Conceived by long-time Hermès creative director Henri d'Origny, the Arceau holds a singular place in the Maison's history as the first watch designed by its Swiss watchmaking subsidiary, La Montre Hermès S.A. — a design language so enduring it remains largely unchanged to this day.
Rooted in the equestrian heritage that has long defined Hermès, the dial's numerals — described by d'Origny himself asà l'italienne— appear to gallop across the face, lending the watch a sense of rhythm and motion that evokes the spirit of a horse in full stride.The asymmetrical lugs extend this playful vocabulary further drawing their form not from the watchmaking conventions of the era, but from the curve of a stirrup.
