Marquetry with Straw…
Hermès honours the ancient art of straw marquetry, a form of expertise that has become extremely rare, with these two beautifully dialed watches. Marquetry (also spelled as marqueterie) is the art and craft of applying pieces of veneer to a structure to form decorative patterns, designs or pictures. Presented for the first time on a watch dial, the Hermès Arceau Marqueterie de Paille (literally, “marquetry of straw”) watches reflect a highly complex miniaturisation of the marquetry technique. The blue and black motifs depict two iconic Hermès tie patterns featuring chevrons and tiny squares. The rye straw used in these models is produced by only one farm in France — read more about the process below. These two collector’s models are presented together in a precious Makassar ebony presentation box, itself adorned with straw marquetry. Magnificent!!!!
Hermès Arceau Marqueterie de Paille
41mm white gold case, automatic mechanical movement exclusively for Hermes by Manufacture Vaucher, matt indigo blue alligator strap
These two watches feature the Hermès Arceau model’s signature asymmetrical lugs, however the the distinctive italic typeface of the Arceau hour-markers has vanished so as to give pride of place to the exceptional straw marquetry graving the dial.
Mass-coloured on the spot and then laid out flat to dry, the straw which is subjected to weather conditions, variations in humidity and various baths, never displays the exact same shades of colours. Its natural colours subtly illuminate the marquetry motifs. Split open with a thin blade and then manually flattened with a bone tool, the wisps are then cut up into various lengths. This calls for accurate gestures and considerable physical strength. Playing with the colours and the directions of the various wisps, the artisan assembles his motifs on a sheet of graph paper. Glued in much the same way as a leather book binding, the straw marquetry motif is then assembled on the watch dial.
“Only Watch” is a biennial charity auction of one-of-a-kind watches created by many of the most renowned watch brands in Switzerland. This exceptional event is held every two years in Monaco during the Monaco Yacht Show and is under the patronage of HSH Prince Albert II. All the proceeds from Only Watch go to support Duchenne Muscular Dystrophy research which is why many of these watches go extraordinarily high prices.
Starting today Perpetuelle will begin its coverage of Only Watch 2011. Stay tuned in because over the next few months, you will get to see awesome “piece unique” watches from each of the participating brands for the 2011 event:
Click through to see our in-depth preview of each watch:
- Harry Winston Midnight GMT Tourbillon
- Patek Philippe Ref 3939A Minute Repeater
- Urwerk UR-103 “Phoenix”
- Romain Jerome “Rock the Rock”
- Hublot Oceanographic 4000m dive watch
- MB&F HM-4 “Flying Panda”
- TAG Heuer “Monaco Mikrograph”
- Bell & Ross Pink Gold “Casino”
- Louis Vuitton Tambour Diver Chronograph
- Blancpain Villeret Grand Decoration
- Piaget Altiplano Skeleton
- Breguet Reveil Musical Watch
- Audemars Piguet Gstaad Classic
- Jaquet Droz Petit Heure Minute
- Van Cleef & Arpel “From the Earth to the Moon” Watch
- Girard-Perregaux ww.TC
- Corum Golden Bridge Automatic Titanium
- Vulcain Anniversary Heart Watch
- Chanel J12 Marine Watch
- Franck Muller “Totally Switzerland”
- Ulysse Nardin Freak Diavolo
- Vacheron Constantin “Dove” Watch (M.C. Escher-inspired)
- Zenith El Primero “Destro” watches
- Montblanc Villeret 1858 Pulsograph
- Ikepod Red Hourglass by Marc Newson
- Bovet Fleurier, Celsius, Chaumet, Chopard, De Bethune, Delacour, De Witt, Frédérique Constant, Hermès, Laurent Ferrier, Maurice Lacroix, Richard Mille
Only Watch 2011 will be held September 24, 2011 and managed by watch auction house Antiquorum. But you don’t have to wait this long — because part of the excitement leading up to the September 24, 2011 event is the release of each participating brand’s special edition watch.
ONLY WATCH 2009
If you are interested in looking back, I covered the Only Watch 2009 auction extensively including blogging about several of my favorites inlcluding: Piaget Emperador Coussin, MB&F Sage Vaughn HM-2, Bovet 3-in-1 Mona Lisa Watch, Tourneau Jump Hour, Louis Vuitton Tambour, Chanel J12 Joallerie with pink sapphire, and Blancpain 500 Fathoms. You can see all 34 “Only Watch 2009″ watches here on the Perpeuelle World Watch Forum. The Only Watch 2009 auction was hosted by Patrizzi & Co.
This is the new and very cool watch “Le Temps Suspendu” watch, or “Time Suspended” watch from Hermes. The wearer can literally suspend time…and return to it whenever he wishes! Works like this: Pressing the button on the nine o’clock side of the watch brings both the hour and minute hands to noon and hides the retrograde date hand (the one on the lower right quadrant of the watch). The movement, however, continues running so that when the button is pressed again the hands fly back to their rightful position, taking into account the period that has passed. Nice bit of mechanical ingenuity, eh?!?
Update: the time module was developed in cooperation with Agenhor (Geneva) and its founder Jean-Marc Wiederrecht (a man with a hand in many famous and/or highly complicated watches)
Hermes Time Suspended Watch
43mm pink gold or stainless steel case, retrograde hours, minutes and date; stop/start pushpiece for hands
“Time Suspended” zone at 12 o’clock and retrograde date between 4 and 6 o’clock
Here’s a sophisticated new watch from Hermes that will be hitting the market later this year- the Grand Arceau Moon Phase. Known for its saddle/leather goods and uber-expensive silk ties and scarves, Hermes has really stepped up its watch game the past few years (check out the Hermès Carré H or the Hermes Clipper Chronograph Titanium for a couple examples), though it still maintains a relatively low profile among watch aficionados. Available in black or silver dial, the Arceau Grande Lune watch is a complete calendar watch featuring day and month apertures. The dial stamped with a herringbone motif identical to that found on saddle rugs (see close up photo below).
Hermès Arceau Grand Lune
43mm steel case, automatic mechanical movement with Dubois-Dépraz 9313 moon phase module, comes on a matt black alligator strap
close up of the opaline silver-dial model:
Did You Know?
Designed in 1978 by Henri d’Origny, the Arceau watch is named after and inspired by a saddlery element: a hoop-shaped part of the stirrup.
***
Perptuelle.com Official Baselworld 2011 News Feed – see all the latest new luxury watches for 2011!
Hermès squared–but not quite…
The fantastic result of a collaboration between designer and architect Marc Berthier and Pierre-Alexis Dumas, artistic director of Hermès — a square watch that isn’t quite so square! Only 173 will be produced – one for each year of existence of Hermès (the company was founded in 1837). I do recommend you check out this great interview with the 2 designers of the watch for some additional insights into what I think is a really splendid watch.
Hermès Carré H
36.5 x 36.5 mm bead-blasted Titanium case, polished titanium crown
It is really is quite an interesting watch if I do say so myself and I highly recommend that you click here to read the wonderful “question and answer” session with the two designers of this watch!
Mechanical automatic movement (GP 3200 Sowind), Oscillating weight and bridges adorned with a sprinkling of “Hs”
Black Barenia calfskin strap with matching titanium buckle
A couple weeks ago I showed you the new Hermès Clipper Chronograph Titanium watch that will be released in 2010. Hermès will also be producing a 36mm Clipper Chronograph ladies version. While many watch enthusiasts do not like Hermès watches due to its relatively high prices (you pay a premium for anything that says “Hermès” on it) and its primary recognition as a high fashion brand, I must say that I personally am a bit of a fan, although the watches are certainly not top of my wish list. It is one fashion brand that actually makes some good looking watches (unlike say, the gaudy-awful looking watches I see from the likes of Salvatore Ferragamo or Gucci).
Unlike the mechanical automatic movement in the Clipper Chronograph Titanium, this ladies model has a quartz movement, but I’d guess that will be fine for most ladies who are not major watch enthusiasts because this watch is all about its exterior looks. The bezel is accented with “rare white” or “rare white plus” diamonds and the dial is silvered mother-of-pearl. Set on a white rubber strap (orange strap available on the non-gem set version), this watch would make a great companion for a dip off of your yacht and into the beautiful blue waters off the coast of Sardinia (or so one of my Italian friends tells me).
by Kyle Stults on February 07, 2010
OK here’s the deal – you must choose one or the other. No “I’d rather have this alternative or that alternative.” There are two choices at hand here.
So….which one would you choose? Why?
The 2010 Leica M7 Hermès Edition Camera
Price: about $13,000
Limited Edition of 200
Nod to Luxury Insider and many others for the camera scoop.
The 2010 Hermès Clipper Chronograph Titanium Watch
Price: between $5,000 and $10,000
Me? I’d take the watch. Why? No real reason except that I’m a watch guy!
Paris-based high-fashion brand Hermes is introducing a new model in its “Clipper” collection this year at Baselworld 2010. The Clipper is the brand’s dive watch/sailing-inspired line and although it has been heavily influenced by haute fashion some years in the past I would say that this year’s model – with a 44mm titanium case on a “Hermes orange” rubber strap – has a fairly functional, but attractive, look to it. Now I’m not a big fan of the partially exposed date-windows (you can see not one but three days on the dial), but otherwise the dial is nicely legible and the and the “Hermes orange” seconds hand and other orange accents look good against the anthracite colored dial. The watch will also come in palladium (silver-ish color) and brown-dial color versions. Movement is the reliable but omnipresent ETA/Valjoux 7750.
Price will be somewhere between $5,000 and $10,000 – hey, what do you expect from Hermes!
by Kyle Stults on September 23, 2009
34 Distinct One-of-Kind Pieces Estimated to Auction At $10,000 to as much as $735,000
Less than 24 hours from “hammer time” and we wanted to share with you the “suggested” prices for each of the 34 “Only Watch” watches in case you are thinking about putting in a bid.
But first, what a difference two years social media can make for a special event such as this! The watch blogosphere has been buzzing for months with excitement over the 34 unique pieces that will be auctioned in Monaco less than 24 hours from now in what is sure to be a spectacular event. In fact we learned just yesterday that the event will be live-Tweeted by watch journalist Beth Doerr – so put her in your Twit-Stream now (Twitter: @doerrelizabeth)!!
If you follow watches, it is highly unlikely that you haven’t come across a blog or forum post highlighting one or all of these watches – of course First In Watches was the first to kick things off back in early-June with our feature article giving you a first look at each of the 34 pieces (see: ONLY WATCH 2009 – 34 One-of-a-Kind Watches), and since then we have gone more in-depth on some of our favorites including the following: MB&F’s Sage Vaughn HM-2, Bovet’s 3-in-1 Mona Lisa Watch, Tourneau’s Jump Hour, Piaget’s Emperador Coussin, Louis Vuitton’s Tambour, Chanel’s J12 Joallerie with pink sapphire, and Blancpain’s 500 Fathoms. Some of our watch-blogging friends have also written some good articles about their favorites, too. In particular we enjoyed this recent article from Hodinkee with some great pics of some of the more “unique” unique pieces including Cabestan’s Winch Tourbillon Vertical, Confrere Horlogere’s La Clef du Temps Tourbillon, and MB&F’s Sage Vaugh HM-2.
So what are the “odds” on what these watches will sell for? Due to their rarity and the fact that there is now reserve price, it really is hard to say! But here is where the bidding is likely to start, courtesy of Patrizzi & Co. who will be running the auction:
- Confrerie Horlogere $514,500 – $735,000
- Cabestan $411,600 – $514,500
- Patek Philippe $264,600 – $470,400
- Bovet $147,000 – $220,500
- Cartier $132,300 – $220,500
- Audemars Piguet $132,300 – $220,500
- De Bethune $132,300 – $205,800
- Breguet $117,600 – $176,400
- Tag Heuer $102,900 – $132,300
- MB&F $102,900 – $176,400
- Van Cleef & Arpels $102,900 – $132,300
- Ateliers deMonaco $88,200 – $132,300
- Louis Vuitton $88,200 – $132,300
- Ulysse Nardin $88,200 – $132,300
- Chanel $73,500 – $88,200
- Montblanc $66,150 – $88,200
- Piaget $51,450 – $73,500
- Franck Muller $51,450 – $73,500
- Bell & Ross $51,450 – $73,500
- Gerald Charles $51,450 – $73,500
- Omega $44,100 – $73,500
- Chaumet $36,750 – $51,450
- Vacheron Constantin$36,750 – $51,450
- Franc Vila $29,400 – $58,800
- Girard-Perregaux $29,400 – $44,100
- Hermes $29,400 – $44,100
- deLaCour $29,400 – $44,100
- Jaquet Droz $22,050 – $36,750
- Tourneau $22,050 – $36,750
- Blancpain $22,050 – $36,750
- Hublot $22,050 – $36,750
- Corum $17,640 – $29,400
- Frederique Constant $11,760 – $23,520
- Zenith $10,290 – $17,640
In closing, First In Watches will leave you with this cool “Only Watch preview” video produced by TheTimeTV, which is probably as close as most watch fans will ever come to these amazing watches:
Only Watch is a charity auction of unique watches created by many of the most important watch brands in Switzerland. This exceptional event is held every two years in Monaco during the Monaco Yacht Show and is under the patronage of HSH Prince Albert 11. All the proceeds from Only Watch go to support research into Duchenne Muscular Dystrophy. The next Only Watch auction is organized in close collaboration with Patrizzi & Co and the Monaco Yacht Show, and will take place on 24 September 2009.
Participating brands include Audemars Piguet, Blancpain, BNB Concept, Bovet Fleurier, Breguet Montres, Cartier, Corum Montres, De Bethune, Delacour, Franck Muller, Frédérique Constant, Glashütte Uhrenbertrieb, Hermès, Hublot, Jaquet Droz, Louis Vuitton, Maximilian Büsser & Friends, Mont Blanc, Omega, Patek Philippe, Piaget, Richard Mille, Swatch, Tag Heuer, Tourneau Timepieces, Ulysse Nardin, Urwerk, Vacheron Constantin, Van Cleef & Arpels, Zenith International.
Below is a mosaic of their “pieces uniques” – you can view larger images and a quote from each respective brand about their 2009 “Only Watch” contribution HERE.
