Designed by Philippe Delhotal in 2015, the Slim d’Hermès represents a return to fundamentals. Its slender lines are combined with the demanding horological complication known as a perpetual calendar. From the mechanism to the complication layout, each detail combines technical complexity with artisanal expertise.
Developed by the in-house workshops at Le Noirmont, Switzerland, the numerals featuring a font created by graphic designer Philippe Apeloig stand out with a light touch and impart a distinctive rhythm to the reading of time. The galvanic brown centre reflects light at different angles and features gilded baton-type hours and minutes hands. The date, month, second time zone, leap years and a mother-of-pearl moon phase on an aventurine sky are displayed on four counters. The purity of the sandblasted, snailed and sunburst finishes accentuates the depth and legibility of the timepiece’s indications, while highlighting the understated, slender elegance of a 39.5 mm-diameter rose gold case.
The heart of the Slim d’Hermès Quantième Perpétuel beats for centuries to come with the ultra-thin self-winding Hermès H1950 movement. The latter houses the perpetual calendar, which automatically adjusts the length of the months to take account of leap years and thus displays 29 February every four years without any need for adjustments. This complication is complemented by a dual-time (GMT) with a day/night display and a moon phase, within a composition measur-ing just 9.06 mm thick. A sapphire crystal case-back reveals these watchmaking skills expressed through hand-chamfered bridges adorned with a “sprinkling of Hs”.
While stargazing led to the invention of calendars, the Slim d’Hermès Quantième Perpétuel brings this measure of time to the wrist, paired with a Havana alligator strap that showcases the House’s leather craftsmanship expertise.
