Imagined in 1978 by Hermès's then creative director, Henri d'Origny, the Arceau watch lends itself to a new expression of style and evokes the spirit of travel for Only Watch 2024. The organisers of this charity auction ask some fifty watch brands to donate a one-off piece, which is then offered to collectors around the globe to raise money for research into Duchenne muscular dystrophy.
This year's sale will take place on May 10 at the Palexpo convention centre in Geneva. Among the manufacturers taking part, Hermès lifts the veil on an exceptional Arceau watch.
Cased in platinum with a black DLC titanium bezel, it retains the round form and asymmetrical stirrup-shaped lugs we know and love: a tip of the hat to Hermès's origins as a harness- and saddlemaker. A world time complication simultaneously indicates the time in the 24 official time zones.
Thanks to the ingenious H1837 automatic calibre - named for the year Hermès was founded, when Thierry Hermès arrived in Paris and began crafting harnesses, saddles and other riding paraphernalia -, the off-centre dial displays local time as it travels from city to city, flying over each time zone against a black dial inspired by Jérôme Colliard's "Planisphère d'un monde équestre" design.
Home time appears in a large window at 12 o'clock by means of twelve Arabic numerals whose characteristic sloping font, as though bending in a gust of wind, is taken from the original Arceau dial. Expect some fierce bidding for this exceptional timepiece (estimated between CHF 30,000 and CHF 40,000) when it crosses the block in Geneva on May 10, helping researchers make continued progress in their fight against Duchenne muscular dystrophy.
