Hermès likes to play with shapes and, impressed by the sorts of youngsters’s video games that mix color and volumes, the Maison has created a brand new distinctive and playful watch; Arceau Wow.
The Wow impact
The watch takes its title from the model’s silk scarf, designed two years in the past by the younger comedian e-book artist Ugo Bienvenu and emblematic of Hermès’ signature equestrian heritage.
It contains small sq. comic-book-style panels inside the massive sq. form of the silk scarf and depicts a heroine (the Hermès girl) crossing Paris on jet skis, rollerblades, in vehicles and on horseback, noticed by two amused golfers. It’s not solely the sample that makes this a Wow piece, however the best way wherein it’s created; either side has its personal color scheme, with a multicoloured interpretation on the entrance and a monochrome model on the again.
From Paris to Switzerland
Bienvenu’s design impressed the Swiss horology workshop of Hermès Horloger and a double-sided dial. Skinny and translucent just like the silk thread of the headband, it options mother-of-pearl, a dainty, elegant and female materials via which the motion of sunshine permits for a playfully radiant motif. The primary facet is initially reproduced in black ink, seen on each side, with the complete décor of the motif hand-painted. Then pastel hues are painstakingly utilized one after the other: thick sufficient to offer depth to the design, but skinny sufficient to let the sunshine shine via — round 20 layers deliver out each nuance of this design, every fired within the kiln at 90 °C to solidify the dear pigment.
Photographs © David Marcho
The horse and heroine
The second face corresponds to the higher dial facet of the watch with a sharper, denser impact for the Hermes girl and her steed. Collectively, they actually burst out of the dial. And silky, muted stable colors painted on the reverse facet of the watch present distinction. It takes greater than 35 hours to supply one in all these single dials. Lastly, the timepiece is offered in an Arceau case designed by Henri d’Origny in 1978.
The Wow is accessible in two variations, each powered by the identical Manufacture H1912 self-winding motion. One has a dial in gentle pink tones, whereas the opposite boasts bluish accents. Paired with a Hermès calfskin strap and in white gold, they characteristic a bezel set with 82 diamonds and have been issued in a 24-piece restricted version.
