Hermès Arceau Squelette

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Hermès Arceau Squelette

Arceau Squelette
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Mysterious and enigmatic, the mysteries of an elegance imbued with understated lightness
La Cote des Montres - February 14th, 2020

The mysterious and enigmatic Arceau watch confines itself to essential: the mysteries of an elegance imbued with understated lightness. Its skeleton heart appears beneath a smoked crystal, punctuated by openwork numerals.

Designed by Henri d’Origny in 1978, the Arceau watch is the epitome of formal classicism tinged with singularity. Its sober and carefully studied design, its round case with asymmetrical stirrup-shaped lugs, along with its sloping font evoking a galloping horse, all contribute to establishing its timeless yet contemporary nature. Hovering between shadow and light, this new interpretation of Hermès time subtly reveals the complexity of mechanical architecture.

The Arceau Squelette watch features a round steel case framing a smoked sapphire crystal dial. From the deep black gradient on the chapter ring, enhanced by a beaded minute circle and silvered numerals, to the transparency of the centre revealing the skeleton movement, the magic weaves its spell. The bridges, the anthracite wheels and the openwork oscillating weight play with the lightness of the slender hour and minute hands, while the cut-out numerals and the Hermès signature appear to be levitating. This aerial display, powered by a mechanical self-winding movement, is complemented by a black alligator strap crafted by the artisans of Hermès Horloger, as indeed are the case and dial.

About Hermès

Time, a Hermès object

Hermès creates objects. Objects shaped by the hands of artisans to make them true companions for those who wear them. Practical, functional and stemming from uncompromising expertise, they radiate the lightness of the unexpected. They make everyday life their playground, and each instant a uniquely special moment.

For Hermès, time is also an object. Its inherent tension is translated by the house into a singular characteristic. Rather than measuring, ordering, and seeking to control it, Hermès dares to explore another time, designed to arouse emotions, open up interludes and create spaces for spontaneity and recreation.