Hermès is a company that makes necessary luxuries. This may sound incredible to those who hear it for the first time. Surely luxury is, by definition, not a necessity. Well, that all very much depends. In a world of shifting definitions, why should luxury mean what people have always thought it to be? — that is, expense, extravagance, ephemera, an embarrassment of sensual indulgences.
We are surrounded by items of the latter description, but more often we find ourselves seeking the things that last rather than cherishing the things that we know will fade. Emile Hermès once said that a luxury object is something you can repair. He was trying to say that luxury is something that should endure forever. When something endures as you go through life, when you count on something to accompany you on your journey, it becomes a part of you, and it becomes necessary. The creations that come out of the maison Hermès do not degrade as they age — they are beautiful to begin with, and that is before they take on the cast and character of their owners. The term “necessary luxury” is not a contradiction. It is a transcendence.
This is not the only way in which Hermès rises above the boundaries of convention and popular understanding. Even its philosophy of watchmaking is inextricable from the concept of whimsicality and a playful approach. Embrace your inner child, the philosophy of Hermès seems to cry out — take the time to play! Take that flight of imagination!
By saying the same thing in so many different ways, in so many different watches, Hermès perfectly captures the essence of youth — the only time in our lives that it is socially acceptable to live a lightly considered existence. We think that we grow old with time and bow heavily with routine; we lose the impulse to play. But what if we took another perspective, the perspective that Hermès urges us towards? — we are all children in the eyes of Time.
Despite its exhortations for us to adopt a more light-hearted attitude towards time and timekeeping, Hermès has taken a decidedly serious position with regard to strengthening its core horological competencies. In 2006, Hermès announced that it had acquired a percentage of shares in Vaucher Manufacture Fleurier, the well-known, highly respected and — most importantly — independent movement manufacturer that supplies high-end movements to a number of famous watchmaking companies. In 2011, Hermès acquired 32.5 percent of Joseph Erard Holding, a Swiss case manufacturer, later increasing its share to a majority in early 2013 and finally acquiring the entirety of the company in late 2013. In 2012, the maison fully acquired the dialmaker Natéber SA of La Chaux-de-Fonds. The two entities are now united in Le Noirmont under the Ateliers d'Hermès Horloger. Also in 2012, Hermès announced that, in partnership with Vaucher Manufacture Fleurier, two new base calibres had been created to be used exclusively in Hermès timepieces. The development of in-house movements, especially base calibres, reinforces the foundations of watchmaking legitimacy, and cemented the expertise of the brand. And we haven’t even started looking at their strength in design yet…
By all accounts, Henri d’Origny has a personality to match his creations for Hermès — strong, patrician, with an irrepressible vein of whimsy. It’s from d’Origny that the first notable designs for the iconic Hermès silk tie emerged, from his sketches that some of the most beautiful silk carrées are made; and on top of this, he also designed the Arceau watch in 1978. The Arceau has housed some of the most fascinating watches that Hermès has ever offered, including Le Temps Suspendu (2011), the flying tourbillon Arceau Lift (2013), and Arceau L’Heure de la Lune (2019). The Arceau has also provided a canvas for some of the most beautifully executed dials from Hermès, featuring artisanal techniques such as enamelling and marquetry. What makes the Arceau such a quintessentially Hermès watch?
Characteristically for d’Origny’s designs, the equestrian strain in the Hermès bloodlines is emphasised, and the asymmetrical lugs of the Arceau recall the metal loops and fastenings that hold together the different parts of a saddle and stirrups. The very form of the Arceau makes reference to convergences and to joining, concepts that are central to the ongoing modernity of a tradition-rooted maison such as Hermès. The latest complicated watch in the Arceau collection, Le Temps Voyageur, fills out these concepts with adeptness and grace.
Like so many other time-zone watches that we’re familiar with, the Arceau Le Temps Voyageur, features a dial that’s decorated with a map of the world. A casual observer would probably not look too closely, assuming that the jagged landmasses depicted correspond to the continents of the planet we inhabit. However, the more astute will realise that this is not the case. The map on the dial of Le Temps Voyageur depicts a fantasy world, conceived by French graphic designer Jérôme Colliard and first seen on an Hermès silk square — the Planisphere d’un monde.
Against this fantastical background, local time is indicated on a subdial which orbits the central map disk, jumping around the dial from city to city with the push of a button at the 9 o’clock position. Home time is displayed via an aperture at the 12 o’clock dial position, its location subtly alluding to the emotional supremacy of one’s city of origin. The perspective of Le Temps Voyageur on the travel-time function is stimulating on multiple levels, cerebrally, in a tactile sense, and most certainly in terms of sentiment.
The Hermès Arceau Le Temps Voyageur comes in multiple executions, which are beautifully suited to masculine or feminine interpretations according to the personal style of the wearer. A 38mm version comes in steel set with diamonds with a white dial, or steel with a blue dial, while the 41mm model comes in a sleek platinum and blackened titanium case. Inside each of these watches beats the Manufacture Hermès H1837 movement, fitted with an exclusive module giving the travel-time function and display.
