SIHH 2019: At Hermès, the wolf howls, and the moon is the star of the Arceau L’Heure de la Lune

Hermès is one of few fashion brands also capable of making haute horlogerie combining traditional artisanal techniques with contemporary technology. A shimmering example of this is the Hermès Arceau L’Heure de la Lune. In a patent-filed execution of the moon phase, two rotating white or anthracite lacquered dials revealing the shape of the moon as seen from both the northern and southern hemispheres.

The moons made of mother-of-pearl are fixed on a backdrop of rough-textured meteorite or sparkling aventurine, both materials experiencing a high tide in watchmaking at the moment. Also note the Pegasus painted on the top moon.

A full rotation of the satellite subdials showing date and time takes 59 days, since a lunar cycle is 29.5 days – or, if you want to be exact, 29 days, 12 hours, 44 minutes and 2.8 seconds (29.530587981 days).

This cosmic creation with a self-winding manufacture movement is housed in a 43mm white gold, asymmetric Arceau case, originally designed in 1978. Hermès Arceau L’Heure de la Lune comes in a limited edition of 100 with the meteorite dial, and 100 with the aventurine.

An unexpected homage to the ongoing moonstruck trend in the horological world is the Arceau Awooooo displaying a wolf howling at the moon. The motif, which comes from an Hermès silk scarf designed by Alice Shirley, is achieved with enamel on a gold dial, employing a micro painting technique.

Again the Arceau case is used, but this one measures 41mm. The automatic movement is also made in-house by Hermès in yet another example of the brand’s capabilities in combining modern technology with artisanal crafts of yesteryear.

The 1837 equestrian roots of Hermès are very clear in the new collection Galop de Hermès. The case is obviously inspired by stirrups, but also conveys a bell shape, thus marrying equestrian artefact with horological history.