Hermès has an extensive collection of watches for women. There are at least seven instantly recognisable collections, such as Cape Cod, Heure H and Arceau. These are beautiful accessories, but the brand has had something of a glaring omission: sporty timepieces for women. That’s set to change with the introduction of Hermès Cut, a new line of watches that comes with a breezy sense of fun, ease, simplicity—and the prized horological distinction of an in-house manufacture movement. The house’s major releases over the last decade have leaned towards masculine offerings powered by its own movements, a calculated move that has established Hermès as a fast-rising player in the fine watches space.
“It’s a first for Hermès Horloger that we are introducing a brand new line, fully equipped with a manufacture movement and fully produced in our workshops for ladies,” shares Philippe Delhotal, the house’s creative director for watches, over a video call. “The most important thing was to create a meaning for this watch because it makes no sense to introduce a collection and that’s it.”
The origins of Hermès Cut are nuanced. Delhotal reveals that work began three years ago to create the house’s first sports watch for women. A cursory glance at Hermès’s history of design— of watches, in particular—reveals that the house revels in distinct, unusual aesthetics.
Case, quite literally, in point: the Hermès Cut is neither a purely round or square watch. The design, offered in stainless steel with the options of rose gold accents and diamonds, takes its name from two neat slices on the side of the case. These ‘cuts’ are finished with a gleaming mirror polish in contrast to the rest of the satin-brushed surfaces, giving the watch a squarish silhouette.
Delhotal describes this eponymous cut as a creative gesture, an abstract notion akin to design interventions that are at the heart of every Hermès métier. Twists on platonic ideals that imbue an object with a nobler character, a more precious quality. The archetypal image of a wristwatch is a circle; so what better way to stand out than to propose a different shape?
“In this concept of simple shapes, we have a kind of duality between the simple and complex,” he says. “We have this creative gesture that’s quite rigorous at the beginning. When we cut the material [of the case] it’s done by machine, so it’s quite strict. But at the same time, you have the human touch behind it to do the polishing on the edges and the satin finishing on the case. And this creative gesture gave birth to this brand new shape, which brings this specificity, this particularity.”
The ‘vocabulary of shapes’ is a core of Delhotal’s design philosophy. With the Cut, the idea was simplicity. To explain this quality, Delhotal brings up prehistoric tools. “When human beings were shaping nature, shaping stones and rocks in order to create tools and weapons, this cutting of material to create something with simple shapes [is a similar concept], but with a certain use.”
In short, function and purpose born from the action of cutting and shaping. Not to say that beauty takes a back seat. “Obviously you can also create simple shapes by the hand of a human being [to add more like an artist]. Like Brancusi, for example,” he adds, referencing the Romanian modernist master sculptor.
Simplicity is, in some ways, the most challenging— especially when creating something brand new. Unlike its siblings, the design of Hermès Cut makes no overt references to the house’s equestrian codes. “We are not calling back icons of the maison. [Rather, we have created] a brand new identity for this watch, something that would have its own character.”
Instead, Delhotal strove for an internal, self-referencing harmony. The typography of the Hermès Cut’s applied numerals is masterfully subtle: the counters, or open spaces, of the numbers zero, six, eight and nine echo the watch case. Although the H1912 movement it’s equipped with could also power a date display, the dial design is kept to an essential time-only, three-hand configuration. Delhotal reveals that the crown posed a problem early on. “It’s this small button that’s useful to set the time. But it was harming the design” because it disrupted the purity of line and shape. To address this, he placed the crown at the 1.30 position and integrated it into the case with the aim to “almost make it disappear”.
But perhaps the greatest departure from house codes is the complete absence of leather. The Hermès Cut will only be offered with metal bracelets and colourful rubber straps, chosen to complement both active and sedentary lifestyles, indoors and out. The most technical innovation of the timepiece lies hidden on the underside of the case: a patented release mechanism that allows effortless interchangeability. It “gives the opportunity to the owner to switch and to have many different watches with only one case,” says Delhotal. “This is what we mean by simplicity but with more detail. Something to keep up the interest of the design.”
The May ‘Escape’ issue of Vogue Singapore is now available online.
