The Arceau Le temps suspendu watch provides a chance to experience a break, an interlude over which time has no hold. Its 38 mm diameter case features a pushbutton that may be pressed to bring the hour and minute hands to a halt at about 12 o’clock. Time is thus erased from the watch dial and dissociated from standard time that meanwhile pursues its invisible march. Pressing the button once more sets time running again. The gaze is instinctively drawn to the lively hand perpetually whirling backwards on the small sub-dial with 24 graduations, as if playfully taunting the passing of time.

Behind these pirouettes lies a clever mechanism orchestrating a unique horological complication exclusively developed for Hermès. Protected by two patents – one for its architecture and the other for the play-reducing gear teeth – the module is an addition to the Manufacture Calibre H1912. The running time and suspended time phases are coordinated by two synchronised column wheels: one driving the hours and the other the minutes. This 360° retrograde hour and minute mechanism makes time disappear without stopping the movement. Its uninterrupted running is displayed on the movement operating indicator, driven by a fourth wheel turning in the opposite direction.

The generous 43 mm case of this Arceau Le temps suspendu  model provides ample scope for the imagination. A simple gesture makes the hour and minute hands stand still at an impossible time at about 12 o’clock. The retrograde date hand simultaneously disappears from the dial. Repeating the same move enables the three hands to regain their place and time to continue its onward march.

This apparent simplicity conceals a sophisticated mechanism driving three retrograde hands and capable of making the user forget time thanks to a clever set of cams, pinions and segments. An additional module fitted on the self-winding movement powers the alternating readings. A column wheel dedicated to the minutes also suspends the date through an ingenious mechanical device coupling the two hands.

The time is thus momentarily eclipsed without ever interrupting the smooth running of the movement. The generous 43 mm case of this Arceau Le temps suspendu  model provides ample scope for the imagination. A simple gesture makes the hour and minute hands stand still at an impossible time at about 12 o’clock. The retrograde date hand simultaneously disappears from the dial. Repeating the same move enables the three hands to regain their place and time to continue its onward march.

This apparent simplicity conceals a sophisticated mechanism driving three retrograde hands and capable of making the user forget time thanks to a clever set of cams, pinions and segments. An additional module fitted on the self-winding movement powers the alternating readings. A column wheel dedicated to the minutes also suspends the date through an ingenious mechanical device coupling the two hands.

The time is thus momentarily eclipsed without ever interrupting the smooth running of the movement.