The Arceau Le temps suspendu watch allows its owner to experience an interlude over which time has no hold. Its 38mm case features a pushbutton that brings the hour and minute hands to a halt at about 12 o’clock when pressed. Time is thus erased from the watch dial and dissociated from standard time that meanwhile pursues its march. Pressing the button once more sets time running again. A lively hand perpetually whirls backwards on the small subdial with 24 graduations, as if playfully taunting the passing of time.
The mechanism orchestrating this unique horological complication was exclusively developed for Hermès. Protected by two patents – one for its architecture and the other for the play-reducing gear teeth – the module is an addition to the Manufacture Calibre H1912.
The running time and suspended time phases are coordinated by two synchronised column wheels: one driving the hours and the other the minutes. This 360° retrograde hour and minute mechanism makes time disappear without stopping the movement. Its uninterrupted running is displayed on the movement operating indicator, driven by a fourth wheel turning in the opposite direction.
