The horse neighs, the watch rings. With the new Hermes Arceau Lift, it’s the opposite.
Olivier Müller
Hermès Horloger is a brand as unpredictable as a spirited horse. The famous Parisian saddler, whose watchmaking department is masterfully managed by Laurent Dordet, plays with time as if it were an object: with shapes, colors, and sounds that he combines as he pleases, without following any set path. The Arceau watch is the best example. It was imagined by the historic designer of the house, Henri d’Origny. He tells us that one day in 1978, the man saw the drawing of a watch whose lower part was covered with a sheet of paper. He found the asymmetry interesting, with traditional lugs on the top of the watch to which a leather strap was attached, but no lugs on the bottom. The Arceau was born.
The piece has been used for many aesthetic developments. Its dial is decorated with marquetry of multiple materials such as straw, wood, stone or leather. Today, Hermès is having fun drawing an opening in the shape of an equestrian profile in the very heart of its dial, a clear reminder of its historical past as a saddler.
In the cut-out of this profile we discover the complexity of the mechanism of the minute repeater with double gong. This traditional complication is combined here with another watchmaking exception – the flying tourbillon – coiled in the horse’s neck and uncovered by an opening at 6 o’clock. Formed by a double H, the architecture of the tourbillon is inspired by an emblematic motif of the Hermès store in Faubourg Saint-Honoré in Paris. This design, which covers the cage and the barrel bridge, takes the form of the ironwork that adorns the entrance, railings, staircase and elevator of the Parisian address.
Visible through the cutouts in the dial and the sapphire caseback, the new Hermès Manufacture H1924 hand-wound mechanical movement is also designed with a different equestrian profile – a tour de force because the bridges designed in this way are first and foremost there for a technical function, not as mere non-functional decoration. In a 43 mm case, the piece is offered in white or pink gold and brilliantly demonstrates that Hermès is galloping in Haute Horlogerie with a creative freedom that has become rare.
