Hermès Slim d’Hermès Squelette Lune: Saddle Up for Serious Watchmaking

The rising popularity of wristwatches in recent years has illuminated efforts by fashion brands to create high-end timepieces. There have been numerous efforts, partnerships, and releases in the past, but many of them have fallen short of reaching enthusiasts’ wrists. It is understandable that one may want to keep their provider of fine leather goods separate from their luxury watches, but what happens when luxury fashion brands create watches that truly exceptional? The Hermès Slim d’Hermes Squelette Lune serves as a stellar example.

History

Hermès as a brand started in the 1830’s providing leather horse-riding goods to noblemen, hence their horse and carriage logo. The early 1900’s saw the Hermès brothers providing saddles to the Russian Tsar, and they were the first French brand to have the rights to use the zipper for their goods. The brand continued to expand into clothing and accessories, launching its first watches in partnership with Universal Genève in the mid-1930’s.

That partnership ended in the 1950’s, and watches became a serious focus again in the 1970’s, with the founding of La Montre Hermès in Bienne, Switzerland. A focus on accessories, lifestyle products, and ready-to-wear cemented their place in modern luxury, along with closing accounts with private stores, turning its attention to brand owned boutiques (a practice that should resonate with recent history).

Hermès timepieces of the recent past (and still part of the brand’s catalogue) recall its history, with designs inspired by saddle stirrups, horse bits, and their signature H belt buckle.

Hermès’ push into contemporary high-end watchmaking started with Hermès working with Vaucher in 2003 with its Dressage model. In 2006, Hermès bought a stake in Vaucher, giving the brand the ability to have a significant say in movement development and manufacturing.

Today, Hermès is producing some heavy hitting watches, including ultra-thin models, perpetual calendars, world timers, and its popular H08 line. In 2021, Hermès unveiled the d’Hermès Slim Squellete Lune.

Design Details

The skeletonized dial is the main attraction, and is very well done. The anglage seen on the skeletonized bridges is clean and mirror-like. The blued steel hands are a nod to traditional watchmaking, yet their thin pencil shape reads as modern and design oriented. The numerals on the black gold outer track of the dial are Hermès’ own unique font. Appearing modern, and slightly abstracted, they still serve their function while adding character to the design. Hermès has made its fonts part of the brand’s design language, taking the time to design its own typefaces for watches within its product catalogue. While not featured here, when Hermès released the H08 line, the date wheel featured an in-house designed font, instead of using a much easier and common off-the-shelf date wheel.

The open-worked moon phase function at 6 o’clock serves more of a poetic function in its execution, as opposed to displaying an exact declaration of the phase of the moon. It appears artful and contemporary, inline with the other dial elements.

The 39.5mm case is a mix of materials, featuring titanium for the main case, platinum for the bezel, and white gold for the crown. The titanium elements are sandblasted, while the platinum bezel is polished, providing a stark contrast between the two elements. The stirrup motif is still present, as seen by the lug design, a detail that can be seen on a myriad of Hermès watches, with varying degrees of subtlety. The alligator strap is grey, with blue contrast stitching, and is fastened with a bead blasted equestrian inspired titanium pin buckle.

Measuring 8.8mm thick, the Hermès Slim d’Hermès Squelette Lune will have no trouble sliding under shirt cuffs. With 30 meters of water resistance, this watch is meant for strict sartorial duty.

Inner Workings

The movement inside is the Hermès H953. Wound by a micro-rotor, this ultra-thin movement measures 2.6mm thick, and has a 43 hour power reserve. Beating away at 28,800 bph, and fitted with an anti-shock device, the movement should be able to handle an after-party or two.

As mentioned before, the skeletonization is top notch. On the dial-side of the watch, brushed finishes, mirrored edges, and perlage can all be scene. The mainspring is also on display, acting as a pseudo power-reserve indication. The open-worked moon phase shows two photo-realistic moons, hiding behind a brushed black gold extension of the outer flange.

On the backside, the display case-back allows for more views of the skeletonized movement, along with the micro-rotor. The micro-rotor design provides the convenience of automatic winding, while allowing the overall design to be thin. The jewel and screw sinks are polished, as are the screw heads. Blued screws may have been more traditional, but the monochrome look of the polished screws make the jewels stand out. While maybe not a conventional decoration choice in terms of high-end Swiss watchmaking, it does match the aesthetic of the overall design.

Versus the Competition

There are many moonphase watches out there on the market, and many from brands at similar prices. What makes the Hermès Slim d’Hermès Squelette Lune unique is the mixture of high-end watchmaking and design oriented execution. As wonderful as they are, conventional Swiss brand moon-phases are not the order of the day here.

The Hublot Classic Fusion Aerofusion Moonphase is also made of titanium, has a moon-phase, and a full calendar (day, date, and month). While definitely not as svelte as the Hermès at 14.5 mm thick, the bold design and skeletonization that have been Hublot hallmarks in recent years will likely appeal to the more statement minded watch buyers.

Moving to a more traditional Swiss brand, the Girard Perregaux Vintage 1945 XXL Large Date Moonphase would also be a worthy alternative. The art-deco inspired rectangular case, blue sapphire dial, and Breguet style numerals put style first in addition to high-end watchmaking. Given Girard-Perregaux’s long history of watchmaking, more tradition oriented buyers may find some comfort here in their exploration of more adventurous watches.

Personality

A watch like the Hermès Slim d’Hermès Squelette Lune is definitely not for the conventional buyer of typical big-box luxury watches. Surely, there is an overlap between existing Hermès clients and those that will purchase their higher end timepieces, as they are fans of the brand. While incredibly niche, watches like this also appeal to open minded watch enthusiasts that are looking for something different. There are plenty of modern moon phase dress watches currently on the market, but to find something with its own personality that will do so elegantly is hard to come by. The Slim d’Hermès Squelette Lune is for those that have seen it all, and are looking for something more unique.

Final Thoughts

Hermès has presented the world with some really impressive watches in recent years. Looking at the Slim d’Hermès Squelette Lune in detail, it really seems that one is sacrificing very little in terms of great watchmaking, and gaining a great deal in terms of personality and design. With that, it is understandable that the design, and the brand, may alienate conventional watch buyers. If approached with an open mind, some truly wonderful watchmaking can be admired.