La Montre Hermès Goes Back To Basics With The Slim d’Hermès Watch

By Victoria Townsend | June 26, 2015

A Swiss-made watch with a shape and face that have just enough of a French attitude to make it highly desirable. Even the name of this new collection is elegant. Neither fat nor skinny, the “Slim d”Hermès” unites the best of two worlds: the inimitable French chic of Hermès with its headquarters in Paris and the solid reputation of a manufacture in Switzerland, where La Montre Hermès is based in Brügg. The ‘Slim d’Hermès’ becomes a new, permanent line, joining the Arceau, Cape Cod, Clipper, Heure H, Kelly, and Médor collections.

La Montre Hermès has been working on this new collection for four years. Inspired by the 1950s, with an airy, light and minimalist appearance, the “Slim d’Hermès’ is all about aesthetic purety, balanced lines and original graphics on the dial. Surrounded by a 39.5 mm round case in rose gold or steel, the broad opaline silver dial with black transferred track minutes invites us to admire the typography created by Paris-born graphic designer Philippe Apeloig. First used for the visual identity of one of the Hermès horse jumping events, the style of his Arabic numerals was so lively, pleasant, original and recognizable that the House decided to apply it to their new watch line. 4N-gilded or rhodium-plated sandblasted Baton hands point to the hours and minutes, while a small seconds dial is positioned at 6 o’clock.

Following outwards to appreciate the lugs that form a right angle, our eyes settle on the rich Hermès Matt Havana or black alligator straps, with rose gold or 316L steel buckles to match the case. The “Slim d’Hermès” must be …slim, so inside the case, a micro-rotor has been integrated into the mechanical self-winding Hermès Manufacture calibre H1950, slimming it down to a thickness of just 2.6 mm, to create the Ultra-thin Hermès Manufacture movement H1950 with a power reserve of 42 hours. The decoration is refined. Bridges are hand-chamfered and the movement is adorned with the “sprinkling of H’s”, visible through the anti-glare sapphire caseback.

The 39.5 mm size may also be equipped with a Perpetual Calendar, available in rose gold only. All other models of the full collection that comes in three sizes for men and women: 39.5mm, 32mm and 25 mm, are available in rose gold or steel. The smaller models are proposed with or without diamond settings, equipped with quartz movements, and a rich range of coloured straps. Introduced at Baselworld, the products will be available from October 2015 onwards, with prices ranging from $ 3,100 for the 25 mm model in steel to $ 38,900 for the Perpetual Calendar.