Small Talk PHILIPPE DELHOTAL
Responsible for the style direction of watches, the artistic director of leading luxury house Hermès discusses this year’s releases
Tell us about your favourite piece for 2020.
Arceau L’heure de la Lune features a complex horological complication with a daring graphic design. The watch now comes with meteorite dials, which offer a unique and creative touch that lets us dream with our feet on the ground and our heads in the sky. Watches like Arceau L’heure de la Lune allow us to stand out from the rest of the industry.
Who wears an Hermès watch? We have always been about craftsmanship. It’s part of our DNA. So, wearing an Hermès watch is about appreciating style that is rigorous but free of any formalism. It’s about asserting oneself as a man or woman. He or she is relaxed and occasionally whimsical.
Describe Hermès in five words. Elegance, discretion, refinement, quality, unique.
What trends are you seeing in watchmaking?
We’ve seen an increased interest in our launches that feature unconventional interpretations of traditional watchmaking. In 2015, our Slim d’hermès was born from a stylistic exercise around the purity of design. It expressed a move towards minimalist style. And in 2018, Carré H, a squareshaped watch designed by Marc Berthier, featured a very contemporary aesthetic.
Tell us about your first watch.
It was my grandfather’s. Being given my grandfather’s watch at a young age is what sparked my interest in watchmaking.
The Battle of Britain was a military campaign during the Second World War, which saw the UK’S bravest pilots defend their country against the German Luftwaffe. To commemorate the assault’s 80th anniversary, Bremont has unveiled two limited-edition watches that honour the aircraft— hurricanes and spitfires— that flew in the campaign. Both tickers are powered by automatic chronometers, which ensure each watches’ accuracy.
From bottom: BOB Hurricane; BOB Spitfire, both by Bremont