I was recently a part of Time in Motion; An Hermes event held at the School of Arts Singapore- Part launch of the new collection of luxury timepieces, part celebration of a horology milestone, the event served to solidify the marquee’s status as a fledgling 100 year watchmaker.
Amidst an evening of ballet and motion depicting dream, universal and cosmic time, Luc Perramond brought us on a quick trip down memory lane, highlighting some of the key moments in Hermes’ watchmaking heritage and then we were treated with an unveiling of the Hermes Dressage men’s and Arceau women’s watches.
A 100 Year Heritage in Watchmaking
In 1912, Hermes binds a pocket watch for Thierry’s granddaughter Jacqueline, with a leather bracelet“porte-oignon” starting a horology trend that has forever changed the face of watchmaking- after countless flirtations with watch manufactures like Universal Geneve, Movado, Jaeger-leCoultre, Lip, Vacheron Constantin, Audemars Piguet and Ulysse Nardin: the finest manufacturer calibres in Hermès cases; Hermes finally made the plunge into in-house manufactures with a 25% stake in Vucher Manufacture Fleurier. The result is the birth of the new H1837 and H1912 calibres that drive the Dressage and Arceau watch collections.
Hermes Dressage for Men, Arceau for Women
26 mm in diameter (11 lines 1⁄2)
3.7 mm thick
28’800 vibrations per hour (4Hz) 50-hours power reserve
193 parts including 28 jewels
Circular grained and snailed bottom plate, oscillating weight adorned with the sepcial Hermès decoration (H symbols)
23.9 mm in diameter (10 1⁄2 lignes) 3.7 mm thick
28,800 vibrations per hour (4 Hz) 50-hour power reserve
193 parts including 28 jewels
Circular grained and snailed bottom plate, oscillating weight adorned with the special Hermès decoration (H symbols)
Personally I feel that the women’s Arceau collection is a tad dainty (while in keeping with the ladylike elegant aesthetic I might add), general consensus is that ladies today tend to ignore sexist watch tendencies, choosing to whichever watches happen to please their sense of style and taste. That said, the Dressage collection I suspect will be highly popular- the high attention to detail courtesy of lightly curved profile and circular and vertical satin-brushed decoration with central guilloche motif make it the perfect timepiece for either gender.
