Hermès this week adds sixteen pieces to its artistic moonphase watch collection with the launch of the new Arceau L’heure de la Lune New York Meteorite Dial limited edition.
In the style of existing models in the Arceau L’heure de la Lune collection, Hermès highlights the watch with a light brown quilted-pattern dial created using a thin slice of meteorite discovered by fisherman and sold in New York in 1965. The new models will be cased in platinum.
Known as siderite, the meteor-sourced dial’s material appears metallic brown, which signifies that it comes from the center of an asteroid. Owners of the Arceau L’heure de la Lune New York Meteorite Dial limited edition, which will be exclusively sold in the United States, will also be able to claim possession of a section of the only meteorite legally bearing the name New York.
You may recall that in 2019 Hermes wowed observers at that year’s SIHH when it debuted the first models in the 43mm gold-cased Arceau de la Lune collection with stone dials and at least one model crafted with a dial made of lunar meteorite. Earlier this year Hermès added several new models to the collection with dials of celestial origin, including one fashioned from a piece of Martian meteorite.
Quirky displays
The 43mm platinum-cased model, a high-end alternative to the classic moonphase watch, offers a simultaneous display of moon phases in both northern and southern hemispheres. Two discs, one indicating the date and one showing the hour and minute, rotate around the dial. As they do, their position above two mother-of-pearl moon discs syncs exactly with the moon’s phase at the time and date indicated. Blued hands contrast nicely to display both time and date on white lacquered discs.
In a quirky Hermès touch, the southern hemisphere’s moon is displayed at the top of the dial while the moon as seen in the northern hemisphere rests at the 6 o’clock position.
Jean-Francois Mojon (who has worked with MB&F and Harry Winston, among others) created the dial’s 59-day lunar dance for Hermès by developing a patent-pending module linked to the Hermès H1837 automatic caliber.
Each Hermès Arceau L’heure de la Lune New York Meteorite Dial is priced at $69,950.
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