Hermès timepieces suspend time in cinematic installation at watches and wonders 2025
artist sarah-anaïs desbenoit designs a filmic exhibition and scenography at the brand’s booth in geneva, switzerland.
[FEATURED]
Hermès SUSPENDS TIME AT WATCHES AND WONDERS 2025
Hermès presents its new collections at Watches and Wonders 2025 within a cinematic, sensory landscape of suspended time developed by visual artist Sarah-Anaïs Desbenoit. On view at the annual timepiece trade show from 1st to 7th in Geneva, Switzerland, the new Hermès creations are unveiled under the theme of Le temps suspendu (Time Suspended), where three new watches extend the brand’s vision of suspending time: Arceau Le temps suspendu, Hermès Cut Le temps suspendu and Maillon libre offer a pause, a parenthesis in which temporality fades and is reinvented.
To reveal them, Sarah-Anaïs Desbenoit has created an immersive landscape in motion, where glass filters the gaze, and artificial sunlight alternates between dawn and dusk. The visual artist draws parallels between the rhythmic movement of watches and that of trains, cars or boats to create an installation that is perpetually unfolding, retreating and transforming.
sarah-anaïs desbenoit’s SET DESIGN FOR LE TEMPS SUSPENDU
Sarah-Anaïs Desbenoit’s theatrical installation captures the sensation of suspended time within a colorful light loop that orchestrates a constantly changing sequence. At first glance, the Hermès booth at Watches and Wonders 2025 appears shielded off from the outside, revealing only a series of films featuring landscapes in motion, shot by the artist from various trains. Images appear, disappear, and reemerge.
As visitors step in, they encounter an ever-shifting landscape composed of frosted glass panels, artificial sunlight and architectural forms. Portholes reveal images of urban and seaside landscapes as experienced through the window of a train, a car or a boat, while a road dotted with streetlights features miniature buildings. Evoking familiar places, like a water tower, a pavilion, or a theater set, these silhouettes serve as subtle backdrops for Hermès’ new timepieces. At the same time, ambient sounds of raindrops, distant conversations, and traffic signals accompany Sarah-Anaïs Desbenoit’s filmic exhibition design, allowing visitors to reflect on transitional places like time passing, pausing.
timepiece designs with seconds that run counterclockwise
At Watches & Wonders, Hermès extends the vision of Le temps suspendu, created in 2011 as the brand’s first functional expression of time. Three new creations, Arceau Le temps suspendu, Hermès Cut Le temps suspendu, and Maillon libre, open new parentheses in its Time Suspended concept. A reinterpretation of the 2011 model, Arceau Le temps suspendu features a new aesthetic with a slender 42 mm case framing an openworked dial revealing the exclusive ‘Time suspended’ module. The latter is driven by a Manufacture Hermès H1837 movement visible through the transparent caseback. The white or rose gold cases are paired with three colours – sunburst blue, sunburst brun désert, sunburst rouge sellier – reaffirming the timeless nature of the line with its characteristic asymmetrical lugs crafted in the Hermès Horloger workshops.
The Hermès Cut collection, first unveiled in 2024 (read more here) now also incorporates the Time Suspended module, powered by the Manufacture Hermès H1912 movement. The counterclockwise rotation of the running indicator adds to the watch’s playful character. Hermès is exploring new territory with the Maillon Libre series, which concludes the 2025 novelties. It reinterprets the iconic anchor chain link as a wristwatch and a brooch watch, offering multiple ways to be worn. The wristwatch includes diamond or terracotta tourmaline center stones, while the discreet, almost imperceptible display of time incorporated into the bracelet design adds a playful and surprising touch.
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project info:
name: Le temps suspendu
visual artist: Sarah-Anaïs Desbenoit | @sarah.daria
event: Watches and Wonders 2025 | @watchesandwonders
dates: April 1st to 7th, 2025
location: Geneva, Switzerland
photography: Team WHAAAT!, Tom Johnson, Benjamin Vigliotta, Joel Von Allmen | @team_whaaat, @tomjjohnsonphoto, @benjaminvigliotta
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