Hermès Arceau Temari

While the Hermès Dressage L’heure masquée is an ingenious watch with an original movement designed to express an unusual concept of time, the Arceau Temari by Hermès is a jewellery watch in which the motif on the dial is the principal feature.

Temari is a Japanese word meaning “hand ball.” They were made from remnants of fabric used to make kimonos, and became a sort of toy used at the Imperial court. They became an artform in themselves, with fabric embellished by embroidery in complex geometrical patterns. They symbolized the aspiration for a happy life, and they were often given as gifts.

Hermès have reproduced this spherical geometry onto the dial of the Arceau Temari watch, contrasting snow-set diamonds with hard stone, either onyx, or mother-of-pearl, lapislazzuli or opal. 700 diamonds are set onto the case and crown, and 20 fragments of hard stone on the dial are accompanied by areas of snow-setting comprising another 176 diamonds. Everything is done by hand.

The case itself has the stirrup-type attachment for the top half of the strap, a characteristic of the watches in the Arceau collection and a reference to Hermès’ long tradition as saddle-makers. (Ralph Lauren uses the same motif in some of his watches).The case is 34 mm in diameter, and houses a self-winding mechanical movement, Hermès H1912, providing hours and minutes, with a power reserve of 50 hours. The movement is visible through the sapphire caseback, with Hermès’ own finish visible on the oscillating weight and bridges, an interlocking H pattern.

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