Hermès Heure H lacquer revisits the iconic design of the brand’s ‘H’ watch in a new way

The watchmaking branch of the French fashion house Hermès is having a record year when it comes to both inventing new haute horlogerie timepieces and revisiting its iconic horological creations from recent history. The brand unveiled its spectacular Slim d’Hermès L’Heure Impatiente earlier in 2017 at Baselworld, in my opinion one of the best new luxury watches presented at the fair. In celebrating 25 years of the Cape Cod collection, he also released several new iterations of this iconic model in a variety of sizes, colors and movement styles, including the oh-so-chic Cape Cod TGM (which stands for “Very Large Model) with an elegant gray dial and a manufacture movement (see Give Me Five! Bright Colors Are So Past: Here are 5 Gray-Dialed Wristwatches For 2017).

And now the brand released an immediately identifiable reworked version of the hour H, a case design born from the spirit of designer Philippe Mouquet in 1996 which plays with the H (for Hermès) as a case shape with stylized lugs. It’s a dynamic shape that indeed became a symbol of the French icon’s watchmaking division in the 1990s. This new iteration takes the idea a step further by adding lacquer to the stainless steel case and keeping the dial in black or white lacquer only. These cases are available in medium (26 x 26 mm) and small (21 x 21 mm) sizes.

Each of the eight different colored Hermès bracelets available for the new H Hour immediately changes its appearance, also allowing for creative spontaneity and easy storage since the bracelets are equipped with an interchangeable system. And the straps are available in a Hermès single turn (single turn) or double turn mode (double turn) version. All cases, dials and bracelets are made by Hermès in Switzerland, and the watches are fitted with precise Swiss quartz movements. Here is an overview of Heure H.

Elizabeth Doerr is the editor-in-chief of Quill & Pad, an online publication that keeps track of the time.