The art of crafting time with Hermes watchmaking creative head Philippe Delhotal
The veteran designer on the maison’s watchmaking philosophy, the development of the new Cut watch, and the art of balancing tradition with innovation in luxury timepieces
[TINOS] The sun-drenched Greek island of Tinos, situated in the Aegean Sea, is renowned for its marble quarries and artisanal traditions. It is here that Philippe Delhotal, creative director of Hermes Horloger, recently met an international group of watch journalists to reflect on the art of watchmaking and share more about the maison’s latest creation, the Hermes Cut watch.
The setting is fitting; just as the island’s sculptors have for centuries coaxed beauty from raw stone, Delhotal and his team at Hermes handle the task of shaping time into luxurious objects of desire. This has been a hallmark of the French luxury design house, which expanded its offerings to include watches from the late 1920s.
Since then, it has been taking horology seriously, establishing its watchmaking subsidiary La Montre Hermes in Switzerland in 1978; and in more recent times, buying dial maker Nateber and case maker Joseph Erard in 2012 and 2013 respectively, to up its game in the horology segment.
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