Hermès at the Salon International de la Haute Horlogerie (SIHH) 2018

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15 Jan, 2018, 08:00 GMT

GENEVA, January 15, 2018 /PRNewswire/ --

The Maison Hermès is presenting a new vision of time in joining the Salon International de la Haute Horlogerie (SIHH) in Geneva from January 15^th to 19^th 2018.

The Hermes pavilion once again accentuates the Hermes approach to time. An open-minded, warm and transparent spirit. (PRNewsfoto/Hermès)

Interactive, entertaining and mesmerising. Examples of pusher-activated kinetic art, nine displays invite visitors to play with Hermes time. (PRNewsfoto/Hermès)

At the heart of the Hermes pavilion sits an immersive installation created by the artist Levi Van Veluw highlighting the flagship watch of the show, the Carre H. (PRNewsfoto/Hermès)

Carre H. A square-shaped watch by Marc Berthier. It expresses a new geometry and plays on references to measuring instruments. (PRNewsfoto/Hermès)

Arceau Casaque becomes an equestrian arena. The champleve and lacquer techniques echo the four colours of the horsehead pawns on a classic French children’s board game. (PRNewsfoto/Hermès)

Arceau Pocket Millefiori. Its Saint-Louis crystal dial reproduces the alligator scale motif, in an about-turn game with the case-back covered in this precious leather. (PRNewsfoto/Hermès)

The RDAI interior architecture firm has designed for Hermès a warm, sophisticated, contemporary setting. The furniture offers a unique journey on which sound, colour and light promotes serenity. Visitors are welcomed by a vast atrium with maplewood screens. Each watch is revealed in a glass cube. More private spaces, spread out like a second skin, enable personalised discussions introducing the various models composing the collection. An enclosed theatre, in which the tiers are covered in Hermès fabric, is designed for press conferences and presentations.

At the heart of the layout, an installation by Dutch artist, Levi Van Veluw offers visitors a chance to share an emotion. Inside the low-tech square display windows evoking the shape of the famous Hermès silk scarves, he develops nine interactive animations. Visitors activate little mechanisms which, via a set of pistons and gears, bring to life a spectacular monolith in the centre of the atrium. A building machine offering everyone a timeless experience, an emotion-filled journey on the theme of "time, a Hermès object".

This is because at Hermès, time is also an object. Over and above technical performances which seek to measure, order and control time, Hermès dares to explore another time. "We want to awaken a playful relationship with time through an object that is true to its function", explains Pierre-Alexis Dumas, Hermès Artistic Director. "We create timepieces stemming from the mastery of numerous skills and reflecting a serene perspective on time."

The Carré H, Arceau Casaque and Arceau Pocket Millefiori watches unveiled during the SIHH bear within them the tension inhabiting this object-time.

SOURCE Hermès