Press release
"In The Pocket" is the name given to this pocket-watch that turns into a wristwatch at its owner's whim. Nestled inside its leather jacket, it reinvents time and highlights the fine leather-working skills of the Maison. Paying vibrant tribute to the original model given to Jacqueline Hermès by her father 100 years ago, In The Pocket weaves delicate ties between past and present, hand-sewn by the Hermès artisans and exalted by a living leather strap that will acquire a unique patina with age.
Yesterday...
Jacqueline Hermès as a child could not wear a watch attached to her clothing or slipped into her pocket. Especially for her, her father devised an ingenious "porte-oignon" or pocket-watch holder designed to fasten it onto the wrist. Drawing upon the original harness and saddle-making know-how of the House, he created a leather strap similar to those worn by the Lads. It encased the pocket-watch, adopting its shape and its curve so as to ensure optimal protection. This object embodies Hermès' full wealth of inventiveness, which has been expressed ever since through its timepiece collections offering a blend of creativity and functionality.
Today
The perfectly round In The Pocket model is distinguished by its air of elegant understatement. Crafted in palladium, a rare and precious metal, the watch features a delicately curved 40 mm diameter, which extends to 49 mm when it is worn on the wrist. Its grained silver-toned dial is free of any embellishments in order to provide the clearest and most obvious expression of time. The pure numerals are swept over by baton-type hands, while the small seconds appear at 3 o'clock. Backstage of these displays ticks mechanical self-winding Calibre H1837. This proprietary Hermès movement has a 50-hour power reserve, a mainplate circular-grained and snailed in harmony with the finest watchmaking traditions, and an oscillating weight adorned with "sprinkling of H symbols", an inimitable House signature.
The incredible technical making of this leather wristwatch calls for length and patient craftsmanship. Composed of two separate parts, the boucleteau (the longer part attached to the watch at 6 o'clock and in which the holes will be pierced) and the sanglon (the shorter part attached to the watch at 12 o'clock to which the buckle will be fixed) the complex nature of this strap calls for a hand-crafted approach.
In The Pocket :
exceptional expertise
Three layers of leather compose the longer and shorter parts of the strap: Barenia leather, an unfinished full-grain leather that is both natural and alive; an inner cow skin reinforcement chosen for its sturdiness; and a Zermatt calfskin lining.
First comes the cutting process: cut and then split into two, the hides are soaked and then moulded in a die. They dry in this way for 10 days before being cut with a pointed tool, split again, sanded and glued. Each of the parts is then partially stitched. The longer part is perforated to free the space through which the dial will be visible as well as the slit through which the shorter part will be inserted and the hole through which the crown will emerge.
Then comes the "table" phase in which the shorter and longer parts are put together and then marked with a compass, hallmarked and sewn according to the saddle-stitch technique.
And at last it's time for finishing, which involves hammering the stitching, marking a furrow between the sewing line, dyeing and polishing with bees' wax.
Slowly and patiently, one operation after another, the artisans at La Montre Hermès have developed "In The Pocket", a tribute to the Maison's early involvement in the field of watchmaking.
In The Pocket
Full technical data
Movement : Mechanical self-winding movement, H1837, made in Switzerland
26 mm in diameter (11 1⁄2‘'')
3.7 mm thick
28'800 vibrations per hour (4Hz) 50-hours power reserve
Mainplate circular-grained and snailed, bridges and oscillating weight satin -brushed and adorned with a "sprinkling of H symbols"
Case : Round, 40 mm in diameter (49 mm with the leather strap)
950 palladium (47.7 g) Water-resistant to 3 atm
Functions Hours, minutes, small seconds at 3 o'clock
Dial Grained silver-toned
Glass Anti-glare sapphire crystal
Straps Interchangeable ebony Barenia leather Ebony Barenia leather cord-strap
Buckle 17 mm buckle in 950 palladium (3.75 g)
Reference 038880WW00
Edition Limited to 24 pieces
