What if a watch could do more than measure time? What if it could tell a story, stage a performance, and reveal an entire world hidden beneath its dial?
At Watches and Wonders Geneva 2026, Hermès invites visitors to look beyond the hands and indices, opening what it describes as new windows onto time. Through a captivating trio of skeletonized creations, the French maison transforms watchmaking into an artistic experience where movement, light, sound, and imagination converge.
Far from simply showcasing new timepieces, Hermès presents a vision. One where the mechanics usually concealed within a watch become the stars of the show, and where every gear, bridge, and wheel participates in a larger narrative. The result is one of the most poetic presentations of this year’s exhibition, reaffirming the brand’s unique place in contemporary haute horlogerie.
A Stage Set for Mechanical Art
The setting created by artist and designer Jean-Simon Roch immediately establishes the tone. Visitors are welcomed into a monumental installation that resembles both a theatre backstage and the interior of a watch movement magnified to architectural proportions.
Wooden structures rise toward the ceiling while ropes, pulleys, wheels, and counterweights move in perpetual motion. Nothing remains static. Every element contributes to a living spectacle that mirrors the intricate choreography taking place inside a mechanical calibre.
The installation plays with the notions of transparency and revelation. Just as a skeletonized watch exposes its inner workings, the scenography unveils the hidden mechanics behind the performance. It is a fitting metaphor for the three new Hermès watches unveiled in Geneva, each embracing the art of openworking in its own distinctive way.
The Hermès H08 Squelette Embraces Contemporary Architecture
Since its launch, the Hermès H08 has stood apart from the crowded sports watch segment thanks to its unconventional silhouette, balancing round and square geometries with remarkable confidence. The new H08 Squelette pushes this identity even further.
Encased in satin-brushed titanium measuring 39 mm, the watch introduces the new Hermès H1978 S skeletonized calibre. Its architecture is fully exposed, allowing light to penetrate the movement from every angle and revealing a fascinating interplay between structure and mechanics.
Rather than pursuing ornamentation, the H08 Squelette focuses on purity and precision. The bridges create strong graphic lines across the dial, while the visible gears animate the composition. The effect is modern, technical, and distinctly Hermès.
Available with textured rubber straps in carefully coordinated colours, the model demonstrates how skeletonization can feel contemporary rather than traditional. It is perhaps the most architectural expression of the concept within the Hermès collection today.
Arceau Samarcande Brings Poetry and Sound Together
If the H08 speaks the language of modern design, the Arceau Samarcande embodies the artistic and emotional side of watchmaking.
Drawing inspiration from Hermès’ equestrian heritage, the watch features a dial crafted from Saint-Louis crystal and openworked to form the profile of a horse’s head. Through this striking aperture appears the new H1927 self-winding skeletonized movement, developed exclusively for the maison.
The horse motif is more than a decorative element. It serves as a gateway into the movement itself, creating a visual dialogue between art and mechanics.
The Arceau Samarcande also introduces one of the most prestigious complications in traditional watchmaking: the minute repeater. Housed within a 38 mm white or rose gold case, the movement chimes the hours, quarters, and minutes on demand, transforming the passage of time into sound.
Viewed through the sapphire caseback, the movement reveals further treasures, including the minute repeater hammers and a finely decorated micro-rotor adorned with the Duc Attelé motif. Every detail reinforces the impression that this is not merely a complicated watch, but a work of horological storytelling.
Slim d’Hermès Squelette Lune Explores Celestial Time
Completing the trilogy is the Slim d’Hermès Squelette Lune, a watch that combines the elegance of the Slim collection with a poetic interpretation of astronomical time.
Powered by the Manufacture Hermès H1953 movement, it displays the lunar cycle for both the Northern and Southern hemispheres. Available in sea green and deep blue executions, the watch presents a refined balance between technical complexity and visual lightness.
The openworked construction allows the moonphase indications to coexist harmoniously with the visible mechanics, creating depth and transparency throughout the dial. Every glance reveals new details, encouraging a slower and more contemplative appreciation of time.
Like the celestial cycles it tracks, the watch invites its wearer to look beyond the immediate and connect with a larger rhythm.
Hermès Continues to Follow Its Own Path
In an industry often driven by technical records and increasingly complex specifications, Hermès continues to distinguish itself through creativity, craftsmanship, and emotion.
The H08 Squelette, Arceau Samarcande, and Slim d’Hermès Squelette Lune are not simply demonstrations of skeletonized watchmaking. They are expressions of a philosophy that values storytelling as much as mechanics and beauty as much as performance.
At Watches and Wonders Geneva 2026, Hermès reminds us that the most memorable watches are not always those that do the most. Sometimes, they are the ones that make us look at time differently. And this year, Hermès has opened the window wider than ever.
