Hermès announces two new Hermes Arceau watches with mother-of-pearl marquetry and gemsetting. Framed by a gold and diamond case, the H déco motif inspired by the eponymous Hermès tableware appears as a distinctive decorative interpretation, while the dial centre bearing a double H twirls in step with wrist movements.
The Hermes Arceau watches, designed by Henri d’Origny in 1978, highlights two crafts in a new creation imbued with the Art Deco spirit. Crafted from mother-ofpearl marquetry and set with diamonds, a dial with a moving heart reinterprets the H déco pattern of the porcelain tableware: a black and white motif inspired by the ironwork adorning the boutique on Rue du Faubourg Saint-Honoré in Paris.
In the centre, slender hands sweep over two intertwined Hs, stamped on a mother-of-pearl disc that twirls to the rhythm of the wrist movements. In a contrasting duo, the black version is lit up by gemset hoops; while the white version, paved with 432 diamonds, is marked with arched gold decorative fillets. This meticulous work accomplished by the Hermès artisans requires two days of work for a single dial. The white gold base is first sculpted in preparation for the mother-of-pearl inlay, and then polished. The mother-of-pearl artisan carefully puts in place each fragment of the motif cut to just 0.2 mm thick and the gemsetter finally adorns it with several hundred diamonds.
Housing a mechanical self-winding Manufacture Hermès movement, the discreet round case with its asymmetrical lugs is lit up by two rows of diamonds, as well as a rose-cut diamond on the crown. It is topped by a sapphire crystal engraved with the Hermès logo that appears to be levitating. Its stirrup-inspired lugs secure it to a smooth black alligator strap crafted in the Hermès Horloger workshops, as too is the white gold case.
The Hermes Arceau watches, designed by Henri d’Origny in 1978, highlights two crafts in a new creation imbued with the Art Deco spirit. Crafted from mother-of- pearl marquetry and set with diamonds, a dial with a moving heart reinterprets the H déco pattern of the porcelain tableware: a black and white motif inspired by the ironwork adorning the boutique on Rue du Faubourg Saint-Honoré in Paris.
