What is refinement if not a harmonious blend of form, simplicity and style? The Hermès Cut, the French maison’s latest sports watch, embodies the quintessence of refinement, with an effortless, casual elegance that is the hallmark of Hermès.
Design is at the heart of the raison d’être of the new 36mm sporty wristwatch. Its silhouette, poised between a circle and a round shape, took three years to develop in-house by Philippe Delhotal, director of creation at Hermès Horloger. In terms of pedigree, it follows in the tracks of the Hermès H08, a model introduced to great acclaim into the Hermès catalog in 2021, as well as the maison’s first foray into the sports watch category.
The Hermès Cut, launched at Watches and Wonders 2024, marks the beginning of a new collection of sporty yet sophisticated models from Hermès that are wearable across gender lines. Fashioned from steel or in a combination of steel and rose gold, with a plain or diamond-set bezel, the Hermès Cut takes the elegance factor up a notch, while remaining versatile and timeless with an unmistakable Hermès pedigree.
FORM IN THE SERVICE OF STYLE
Since its founding in 1837 as a harness maker, Hermès has meticulously crafted a style vocabulary characterized by understated simplicity and geometric precision.
Starting with a blank page, Delhotal took on the challenging task of creating a shape that borrowed from that vocabulary while bringing a fresh new proposition to the catalog. His goal was to transcend the maison’s familiar shapes while remaining quintessentially Hermès. But crafting new shape at Hermès is not a casual exercise. It takes much more than updating the stirrup-shaped lugs of the Arceau model, softening the lines of the Heure H, or revisiting the anchor chain link of the Cape Cod. In short, the task called for creating fresh proportions, starting from the maison’s repertoire of shapes and reimagining a harmonious new design.
Three years passed before Delhotal was satisfied with the novel Hermès silhouette, one that seamlessly married elements from the established style lexicon with innovative new angles as he pushed the maison’s design boundaries into fresh territory.
For the case, Delhotal wielded sharp lines with exacting precision, steering away from a perfectly round form which may have seemed too traditional. Instead, he excised tiny segments from a flawlessly circular case, creating a new shape: a semi-rounded form underscored with polished bevels. Measuring 36mm in diameter with a slender 10.3mm profile, the resulting case appears both distinctive and artistically spontaneous, with the originality of a child’s drawing.
The metal also participates in the design by capturing the light. In satin-brushed and polished surfaces, it creates captivating reflections that enhance the pure lines of the design. The beveled bezel frames a generous dial in a subtle silver-toned opaline hue, with a curved edge and luminescent Arabic numerals. The crown, strategically placed between 1 and 2 o’clock instead of the traditional 3 o’clock, is a thoughtful design choice that minimizes its prominence.
There is no mistaking the Hermès Cut’s pedigree. Signature Hermès details are meticulously woven in: a lacquered or engraved H on the crown of the steel version, orange accents on the dial, along with an orange H on the crown collectively assert the Cut’s heritage.
Typography at Hermès is an art form. Since the numerals convey much of the style of a watch, Hermès has created a unique, subtly embossed font that complements the Cut’s simplicity and adds a dynamic sense to its display of time. For added harmony, the numerals draw their inspiration from the shape of the watch. The numerals are wide and bold, yet elegant, thanks to a strong contrast between the “thick and thin” strokes of the model’s shape. Take the shape of the number “0:” it mirrors that of the watch itself. The touch may be subtle, but its impact is greater harmony.
This article is an excerpt from the upcoming GMT XXL World Magazine, debuting at Geneva Watch Days August 29th. Pre-order your copy here.
