It’s difficult to believe that the Hermès H08 is already five years old, having been launched in 2021. The cushion case design quickly became the maison’s signature sport watch, offering a bolder, more masculine aesthetic in juxtaposition with their refined haute horology and metiers d’art timepieces. In celebration of its half-decade milestone, they’ve released a new edition: the H08 Squelette, which introduces the collection’s first skeletonised display and a new movement.
The case has the typical cushion shape with straight edges and smooth curves leading into the lugs. It measures 39mm in width and 42mm length, which means on the wrist it wears as a large watch. It’s made from DLC coated titanium with a ceramic bezel to add a touch of emphasis to the rounded-square design. It also has a water resistance rating of 100m, making it well suited to daily wear including in heavy rain.
Where this model really comes to life though is the dial, which is freshly skeletonised to reveal a new skeleton movement. It has a stylised version of the sector display on the standard models where the hour scale is presented around the periphery of the dial using the custom Hermès H08 typeface. There are two versions of the display available, one with blue Arabic numerals and then this example with monochrome grey. The hour scale is separated from the middle of the display by a central 60-minute scale.
Unlike the standard H08 design, that minute scale follows the same rounded-square shape of the bezel instead of being circular. It works well as a framing device for the central hands while also blending in slightly with the straight-line architecture of the skeletonised movement, which allows the eye to glide past naturally to the circular components beneath, such as the power barrel.
The movement on display is the new Hermès H1978 S developed in collaboration with Vaucher Manufacture Fleurier. It’s made from 168 components with a power reserve of 60-hours. It’s also the first time-only H08 movement, removing the date window that is usually between 4 and 5 o’clock. That’s a logical decision because skeletonised date functions tend to dominate the entire display and distract from the more intricate mechanisms of the watch.
Rounding out the watch is the choice of strap. The blue version is available on a choice of Zanzibar blue or Noir black while the grey edition has options of Dune beige (as pictured), Abyss blue or dark green. I like it on the Dune, it gives the piece a more industrial, utilitarian vibe with its military fatigue quality.
Both the blue and grey versions are priced at £17,500, which is more than double the price of any of the existing models. I can understand why that’s the case from an academic standpoint with the new, custom-built movement, improved movement specs (60-hour as opposed to 50) and slight material upgrade with the ceramic bezel. However, emotionally, without the addition of extra functions or haute horological elements, I struggle to see how the value adds up to that exact number. But then I’m personally not the biggest fan of skeleton watches to begin with.
Price and Specs:
More details at Hermes.
