Leather marquetry makes Hermès timepieces unique
Hermès creates objects shaped by the hands of artisans to make them true companions for those who wear them. Practical, functional and stemming from uncompromising expertise, they radiate the lightness of the unexpected. The animal motifs much beloved by Hermès are expressed in colourful artisanal style through leather marquetry in its latest timepieces, Arceau Cavales Slim d’Hermès Les Zèbres de Tanzanie.
An equestrian profile and zebra stripes form vivid leather patchwork patterns, meticulously assembled on the dial of the Arceau and Slim d’Hermès watches. Within the confines of this incredibly small space, the refined composition of tiny calfskin tesserae is a true work of miniaturization. In Hermès Red, Malta Blue or Graphite, the chromatic signatures of the maison, the timepieces are a combination of leather craft and watchmaking skills. These inherently rare white gold models are issued in limited series.
On an inch-perfect dial, the Hermès leather artisans compose a variegated work depicting a horse or zebra. Reduced to the format of a round case, these creations flaunt the radiant colors of slim leather fragments carefully selected, cut out and juxtaposed with all the skill and expertise of saddle-making and leather craftsmanship.
The leather marquetry technique calls for a meticulous approach extremely similar to that of assembling a watch movement. Made from full grain calfskin, the leather pieces are split to a thickness of around 0.5 mm, before each element composing the motif is accurately cut to its appointed size and shape. One by one, the artisan picks up these fragments and fits them on the dial to form the design. The Arceau and Slim d’Hermès watches set the stage for the art of leather miniature work.