Is Hermès the next Cartier?

Examining Hermès’ recent rise in the watch industry begs the question: will the French brand be the next Cartier? Their new releases, the Arceau L’heure de la lune, the Arceau Le temps voyageur, and Slim d’Hermès Cheval Brossé, offer us a hint, showcasing why the brand has been rising relevance in the watch industry. These pieces blend the brand’s equestrian heritage with modern design sensibilities.

The Arceau L’heure de la lune, adds three new variations with lunar meteorite dials: the Blue Grey Moon (in white gold and blue titanium) is adorned with lunar rock, the Vesta (in rose gold and titanium) has a fragment of one of the largest known asteroids, and the Erg Chech (in white and rose gold) is decorated with the Erg Chech meteorite. Further, Hermès has relaunched the Arceau Le temps voyageur, which features a circular disc displaying 24 time zones, and indicating home time at 12 o’clock, while a mobile, floating subdial shows the local time. 

Meanwhile, the Slim d’Hermès Cheval Brossé takes a more minimalist approach, with a brushed horse design presented on a clean, open dial. These new watches highlight Hermès’ ability to marry craftsmanship with storytelling, reinforcing the maison’s place in the upper echelon of contemporary watchmaking. With these releases, Hermès continues to strengthen its unique position in the luxury watch landscape, blending whimsical artistry with serious horology.

With these recent releases, Hermès seems to be following in Cartier’s footsteps. And like Cartier, Hermès is perfectly poised to become a major force in the world of watches.

In their 2024 financial report, Hermès noted a slight dip in watch sales from $638 million to $602 million. However, in the context of the wider watch market, this shows the relative resiliency of Hermès’ up-and-coming watch division, even compared to its peers.

Morgan Stanley ranked Hermès among the top 20 brands for the last four years, and in the brand’s own 2023 report, it noted that the watch category — while only representing a tiny 5% of the overall business, was seeing significant growth, both internally and in the context of the wider watch market.

Why is Hermès watchmaking division doing well? The short answer is — they make good watches. The longer answer is, well, longer.

Firstly, Hermès is remarkable in the scope of its offering. While the brand has watches bearing its name from as early as 1912, it wasn’t until 1978 that it established a dedicated watch business in Switzerland, where popular, design-led models like the Arceau and the Cape Cod were born, fashionable, quartz-powered pieces benefitting from the famous name on the dial. In 2006, the brand acquired a 25% stake in Vaucher Manufacture Fleurier — an incredibly serious facility best known for producing Parmigiani Fleurier’s movement’s (the remainder of the business is owned by Parmigiani Fleurier parent company Fondation de Famille Sandoz), as well as some calibres for brands like Richard Mille and Audemars Piguet. By buying into Vaucher, Hermès managed to supercharge their horological credibility practically overnight.

In the years since, Hermès has made the most of this in-house capability, offering smartly designed pieces like the Slim d’Hermès, the sporty H08, and, most recently, the Cut, aimed firmly at women’s wrists. These designs all feel quite distinct in their identity, from the contemporary classism of the Slim, with its bespoke font, to the sporty, integrated look of the H08. It’s clear from all these watches that Hermès hasn’t taken any short cuts when it comes to design — and this is at the more accessible end of the brand’s offering. Once you move up the price points you quickly discover that Hermès has some incredible haute horlogerie. The Arceau design now comes in super-sized, super complicated versions that offer ingenious world timers with an internally rotating subdial, not to mention one of the best moon phases in the business, the Arceau L’Heure De La Lune, which is as romantic as it is impressive.

It’s that credibility, along with consistency, that takes a page from Cartier. Not only has Cartier been making its core icons like the Santos and the Tank for over a century, but it is most successful when it’s sticking to its established formula of design-driven, shaped watches. While watches make up a fraction of Cartier’s overall empire, the blue chip jewelry company posted $3.1 billion in watch revenue in 2023 — making it second only to industry giant Rolex in scale. Hermès seems to be following in those footsteps.

Then there’s the brand’s métiers d’art offerings. Often taking inspiration from its iconic scarves, Hermès métiers d’art creations feature a dazzling range of techniques, from miniature painting to marquetry using straw, leather and other unconventional materials. As an indicator of how seriously you should take Hermès artistic creations, the brand regularly works with famed enamelist Anita Porchet, who only makes a few dozen dials a year and works with the best brands, like Patek Philippe, Vacheron Constantin and Hermès. Besides the technical excellence, what makes Hermès take on métiers d’art so exciting is the design inspiration — it’s bright, bold and often not-too-serious. Thanks to its textile inspirations, Hermès dials can feature cartoon-like dinosaurs, pop-art horses and all sorts of surprising figures. Perhaps more than anyone else, Hermès makes métiers d’art cool.

From design to movement, and across all price points, it’s clear that Hermès watches are no joke. But arguably the most important factor in the brand’s favor is its retail footprint. With almost 300 stores across 45 countries, Hermès has a boutique network that is famous for being best practice in luxury. It’s a heady combination, and it’s hard to see a downside for Hermès. It’s not hard to imagine a world where, in perhaps a generation, the watches of Hermès hold the same status as Cartier does today.