WORLDTEMPUS - 24 October 2011
Elizabeth Doerr
Hermès is one of the most popular brands currently in the luxury market. This is well proven by the quasi-hostile takeover initiated by LVMH earlier this year and the continuing – almost iconic – popularity of its leather goods and accessories. The fashion house is active in fourteen total product divisions, which include leather, scarves, ties, menswear, women's fashion, perfume, stationery, footwear, gloves, enamel, decorative arts, tableware, and jewelry in addition to watches.
Hermès has already encouraged its clientele to “faites nous rêver” (make us dream) in years gone by. The tagline refers to the fact that Hermès has already practiced fulfilling “artistically atypical orders” in order to differentiate itself in its various métiers.
Watch division
La Montre Hermès, the official watch division of the fashion house, was established in the 1970s as a subsidiary in Biel. At the moment, the brand manufactures about 100,000 watches each year with an average price point of close to 3,000 euros. Up to now, this fact hasn't necessarily tickled the fancy of serious watch buffs, much less that of collectors or aficionados. Not even Hermès's 25 million Swiss franc investment in Vaucher (representing 25 percent) in 2006 did a whole lot to change this – though it did show that Hermès was starting to become serious about its timepieces.
At the 2011 edition of Baselworld, this was set to drastically change; Hermès introduced a timepiece with a understated appearance set to attract some major attention from every level of watch enthusiast – from the casual Hermès observer all the way to the avid collector.
Long relationship
Hermès opened its first boutique in Beijing in 1996 – early by watch industry standards. Perhaps this is the reason that Hermès decided to hold the official launch of the Time Suspended model in the Chinese capital.
The Arceau Time Suspended was introduced at Baselworld. Like many products, it still had a few kinks to be worked out at that time. Now it functions as its creators had imagined it should and delivery of it will begin immediately.
At Baselworld, La Montre Hermès CEO Luc Perramond told Worldtempus, “We are not going to do another tourbillon. Playing with time, you can be in your own time. Wouldn't it be great to just stop the time? We are very proud of this.”
Time Suspended was in the works for almost four years before it finally came to fruition. Working with another independent movement supplier for three of those years, it never worked to 100 percent satisfaction. This is where Jean-Marc Wiederrecht, owner and founder of Agenhor, came into the picture. Wiederrecht takes on every project with an estimable amount of passion, dedication and accomplishment. Any company that has his able ear, brains and hands on a project can count itself not only lucky, but assured of a reliable and entertaining product.
Suspending time
Wiederrecht and Perramond very proudly introduced the finished Time Suspended in Beijing. “At Hermès, we say that time is our friend,” Perramond described not only the exotic location of the launch but also the development of the 43 mm timepiece available in rose gold or steel. “We love to surprise our clients and help them to dream.”
This is done by pushing the button at 9 o'clock on the case, which causes the hour and minute hands to jump to an unusual position that looks like it should be 12:00, but isn't quite. Simultaneously, the date hand disappears off its eccentric subdial completely. Another push of the button causes the time and date to almost magically reappear.
Wiederrecht explains that this “complication,” which looks from the outside like it should be really simple mechanically, is achieved with the use of three retrograde assemblies and two column wheels; the two assemblies regulating the motion of the hands showing the time are 360° retrogrades. Wiederrecht's solution earned two patents, one for the technical architecture of the complication and one for the gears that have no play. Since Baselworld, Wiederrecht has tweaked the synchronization of the two column wheels, reinforced the secure motion of the hands, sent the watch successfully through Chronofiable and initiated industrial production.
This watch is nothing if not user-friendly and there is no risk of damaging the automatic movement, no matter how much its owner decides to stop the time. This aesthetic watch really has it all, including one of the most important factors in today's luxury world: it allows you to dream of the impossible.
