New from Hermès for Baselworld 2014 is the Hermès Dressage L’heure masquée watch. Its classical styling belies its unusual feature. The unusual feature involves a concealed hour hand. The hour hand remains hidden beneath the constantly moving minute hand and only appears when the button integrated into the crown is given a push. Once pushed the hour hand appears but then immediately once again disappears with the release of the button, along with the dual time window which also vanishes.

Hermès Dressage L’heure masquée

This whimsical game of hide and seek is referred to as “Time Veiled” by Hermes and in order to orchestrate it an ingenious mechanical arrangement of rack, pinion and gear trains was used. So that when the button is pressed the hour cam is released and the hidden hour hand springs into place pointing to the correct time. The base movement directly drives the dual-time indicator and can be adjusted using the push button opposite the crown.

Hermès Calibre H1925

The mechanics are housed inside a 40.5 x 38.4 mm cushion shaped case and driven by the “Manufacture-made” Calibre H1925 a self-winding movement with 45-hour reserve. The movement features decoration including Circular-grained and snailed mainplate, satin-brushed bridges and oscillating weight adorned with the special Hermès decoration (H symbols). The dial is Opaline silvered with vertical central guilloché motif and features 4N-gilded or black gold hands depending on model coated with Superluminova and protected by glare proof sapphire crystal.

The Hermes Dressage L’heure masquée watch is available in 5N 750 rose gold or 316L steel and presented on a Matt havana alligator strap and is a limited edition of 500 pieces for the gold version and 1000 for the steel version.