Hermès Arceau L’Heure de la Lune watch: A unique vision of Earth’s satellite

 

Meteorite or aventurine inlaid with mother-of-pearl form a cosmos in which satellite dials float above hemispherical moons.

The cosmic and dreamlike Hermès Arceau L’heure de la lune watch debuts at SIHH 2019. Two mobile counters gravitate on a meteorite or aventurine dial, revealing mother-of-pearl moons in step with an exclusive module, coupled with a Manufacture Hermès movement.

The horse, representing the origins of Hermès, gallops elegantly into the world of dreams. At 12 o’clock, the moon is adorned by a Pegasus created by the “dreamer designer” Dimitri Rybaltchenko. Entitled Pleine Lune (Full Moon), this portrayal of the winged horse hints at a passage between two worlds, where magic and reality merge. On the other side, at 6 o’clock, the view of the moon from the northern hemisphere provides a realistic depiction of its surface.

The mobile counters displaying the time and date turn weightlessly to reveal the moon discs, while maintaining their horizontal orientation. This contemporary dance is choreographed by a module exclusively developed for Hermès and for which a patent has been filed. With a total thickness of just 4.2mm, its 117 polished and bead-blasted components are incorporated within the Manufacture Hermès H1837 movement: a technical challenge designed to preserve the slenderness of the overall mobile chassis, which sweeps around the dial in 59 days.

The mother-of-pearl moons set into the stone display the lunar cycles in the northern and southern hemispheres.

Within this space-time, metal, stars and rock seamlessly merge the watch exterior with the movement to form an unprecedented technical and aesthetic display of simple and graphic readability. The double moon here eclipses a traditional aperture-type display, instead covering the entire surface of the dial.

The Arceau watch case with its asymmetrical lugs, designed by Henri d’Origny in 1978, becomes a lunar crater made of meteorite stone or aventurine, while the lacquered dials, gravitating like satellites, display Arabic numerals with a distinctive sloping font. This Haute Horlogerie timepiece is issued in two 100-piece limited editions, and fitted with a matt alligator strap in graphite grey or abyss blue.