Manufacture
A movement towards the essential
Slim by Hermès inspires a cadence of pure lines. From the design of the case to the unique layout of the numerals, the collection reflects a return to the essentials of the art of watchmaking. The Manufacture line now includes pieces that pay tribute to the company’s saddlery and watchmaking expertise.
” The collection was born of encounters between the company, designers and craftsmen. The singular elegance of Slim d’Hermès, at once contemporary and classic, expresses the essence of the house,” emphasizes Philippe Delhotal, Creative Director of La Montre Hermès.
In a quest for purity, graphic art and watchmaking skill resonate. The house’s expertise is illustrated in the dial, case and manufactured extra-flat caliber. The elementary sobriety of the lines is supported by the delicacy of the case, while the design of the lugs forms a right angle. Their élan extends to the lugs, on which the bracelet seems to wind. Extremely simple, between rigor and balance.
Manufacture
Unprecedented typography
With Slim d’Hermès, Philippe Apeloig designs the typographic essence of a watch line for the first time. This typography, with its sober, light rhythm, is revealed on a large dial opening.
“I built it around fundamentals, like a composer arranges just seven notes on a staff and gives birth to a symphony,” explains Philippe Apeloig. “The human body in motion inspires me, and I explore volumes and rhythm through the repetition and overlapping of motifs.”
The layout of the numerals respects the natural function of a watch, the legibility of the time, abandoning all superfluity. Conceived as geometric shapes, the indexes are outlined in a single stroke, with no counterweight at the ends. Where pauses underline the melody in a score, the lines are sometimes interrupted, silent spaces in the design, representing the cadence of time.
The dial surface, simple and elegant, develops on three different levels: a first circle for the hour, a second disc in the center, and finally a micro-dial for the small seconds.
Manufacture
The collection’s palette
Hermès inaugurates the collection in 2015 with a Slim d’Hermès Manufacture featuring the extra-flat H1950 movement, a Slim d’Hermès Quantième perpétuel, both 39.5 mm in diameter, as well as 32 mm and 25 mm ladies’ models.
For women, a Slim d’Hermès Manufacture 39.5 mm, equipped with the extra-flat movement, comes alive with alligator straps in vibrant colors – sapphire blue, elephant gray, geranium, blackcurrant, or simply black – with versions set with white diamonds. A silvered opaline dial illuminates the Slim d’Hermès Manufacture dedicated to women. In the set variant, 66 white diamonds encircle its perimeter.
For men, the model takes on new tones with a slate dial matched with elephant grey alligator leather, while an indigo matte strap completes the Slim d’Hermès bleu nuit’s hues. Crafted in the Hermès leather workshops, these bracelets are the fruit of the company’s saddlery and watchmaking expertise.
The H1950 movement
At the heart of the Slim d’Hermès Manufacture beats the extra-flat H1950 movement. Revealed through the open sapphire caseback, it displays the hours, minutes and small seconds at 6 o’clock. This 2.6 mm caliber offers a 42-hour power reserve. A micro-rotor, a technical complication in watchmaking, enables automatic winding. The finishing touches are in keeping with the watchmaking tradition, like the hand-chamfered bridges. This movement, like all those signed Hermès, is decorated with H semis.
From the initial sketch to the final timepiece, Slim d’Hermès Manufacture composes a symphony between graphic arts and watchmaking technology.
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