This is what you do with the Hermès Slim d’Hermès L’heure impatiente: You set the counter of the watch to the time of an eagerly awaited event that will take place in less than 12 hours. Exactly one hour before it occurs, the mechanical hourglass (the sectoral countdown scale at 7 o´clock position) is set in motion and its progress can be followed on the dial.
Hermès: “Alexander this complication that stirs your feelings and heightens your sense of pleasurable expectation is an exquisite torture that culminates when the note rings out.”
Yes in fact at the end of the 60 minutes countdown you will hear a mechanically generated gong. The striking mechanism has been designed to ensure a lasting, velvety-smooth sound that is also delightfully modulated for the wearer’s ears only. The playful and quickly ‘Impatient Hour’ complication is based on this companionable rapport.
La Montre Hermès développer this mechanism together with Jean-Marc Wiederrecht, the founder and owner of Agenhor SA Atelier Genevois d’Horlogerie in Geneva.
Jean-Marc told me: “The effervescence of the wait is entirely summed up in a module I conceived with my team measuring just 2.2 mm thick. It is powered by the Manufacture Hermès H1912 movement manufactured by Vaucher Manufacture.”
This compact calibre is housed in a spacious case, the use of thinner than usual crystals, and finally the only 1 mm thick dial that resonates with the vibration of the striking mechanism:
Jean-Marc: “Everything contributes to optimising the volume of air within this watch distinguished by its blend of aesthetic and technical finesse.”
Just in case you did not know it: La Montre Hermès holds a 25 % stake in Vaucher Manufacture in Fleurier.
SLIM D’HERMÈS L’HEURE IMPATIENTE
Technical characteristics
MOVEMENT
Mechanical self-winding, Swiss made
Manufacture Hermès H1912 movement (VAUCHER base calibre and a module developed by AGENHOR SA in Geneva)
23.9 mm in diameter, 3.7 mm thick
193 components, 28 jewels
28,800 vibrations per hour (4 Hz)
Circular-grained and snailed mainplate, bridges and oscillating weight satin-brushed and adorned with the signature H pattern
MODULE
“Impatient Hour” module
31.96 mm in diameter, 2.2 mm thick
131 components, 8 jewels
Mainplate and bridges adorned with “Côtes de Genève”
FUNCTIONS
Hours, minutes, “Impatient Hour” function
DIAL
Opaline silvered
Black transferred Arabic numerals and minute circle
Sunburst chapter ring, snailed centre and counter
4N-gilded sandblasted or blue lacquered baton-type hands
CASE
Round, 40.5 mm in diameter
5N 750 rose gold (≈ 38.1 g)
Sapphire crystal and case-back with anti-glare treatment
Water-resistant to 3 bar
20 mm interhorn width
STRAP
Abyss blue matt alligator
Pin buckle in 5N 750 rose gold (≈ 4.89 g), 17 mm
PRICE
31.000 Euro
