Hermès sets the scene at Watches and Wonders

Hermès Horloger has set the scene at this year’s Watches and Wonders with a collaboration with artist Sarah-Anaïs Desbenoit, who has created an immersive backdrop for the watch releases.

This year’s new watches include a deep blue Arceau Petite lune watch, which sees diamonds sink into a gem-set steel case, three new versions of the Arceau L’heure de la lune watch first unveiled in 2019 and an artistic interpretation of a horse sweeping across the dial of the Slim d’Hermès Cheval brossé watch.

Desbenoit draws on these references for an artistic exploration of time for her scenography, which encourages visitors to pause, and take in their surroundings more mindfully. ‘I have always been fascinated by mechanisms—whether engines, electrical circuits, railway systems, or aviation,’ she says, on what inspired her design here. ‘Their repetitive motion, rhythms, and aesthetics captivate me; they are meditative and hypnotic objects. The watch mechanism shares this same beauty and precision, but it also carries a universal language: that of time. In the world of Hermès, time is not a simple linear measure; it frees itself from usual constraints and opens up to fantasy. Every moment becomes an invitation to recreation, to escape, where the suspended moment becomes a precious parenthesis.’

Desbenoit has interpreted the images synonymous with the watches, such as the horse itself, which comes to represent a break in the ordinary in her design. ‘The space itself becomes a clock at the scale of the body,’ she adds. ‘Every stop in the movement reveals a watch from the Hermès collection, suspending the moment. The spectator is immersed in a continuous loop, a steady pulse where time imprints itself into the architecture. The watches are not merely displayed objects; they serve as anchors, structuring the perception of time. Sound also plays a crucial role: a composition created with musician Julien Perez punctuates these pauses, transforming the ticking of a watch into a meditative breath, far from its usual urgency. The longer the spectator lingers in the space, the more details emerge, prolonging this sensation of suspended time.’

hermes.com