Can Hermès make a watch as iconic as the Birkin?

I realized that this was not simply a time-filling activity, but was actually a sophisticated metaphor for how Hermès views the creative process itself, especially as it applies to the development of pieces like the new H08s. The work is collaborative, iterative and builds on the concept of what came before to create something new. The base is pretty familiar to collectors at this point, but new colors and approaches round out a growing army of H08s so everyone can choose their flavor.

“We understood that our way to grow this line would be to animate it and delve deeper into the materials,” Laurent Dordet, general director of La Montre Hermès, the Swiss watch subsidiary of the house. “It’s part of the H08 playground.” While the H08 already comes in a variety of colors and accents, from bright teals and oranges to blues, greens and yellows, the new bright blue and white variants give the collection a fresh, almost resort-wear vibe.

H08 has provided Hermès with a foundation on which to build its limitless creativity. The fundamental design has not changed at all, but Hermès has continually renewed it through new colors and materials. Hermès has played with satin brushing, DLC or colored PVD coated titanium and carbon composites coated with graphene powder. There are also skeletonized versions of the watch and others with a chronograph (or stopwatch) function. As the H08 was always intended to be the brand’s most far-reaching sports offering, opening Hermès to new customers and lifestyle applications, the collection quickly became the vehicle for such innovation.

But even if Hermès is not primarily a watch brand, the house’s world-class craftsmen never passed off a second-rate design. And the joy that permeates the house is also essential for the watches. “That’s what our customers expect from us. Hermès is obsessed with creating a beautiful object that brings comfort and pleasure to its owner,” says Dordet. “We are not obsessed with having something fun or funny every time. It is a balance between style, elegance, sobriety, subtlety, colors.”