Baselworld 2015 highlights – Slim d’Hermès Perpetual Calendar

At Baselworld 2015 I was expecting from Hermès another deliciously ironic piece such as last year’s L’Heure Masquée, but the brand seems to have decided that they have reached the end of the line of those quirky masterpieces and have moved in another direction. I was pleasantly surprised.

Simplicity and a new typeface

detail_typefaceThe major launch by Hermès this year is Slim, a completely new collection based on the ultra-thin movement by Vaucher (a movement manufacture based in Fleurier), denoted the Manufacture Hermès H1950. Slim is very much a design watch, with the simplicity of the case and lugs bearing the signature of Philippe Delhotal, Creative Director at La Montre Hermès, while the dial features an interesting new typography by Philippe Apeloig, a designer who had already worked for Hermès on other products and knew nothing about watches. This gave the final result a brilliant simplicity. The numerals are based on simple lines and curves, combined together into a result that is legible even at the very small scale of the subdials on this perpetual calendar watch.

An attractive dial and movement

Amongst the versions of Slim, the perpetual calendar utilizes the H1950 movement to which a calendar module by Agenhor has been added, keeping track of date, months and the leap-year cycle, as well as a moon phase. In addition, there is a 12-hour subdial for a second time zone, with day/night indicator in a small window. The moon phase display is in natural mother-of-pearl on an aventurine glass sky. No small seconds indication. The automatic movement provides a 42-hour power reserve. The sapphire caseback reveals the oscillating weight with the maison’s characteristic “sprinkling of Hs” finish. The case is 39.5 cm in diameter. Photo below shows the Slim Perpetual Calendar d’Hermès with havana alligator strap, photo by Calitho, courtesy of Hermès:

low_Slim_39.5mm_rose gold_Claude Joray-2000

Price

The watch is in rose gold, with leather strap or steel bracelet. The price of this watch is 35,000 Swiss francs,€28,700.

In the photo below, dial side of the movement, showing the moon phase display in mother-of-pearl and aventurine glass, and the GMT day/night indicator. Photo by Claude Joray, courtesy of Hermès:

low_Movement_Claude Joray-2000

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.