SELECTION 2011 - Temps Suspendu by Hermès

This watch redefines the contemporary role played by a mechanical watch; it is unnecessary and superfluous, but ingenious and artistic at the same time.

WORLDTEMPUS - 13 December 2011

Elizabeth Doerr

When you don’t necessarily know where else to go, this is when it gets really creative. Hermès had made large investments in its complicated timepieces over the years and the time was ripe for a large complication. However, tourbillons are becoming somewhat passé and, in any case, it had to remain playfully true to Hermès’ own style.

L'Arceau Temps Suspendu. © Hermès
Temps Suspendu. © Hermès

The suspended time complication fit the bill perfectly, even though its birth was much harder than Luc Perramond, CEO of La Montre Hermès, had originally thought. Needing a total of three years and two watchmakers to complete, the whimsical function was introduced at Baselworld 2011 to great acclaim.

Now you see it….

All it takes is a press of a button to have the time and date basically disappear. The date hand leaves the dial completely, while the hands showing the hours and minutes take on a strange position that could be 12:00 – or not. When the button is pressed again, the time and date magically reappear in the right place as if nothing had happened in the meantime to interrupt their play.

The magic trick, invented and completed by Jean-Marc Wiederrecht of Agenhor, was achieved by the use of two column wheels and a number of special components – many crafted in his beloved nickel-phosphorus LIGA technology – and added as a module to the base hand-wound movement.

Wiederrecht and Hermès have thus literally invented how to suspend time. This playful complication is appealing, innovative, and completely superfluous – which is really what luxury is all about. What I like is that it remains refined and elegant at the same time.