Hermès Arceau Pocket Promenade de Platon is a collection of three pocket watches decorated according to the techniques of enamel miniature painting. They are based on a scarf design by Annie Faivre on this year’s theme “Nature at full gallop.” The watches are all one-off pieces, produced using three techniques enamel, engraving, and three-dimensional engraving with added layers of gold.
Measuring 48 mm in diameter, the Hermès Arceau Pocket Promenade de Platon is crafted in white gold by the Hermès workshops along with the alligator cord strap, crafted in accordance with the historical expertise of the Maison. Its transparent case-back reveals the beating heart of the watch.
The first Arceau Pocket Promenade de Platon uses Grand feu enamel method. At the centre, a horse paws the ground, surrounded by luxurious foliage. Against this background, the scene crafted using the Grand Feu enamel miniature painting technique appears in light shades. Enamel miniature painting involves composing the motif in successive stages. The nuances are expressed through subtle differences of shade, touch after touch. Using a tiny brush, the enamel artist applies the coloured enamel diluted in oil or water. Each stage is marked by a firing in the kiln heated to more than 800°C so that the enamel melts and adheres to the white gold base. It takes more than 20 firing operations for the final motif to appear.
In the second watch, the white gold base of the cover is coated with night blue Grand Feu enamel. It provides the backdrop for a decor carved from an extremely thin yellow gold plate. Once the arrangement is completed, the artisan accentuates certain details with tiny touches of paint. The dial is in graded shades of night blue enamel on a white gold case, with champlevé white gold Arabic numerals, and strap and pouch in matt indigo blue alligator.
The third and last scene stages the art of engraving. It associates the rose gold of the four central horses with the white gold of the background decor. The dial is in graded shades of falcon-toned enamel on a white gold base, with champlevé white gold Arabic numerals. The cord and pouch are in elephant grey alligator.
Each one-of-a-kind Arceau Pocket Promenade de Platon watch is driven by a Hermès H1837 movement crafted in Switzerland. This mechanical self-winding calibre powers the hours and minutes and its mainplate is adorned with snailed circular-graining, while the classic ‘sprinkling of Hs’ motif graces the oscillating weight and the balance bridge.
Read also:
Hermès Timepiece: Arceau Pocket Ailes et Ecailles;
Slim d’Hermès Manufacture – A Purity in Motion
