BASELNEWS 2010Hermès pays tribute to the Clipper collection
This year, the Hermès booth extends an invitation to enter the world of one of its flagship collections: Clipper. Right from the entrance, visitors are welcomed into a landscape of reeds, with a raised flooring area planted with vast numbers of long, supple stems. The latter are successively coloured by luminous waves creating an infinite variety of rhythms and shades, thereby evoking the movement, the strength and the beauty of the sea – the source of inspiration for the Clipper collection. The latter is presented in an animated film screened in the atrium and also shown in several outside showcases.
Clipper : this fast and easily manoeuvrable three-masted vessel lent its name to a line launched in 1981 and featuring a bezel adorned with studs reminiscent of the portholes on these magnificent sailing ships. La Montre Hermès is offering new interpretations of this timepiece in various sizes, materials and variations. Within the broad overall collection, the “Clipper Automatic” model has been redesigned in a sporty and resolutely modern spirit, with a 39 mm case in stainless steel. The understated elegance of this material is enhanced by subtly graded shades of grey appearing in the dark grey or silvered dial featuring an aperture and luminescent hands in the same hue. The black numerals surround the dial in a graphically pure manner. Inside, time ticks by to the rhythm of a self-winding movement.
Like all collections from La Montre Hermès, this watch is assembled in the company’s in-house workshops, where watchmakers, gem-setters, enamel artists and leather-work specialists unite in creating exceptional watches: Cape Cod Tourbillon, the brand’s first timepiece to be equipped with this complication, thereby underscoring the tradition of fine watchmaking cultivated by La Montre Hermès and its ceaseless quest for perfection; Cape Cod Émail Grand Feu with its dial motif entirely hand-crafted according to traditional enamel painting techniques and inspired by a Hermès silk square:; and Arceau Squelette Platine featuring certain hand-engraved movement parts reflecting the weaving and saddle stitching traditionally used by leather artisans.
For Luc Perramond, CEO of La Montre Hermès, “the Clipper Collection and the Pièces d’exception presented at Baselworld reflect the creativity and the innovative spirit of the House and enable it to approach this 2010 Watch Show with great confidence. “
LA MONTRE HERMÈS
Founded in Paris in 1837, the Maison Hermès acquired its reputation for excellence in making horse harnesses, before broadening the scope of its expertise in the early 20th century, particularly through creating belts, apparel and bags. The brand’s watchmaking tradition goes back to the 1920s, when its saddle-making talent was applied to making watch straps. In 1928, the first Hermès watches were presented. From that point on, Hermès began creating timepieces in cooperation with the greatest names in the Swiss watch industry, before the 1978 founding of the Ateliers de la Montre Hermès SA in Biel, Switzerland.
In 2003, La Montre Hermès began developing its own haute horlogerie movements. In 2006, the Ateliers welcomed the Hermès leather strap production unit, thereby uniting the two main skills of La Montre Hermès. Together, they continue to give rise to rare watches testifying to the spirit of a House in which each object conveys a love of fine materials, the nobility of craftsmanship designed to last, and a taste for innovation. The kind that gives wings to dreams....