The Nantucket watch has been forming solid attachments for almost 30 years. Its story, all about links, began in 1991, when iconoclastic Hermès designer Henri d’Origny boldly sketched the outlines of a companion to the Cape Cod watch, an equally distinctive model named Nantucket.
This assertive timepiece featured a «rectangle within a rectangle», forming an unprecedented case inspired by the anchor chain links of the Chaîne d’ancre bracelet, an Hermès classic imagined by Robert Dumas in 1938.
Nantucket’s story continues today with the Chaîne d’ancre, evoking its early days. This model offers a new take on the iconic link, which merges seamlessly into a light and supple steel or rose gold bracelet. The faithful hours and minutes hands sweep over numerals whose font is also inspired by
the Chaîne d’ancre universe.
The case of the Nantucket is crafted from gold or steel in the Hermès watchmaking workshops, and freely adorned with diamonds. Light plays across the sandblasted silver-plated dial itself thanks to a sprinkle setting, or sparkles brightly in a jewellery setting around a mother-of-pearl dial. With a light and natural touch, Nantucket interweaves its own codes of rebellious elegance.
LoL, Sandra
Photos: © Hermès
The Cape Cod watch was born in 1991 from the out-of-the-box mindset cultivated by Henri d’Origny. He had been asked to imagine a square watch, but he preferred rectangular ones. Based on a somewhat crazy idea – cutting the iconic «Anchor Chain» motif in two – he dared to combine shapes. A square embedded in a rectangle, the Cape Cod watch is magnified by its double tour strap that gives the watch an additional touch of originality and boldness. As playful as ever, and something decidedly different.
