Is it too early to start talking about Christmas? Because I would dearly love to find one of Hermès’ new Nantucket Jeté de diamants watches under the tree. Downsized and dusted with diamonds, this “Très Petite Modèle” exudes the relaxed, refined chic for which this French maison is famous.
With its slender, elongated face, the Hermès Nantucket watch was launched in 1991. Designed by Hermès’ creative director Henri d’Origny, who also dreamed up the round Arceau and square Cape Cod watch, the Nantucket’s rectangular proportions were modelled on the now iconic Chaîne d’Ancre or anchor-chain motif. It enjoyed instant success and today, more than 25 years later, the Nantucket looks as elegant as ever.
The classic design has, over the decades, been embellished with diamonds around the bezel, given a wardrobe of Hermès leather straps in different colours and styles, and made daintier still with the launch of the “Très Petite Modèle” in March earlier this year. This is the first time that the French maison has launched a diamond model designed for daytime wear, though, and naturally Hermès has put a very stylish spin on it.
Doing away with the numerals, the clean, crisp rhodium-plated dial is the perfect canvas for the diamonds, which appear to have been deposited there on the gentlest of breezes. Rather than being set in a regimented line, they seem to have landed completely at random, the cluster of gems in one corner of the case dispersing, like snow fall, as the diamonds spread outwards. On a watch that measures just 17 x 32mm, the sparkle is incredibly subtle and this, I think, is what appeals most. The polar opposite of the blingy look that diamonds often bring to a watch, the Hermès Nantucket Jeté de diamants, with its choice of six leather straps, stands out without having to show off.
