Arceau Tigre

Image
Arceau Tigre - Hermès
A shaded enamel technique puts the tiger on the dial in the perfect light.

This year, Hermès chose "nature at a gallop" as its design inspiration, using works by the French painter specialised in animal portraits, Robert Dallet. Hermès had already worked with Dallet in the 1980s after its Jean-Louis Dumas met the artist. The two works used on the Arceau watches are on the Slim d’Hermès Pocket Panthère and the one we focus on today, the Arceau Tigre.

The two dials are based on illustrations by Robert Dallet, who died in 2006, whose preferred subject was the big cats. The artist knew how to show all the beauty and majesty of these animals in watercolours, gouaches or sketches in Chinese ink. Hermès was also involved as a partner in the major exhibition of the artist's work at the  Bruce Museum in Greenwich (Connecticut, USA) earlier this year, which will later tour Europea and Asia. Hermès is also co-publishing a book entitled "Fierce and Fragile, Big Cats in the Art of Robert Dallet" which accompanies the exhibition.

Arceau Tigre

In order to showcase the sheer strength of the feline depicted on the dial of the Arceau Tigre watch, Hermès has chosen the Email Ombrant (shaded enamel) technique which associates the arts of engraving and of enamelling. Derived from lithophanes, it serves to create pictures that are revealed only when light passes through them.

In the case of Arceau Tigre watch, the artisan has fashioned the motif of the animal in relief before coating it with a slightly tinted translucent enamel. By accumulating in the most sunken areas, the material becomes denser and darker, while the most highly raised zones are barely covered and thus remain very light in colour. The cavities and raised areas are fashioned exclusively according to the light they will catch or reflect, which is why an Email Ombrant engraving is revealed only once captured in enamel.

Hermès-Arceau-Tigre-email-ombrant.jpg

The dial of the Arceau Tigre goes even further. According to the final desired degree of transparency, the engraver has reproduced the very shape of the individual hairs composing the coat of the tiger so as to maintain the appearance of the initial sketch. The noble beast’s head thus springs to life by the way in which the light penetrates to create depth effects.

Hermès-Arceau-Tigre

The asymmetrical white gold Arceau case features a stirrup-inspired upper attachment and evokes a horseshoe. Its crystal caseback reveals the in-house mechanical self-winding H1837 movement driving the hours and minutes hands. The calibre baseplate is adorned with snailing and circular graining, while the oscillating weight and balance-cock are enhanced by the distinctive Hermès ‘sprinkling of Hs’ pattern.

Issued in a 12-piece limited edition, the Arceau Tigre is fitted with an alligator strap that highlights the leather working skills of the Maison.

Featured brand