Hermès Arceau Grands Fonds

Designed in 1978 by Henri d’Origny, the Arceau watch lends its understated yet distinctive lines to the expertise and creativity of artistic crafts Its round case with stirrupshaped lugs frames a glass micromosaic dial. Standing out against the turquoise blue background is a brightly coloured exotic fish representing the theme of the «Grands Fonds» scarf designed in 1992 by French artist Annie Faivre. Her rigorous technique and abundant imagination are mirrored in thiscoloured glass microcosm crafted by Hermès Horloger artisans.

This miniature composition requires more than a month of work for a single dial. First, the craftsperson selects variously coloured glass tesserae, cuts them and melts them at more than 700 °C to form filaments of the required fineness. A putty base composed of marble powder, lime and linseed oil serves to assemble the tiny tiles. The aquatic motif, reproduced to scale, is positioned on the dial base and a scalpel is used to openwork the areas where the corresponding tesserae will be inserted.