A ladies’ timepiece used to be a bit of an afterthought for many watchmakers. Going by the releases and design trends this year at Watches and Wonders, the world’s biggest horological showcase, that is surely no longer. Pursuits of beauty, poetry and (surprise!) usefulness are making the ladies’ category perhaps the most exciting it’s ever been. In this series of Vogue Watch Reports, we curate 2025’s most noteworthy releases from Geneva. Here, the new Maillon Libre brooch watch by Hermès that is designed to be worn pinned, as a necklace, however you can imagine it—just not traditionally on the wrist.
Hermès has in its stable a veritable treasure trove of signature designs. The Chaine d’ancre, one of its most popular, has surprisingly never been interpreted as a watch save for subtle details here and there. That changes this year with the introduction of the Maillon Libre collection, a line that re-interprets the anchor chain link.
The most surprising and chic design to come out of the Maillon Libre collection is the brooch watch, which leans into a small but increasingly popular niche of watches that aren’t meant to be worn on the wrist. It takes a single link of the anchor chain and turns it into a watch. It’s offered in rose or white gold with a diamond-set bezel, with a line of diamonds on the dial to simulate the centre pin of the chain link.
In rose gold, the dial is polished to mirrored perfection, while in white gold the dial is made of matte black onyx. The half-link brooch pin is just as luxuriously detailed, with a line of diamonds like the bezel, baguette-cut diamonds on the centre pin, and set with an indicolite tourmaline on rose gold or a terracotta tourmaline on white gold.
The Maillon Libre can be worn on a lapel, on a shirt or just as easily on a sleeve to imitate the traditional experience of looking at the time on your wrist. But what might be more chic is to wear it with the provided leather cordlet and cloche as a swinging sautoir necklace. No surprises that the leather, black Swift calfskin or alligator, is sumptuous—it is Hermès, after all.
Vogue Singapore’s June 2025 ‘Gold’ issue is available on newsstands and online.
