Horological whimsy
Hermes isn’t as well-known for its watches as it should be, partly because they’re only available in its own boutiques. But this eccentric beauty gives a good idea of the beautifully skewed, dead clever attitude it has to haute horlogerie. It’s a watch that only tells the time when you want it to: the hour hand hides behind the minute hand until you press a button, at which point it momentarily leaps out to the right position, then vanishes again. A whimsical and possibly daft idea, but one that relies on exceptionally nifty engineering from the boffins at La Montre Hermes – it’s really quite a beautiful thing to encounter.