. A second, smaller model matches the tone of its gemset steel case with the anthracite shades of the volcanic dial and gemset anchor chains. Finally, a third similarly small-sized rose gold version set with 46 diamonds is distinguished by its sand-blasted gold dial adorned with gemset anchor chains. Paired with a single- or double-tour strap in Chantilly-coloured or pearl grey alligator, crafted in the Hermès Horloger workshops, these new Cape Cod Chaîne d’ancre models display hours and minutes, swept over by slender gold or rhodium-plated hands.

The Hermès Cape Cod Chaîne d’ancre watch has been forming solid attachments for almost 30 years. Its story, all about links, began in 1991, when iconoclastic Hermès designer Henri d’Origny boldly sketched the outlines of a companion to the Cape Cod watch, an equally distinctive model named Nantucket.

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Hermès Arceau Wow Watch

From lavish exotic skin bags to bespoke buttery leather dressage saddles, Hermès is a whole luxury fantasy world unto itself.

The heritage brand, which Hermès Arceau Wow Watch was founded as an equestrian harness-maker for the French noblesse back in 1837, has become the gold standard for leather goods. And unless you’re a Buddhist monk who has been silently meditating in a cave at the foothills of the Himalayas for 50-odd years, chances are you will at least have heard of the Birkin.

It makes perfect sense then, that the brand known for being the best-of-the-best when it comes to artisanry and craft would be capable of making something as intricate as the Arceau Wow watch.
I’m going to give you a brutally honest rendition of my initial reaction to the technicolored timepiece because it was truly a hodgepodge of confusion, joy, and horror. There was a mini gasp, “Oooh look at the pretty colored mother-of-pearl dial,” followed by a small and very private thought, “Why on earth would Hermès, the material embodiment of ‘bon chic bon genre’ make such a thing?”

Fresh out of the meeting I ran to sit solo with my thoughts. After saying “Wow watch” out loud a few times while also sipping on my fifth Coca-Cola of the day (savage behavior I know but we were still in peak trade show mode), I started to mentally unpack my feelings about the new Métiers d’art Arceau.

The Hermès Arceau Wow Watch did feel slightly out of character and a little attention grabby, but after the shock had subsided I settled on the fact it was undeniably beautiful in person.

Up close it was shiny and complex; a sparkly little nugget that was trying desperately to ignite my magpie tendencies. I folded. Even with the added temptation of other newly hatched Hermès novelties, it was just too fun for me to ignore. So I focused on the Wow and abandoned any logical plan to study the other releases. Obviously if you’re into eccentric métiers d’art dials this is a total home run. Even if you prefer things that are a little less pastel and a little more affordable, there’s still no denying that the craftsmanship on this dial is phenomenal.

At 38mm in diameter, the dial on this Hermès Arceau Wow Watch is actually a miniature replica of an existing double-sided Hermes scarf designed by artist Ugo Bienvenu. Similar to how the scarf is executed, with a multicolored interpretation on the front and a monochrome version on the back, the hand-painted dial also includes two different color schemes on each side. The design is first drawn in black ink which is visible on both sides, acting as its own kind of tracing paper guide. The motif is then filled in on one side. The mini mise en scene is supremely detailed with just the right amount of depth to still ensure that only a light wash of pastel color will shine through on the reverse.

The horse and heroine are painted on the upper dial side in a much sharper and denser pigment of color for the effect that they are somehow magically bursting out from a comic book strip. The white gold cased Wow watch comes in two versions: a soft powdery pink and a bluish-stained hue. Both are paired with an Hermès calfskin strap and are equipped with in-house self-winding Caliber H1912, visible through the exhibition caseback. Naturally, the Arceau Wow features a bezel set with 82 diamonds and each color is issued in a 24-piece limited edition. Clearly this is no easy feat to produce, in fact, it takes 35 hours to create a single dial. Handmade craft and laborious detail often come with a hefty price tag, deservedly so: there are real individuals with miraculously steady hands sitting at a bench painting these things with teeny tiny brushes and magnifying instruments.
One of France’s oldest family-owned and run luxury companies, Hermès started life in 1837 as a producer of harnesses and saddles in Paris. Renowned for its impeccable artisanal craftsmanship and intrepid artistic flair, Hermès has always welcomed creative talent from outside to keep its products fresh. The latest Arceau models feature comic book artist Ugo Bienvenu’s heroine depicted on horseback galloping across the double-sided mother-of-pearl dial. Embracing the brand’s flair for combining shapes, colours and volumes, these two limited-edition 38mm white gold Hermès Arceau Wow Watch models feature miniature hand-painted illustrations inspired by Ugo Bienvenu’s Wow scarf for Hermès.

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Hermès H08 Monopusher Chronograph

When Hermès first released its new Hermès H08 Monopusher Chronograph collection in 2021, it was an immediate hit. Sure, it was yet another brand’s take on the whole steel sport watch thing, but it felt like a very honest and totally Hermès take on it all. The shape was different, the numerals were designed in-house, and it featured an automatic movement from Vaucher, a manufacturer in Fleurier partly owned by Hermès.

At Watches & Wonders this year, Hermès introduced its first complication to the Hermès H08 Monopusher Chronograph collection, the H08 Monopusher Chronograph. It skillfully takes the design codes established in the H08’s three-handers and integrates them into a more complicated watch. The case is made of a new composite of carbon fiber and graphene powder that gives the 41mm shape a layered texture and makes it lightweight and comfy on the wrist. The wide bezel is made of titanium that’s brushed in a sunburst pattern; there’s a slightly polished chamfer that breaks up the bezel and mid-case. With 100 meters of water resistance, it’s still a sports watch, too.
It’s always fun to see a monopusher chrono, but it works particularly well from a design-driven firm like Hermès. It leaves the basic design of the H08 mostly undisturbed, with all three functions of the chronograph – start, stop, and reset – built into the single pusher in the crown at 3 o’clock. And even the crown has well-executed details: it’s PVD coated with an orange ring that hints towards its functionality.

It takes only a slight push to activate the chronograph, but it still has a nice, tactile engagement. That’s thanks to a vertical clutch chronograph module from Dubois Dépraz that’s been placed on top of Hermès’ H1837 automatic movement (again, by Vaucher). You’ll see the bridges and rotor decorated with a repeating “H” motif through the sapphire caseback – it’s a detail I’ve always found a little corny, though I suppose it could be worse. The movement beats at 4 hertz and has 46 hours of power reserve.
Nowadays, a monopusher chronograph is an anachronism – and deliberately so – but then again, that applies to the entirety of the mechanical watch. But until 1934, when Willy Breitling invented the two-button mechanism, the monopusher was the only game in town. Nowadays, the functionality of the two-button version – which is easier to use and allows you to stop and then restart timing an event – means that this format vastly outnumbers that of the monopusher. Still, a monopusher has a sort of antiquated appeal for those of us with a tendency to view the past through rose-colored glasses. With the H08 Chronograph, the monopusher feels like a choice driven primarily by design and the desire to maintain symmetry. But it’s a nice, nostalgic touch for a watch that otherwise feels thoroughly modern.

The dial takes many of the cues from the existing Hermès H08 Monopusher Chronograph collection but adapts these for a chronograph by placing a 30-minute counter at 9 o’clock. The grained finish that gives the H08 a more industrial look is still on the dial but is now reserved for just the hour track and subdials. The font is familiar, too, with the 0 and the 8 serving as inspiration for the case of the H08 itself. There’s the ever-controversial date window 4:30 – again, it uses Hermès font, and at least it blends in, with the date wheel rendered in the same matte grey as the dial. Always one to play with colors, the accents of the hands and hour markers are in Hermès’ signature orange, which matches the comfortable rubber strap. The strap also has a textured weave pattern in the middle, a wink towards Hermès’ history of craftsmanship. High-end rubber straps are a world in themselves, but I think Hermès’ H08 strap is perhaps the best execution this side of the Aquanaut’s grenade strap.
Alongside the chronograph, Hermès also released four new colors (blue, orange, green, yellow) of its three-hander H08 in a new, glass fiber composite case. Compared to the chronograph, these 39mm watches were more my style, in size, function, and wearability (the new composite material feels even lighter than the existing H08 options). For me, the shape of the H08 case works better at the 39mm size and starts to feel a bit wide with the chronograph. Further, the module build of the chronograph means this isn’t exactly a thin watch – we didn’t get that measurement from Hermès, but after wearing it a bit (and with the standard H08 measuring 10.6mm), I’d bet it’s around 13mm. But the lightweight case material and rubber strap combo make it super easy-wearing. I appreciate Hermès building out its sport watch collection, and starting with a well-executed chronograph certainly makes sense.
Unfortunately for those looking to pick up the new Hermès H08 Monopusher Chronograph, it won’t be available until sometime in 2024. It’ll have a retail price of about $15,000. It’s a punchy ask – about the same as the new Daytona, for example – but with the insides from Vaucher and the outsides distinctly Hermès, it doesn’t feel out of line with the rest of the market. And from a fashion-forward house, I wouldn’t imagine that this is necessarily being cross-shopped with what we’d think of as its traditional chronograph competition. Still, I think the original H08 collection found an audience because it represents such a value proposition compared to its sport watch competition. A touch over $5,000 (in titanium), and readily available? It’s an easy sell.

While the new H08 Chronograph might not represent quite the same value proposition, it’s a worthy addition to one of the few genuinely new sport watch collections of the past few years.

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Hermès Arceau Le temps voyageur Only Watch

For the Hermès Arceau Le temps voyageur Only Watch 2023 charity event, Hermès has created a unique piece of its ARCEAU Le temps voyageur watch.

This one-off timepiece created for the 10th edition of the prestigious charity event offers a unique reading of the world’s hours. Highlighting the bright colours of Only Watch 2023, the black dial takes inspiration from an imaginary map created by Jérôme Colliard for the Planisphere d’un monde équestre silk scarf.

Against an intense black background, continents, oceans and meridians stand out in relief and depth, adorned with subtle finishes: lacquered, transferred and powdered silver tones.

The unique version of the Hermès Arceau Le temps voyageur watch houses the «travelling time» mechanism exclusively developed for Hermès. It displays 24 time zones by means of a circular disc. The mobile counter and the home time indication at 12 o’clock are driven by a module comprising 122 components and measuring just 4.4 mm thick in all, integrated with the Hermès H1837 mechanical self-winding movement powering hours, minutes and dual-time functions. For the tenth edition of Only Watch, the Arceau watch is wearing the event’s flagship colours: red, blue, green and yellow.

Combined with Hermès orange, these luminous shades adorn the cities disk in a light to dark gradient. The Hermès Arceau Le temps voyageur 41 mm-diameter case, enhanced by a matt black DLC-treated titanium bezel and an orange-yellow crystal seal, highlights the blue lacquered mobile counter with luminescent hands and powdered Arabic numerals. The watch is provided with a matt Mykonos blue alligator strap with cactus green lining, crafted in the Hermès Horloger workshops.

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Hermes Heure H copy watch

In 2021, French Hermes debuted a new watch collection known as the H08 (aBlogtoWatch hands-on here). The H08 was conceived by Hermes’ creative director Philippe Delhotal and featured a sporty look, an interesting cushion-style case, and a comfortable everyday wearing style. For 2023, Hermes revisits the still-fresh H08 with a series of new models that feature new materials and a tweaked look. In this article, I will focus on the Hermes Heure H copy watch “Colors,” which include four new models accented in either blue, green, orange, or yellow. The new models keep the 39mm x 39mm case size proportions but are lighter in weight and also sportier thanks to the use of a glass fiber composite case material, as well as a polished black ceramic bezel material. The composite case material was mostly chosen for its aesthetic given its interesting surface texture. Hermes explains that the glass fiber material is also coated with aluminum and slate powder. This likely enhanced the coloring of the grooves in the material, creating a more dramatic sense of color and an eye-pleasing organic texture. While composite materials are now commonly used in luxury watches, the formulation and style of these materials can vary greatly. Here, Hermes has adopted not only an attractive type of composite material but, for now, one that is also unique to its products. The watch case itself is Hermes Heure H copy watch resistant to 100 meters and has a flat AR-coated sapphire crystal over the dial. The crown is produced in matching black ceramic to complement the bezel material. Hermes maintains a playful but highly legible dial that uses the “revolving” style of hour markers similar to other Hermes models of the past. Special emphasis is placed on making the dial look instrumental, including the legible inner track for the hour markers and the idea proportions for the hands. Note how the date indicator is elegantly positioned so as not to break up the flow and symmetry of the hour markers. This is Hermes showing off that it can make not just a good-looking luxury watch, but a good-looking luxury tool watch. For me, a natural competitor would be something like the Patek Philippe Aquanaut — only the Hermes (while certainly not cheap) is worlds more affordable.

Color accents find their way on the Hermes Heure H copy watch dials, as well as for a ring around the periphery of the face. Most of the color is found on the included 21mm-wide textured rubber strap, which is very comfortable and has a titanium folding clasp. On the rear of the watch is a smoked sapphire crystal that allows for a view of the automatic movement inside the watch. The movement is Hermes’ “in-house” caliber H1837 which is produced in Switzerland by Vaucher. The movement is rather thin at 3.7mm-thick, and operates at 4Hz with about 50 hours of power reserve. As you can see, the aBlogtoWatch team enjoyed wearing these fun watches when we met with Hermes at Watches & Wonders 2023 where the new H08 watches were being debuted. Hermes produces less expensive versions of the H08, but the H08 “Colors” are the entry-level models that debuted this year. Other new H08 pieces include the H08 Chronograph, as well as a version of the H08 that matches the style of these new Colors models but with an 18k rose gold (versus glass fiber composite-cased) and a black ceramic bezel. aBlogtoWatch will cover these new pieces in separate articles. Just a few years ago, it was a challenge to get traditional watch enthusiasts excited about otherwise fantastic watches produced by luxury fashion houses such as Hermes, Louis Vuitton, Bulgari, etc. I never felt that these timepieces deserved any less fanfare than those from “watch houses,” but there was a strange prejudice from the often conservative collector community because these “fashion maison” companies seemed to primarily market their women’s goods. I am proud to say that the perception has finally changed. Gone are the days when such statements as “That’s not a real watch brand” are common, and more often than not, watch collectors are just as enthused about these watches as they are from traditional watchmakers. That’s a good thing because companies like Hermes not only use the same manufacturing and movements as those from “traditional watchmakers” but also often boast far more beautiful and contemporary designs. The Hermes Heure H copy watch pieces aren’t for everyone, but these are excellent and comfortable watches that mix traditional utility with a beautiful design and focus on trendy materials and style.

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Hermès Heure H Watch

This skeletonized moonphase version of the Hermes Slim (Slim d’Hermès) is a particularly nice high-end timepiece that is also probably easy to miss. aBlogtoWatch has reviewed versions of the Hermès Heure H Watch in the past, and it is among our favorite contemporary dress watches out there. The Paris-based luxury house does something really nice with these watches, and the Vaucher (which Hermes owns part of) Swiss Made movements, which are contained within them. This particular Hermes Slim is noteworthy for the skeletonized dial and movement, along with the inclusion of a moonphase indicator complication. What Hermes doesn’t do a good job explaining is that, while this is said to be a titanium watch, the bezel is actually polished platinum. The 39.5mm-wide case is made from sandblasted titanium, but the polished bezel material is different and not well-described. That Hermès Heure H Watch makes the watch the scratch magnet you expect it to be but also adds to the level of luxury since a platinum bezel is certainly going to cost more than a titanium bezel. Holding the watch in your hand, you feel the interesting mixture of the very lightweight titanium mixing with the notably heavy platinum. It makes for an interesting effect. Around the periphery of the mostly skeletonized dial, you see the distinctive numeral font that the Slim collection of watches employs — designed for Hermes by designer Philippe Apeloig. The dial itself is open and mostly shades of gray to match the overall theme of this “cityscape” timepiece. The exception is the blued hands, as well as the ruby palettes in the movement. Hermes always does pretty nice hands, and, even though they are blue in color, you can see the very thin hands actually have two textures. On one half they are satin-finished, and the other side polished. In fact the hand-finishing sort of matches the case’s dual-finishing style.

Inside the watch is the Hermès Heure H Watch automatic micro-rotor movement that operates at 4Hz with about two days of power reserve. It indicates the hours and minutes (no seconds), and offers a “double” moon phase indicator window. The moon shapes are actually small applied discs of reserve-printed transparent material (perhaps sapphire crystal) that have photo-realistic images of the moon on them. The effect is handsome and complements the otherwise highly industrial look of the timepiece with something a bit more organic. Hermes opts for a simpler style of skeletonization where the bridges are given technical finishes, as opposed to loads of hand-finishing, as is the case in some other high-end skeletonized watches. That said, I think the price of this watch is on the fairer side and corresponds well to the level of finishing and detailing provided in this Hermes wristwatch product.Hermès Heure H Watch Water-resistant to 30 meters, the case has a sapphire crystal over the top and back and wears very elegantly on the wrist as an “alternative” dress watch from an otherwise very acceptable name in luxury. That means you don’t just get this watch because it says “Hermes,” but the fact that it says Hermes helps onlookers take an interesting piece of horology a bit more seriously than they otherwise might, given the name recognition.

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Hermes Heure H mini watch

For Watches & Wonders Digital 2020, Hermès launches this brand new version of the successful “Slim d’Hermès” or “Hermes Heure H mini watch” (as we call it). The modern dress watch family that comes with excellent looks now includes a new GMT system. Hermès once again worked with Geneva-based Aghenor to develop a module with a novel approach to indicating two time zones on the same dial. Not a limited edition, the Slim d’Hermès GMT debuts in 18k rose gold. While the Hermes Heure H mini watch is probably going to be marginally thicker than the time-only Slim, the GMT module apparently only adds 1.4mm of thickness to the movement. The case itself remains the 39.5mm-wide size that fans of the Slim expect in this dress watch package. We also see Hermès, like many other brands, focus on dark blue colors as their palette of choice for this year. Don’t miss the best feature of the Slim collection which are the stencil-style hour markers designed for Hermès some time ago by designer Philippe Apeloig. The Hermes Heure H mini watch system is interesting given the asymmetric dial layout, as well as the unique windows that show the AM/PM time for both the home (H) time and the local (L) time. This is represented as a light or dark color in the small windows near 2 o’clock on the dial. The face also has subdials for the date, as well as for the GMT hand. The GMT function has its own dedicated pusher to adjust one of the time zones in one-hour increments. This is just one more flavor of practical mechanical travel watch in a crowded, highly dynamic space. We must applaud Hermès for wishing to not only have a GMT watch, but also for having its own take on it. Inside the Hermès Slim GMT watch is the H1950 automatic micro-rotor-based movement that is produced for Hermès by Vaucher. On top of the slim automatic movement is the Aghenor module for the Hermes Heure H mini watch complication. The movement operates at 3Hz with 42-hours of power reserve. Attached to the watch is a blue alligator Hermes leather strap.