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Registered: August 2004
Basel 2011: Hermès Arceau Time Suspended (Triple Retrograde)
Wed, 23 March 2011 18:02
The Hermès Arceau Arceau Time Suspended (Le Temps Suspendu) suspends time without disturbing either its onward march or its precision. With this world first complication, its owner can forget the present time thanks to an ingenious system of cams, pinions and segments.
This illusion is made possible by an additional module developed in cooperation with Agenhor, Geneva, and its founder Jean-Marc Wiederrecht, a grand specialist of retrograde time indications. This unconventional complication enables the watch to alternate automatically between real and suspended time, coordinated by two synchronised column wheels, one for the hours, the other for the minutes and date. Simply pressing the pusher at 9 o’clock brings the hour and minute hands to a halt at noon, while entirely concealing the date hand. Time is thus suspended – or rather its display, since the mechanism itself continues keeping track of standard time, like an orchestra playing backstage while the protagonists of a play remain motionless. Two minutes, three hours, five days or several weeks later, whenever you so wish, another press on the pusher repositions the three hands in their rightful place and time, no longer suspended, resumes its steady sweep around the dial. This concept involves a triple retrograde system including two 360° functions (for the hour and minute hands), and represents an impressive world first duly protected by two patents.
Technical Specifications Arceau Time Suspended (Arceau Temps Suspendu)
Edition
Limited numbered edition of 174 in rose gold
Functions
Hours, minutes, date with retrograde functions
Movement
Mechanical self-winding
“Time suspended” module
34 mm in diameter (15 lignes)
6.15 thick
28,800 vibrations per hour (4Hz)
42-hour power reserve
254 parts including 45 jewels
Circular-grained and snailed bridges
Oscillating weight adorned with Côtes de Genève motif
Specific features
World's first triple retrograde
360° retrograde hour and minute hand
Retrograde date hand
Function for starting and stopping the hands (suspending time) by pressing a pushbutton
Dial
Opaline silvered dial with herringbone motif (for rose gold or steel model)
Black dial with herringbone motif (for steel model)
“Time suspended” zone at 12 o’clock
Case
750 (18ct) rose gold (79 grams)
316L steel
43 mm in diameter
Water-resistant to 30 metres
Crystal
Anti-glare sapphire crystal
Strap
Matte Havana or black alligator
Folding safety clasp in rose gold or in steel
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