Material Magic

Anew two-tone finish goes along way in augmenting the Hermés HO8’s already strong visual appeal.

- PARTH CHARAN

OVER THE YEARS, Hermèsone of France's major luxury Maisons-has developed a penchant for creating timepieces that follow an unconventional, even experimental design ethos. Although Hermès has begun to dabble in grand complications, the primary mandate is to push the boundaries of design and create timepieces that are stand-alone sculptures as much as they are icons of haute horology. The Cape Cod, for instance, gets a simple steel form and a time-only quartz movement. Yet it's the execution of its design and its brazen dismissal of conventionality that make it so memorable, successfully embedding the iconography of the brand into mainstream consciousness.