One more masterpiece from Hermès presented at Baselworld 2016. In 2014, Hermès unveiled the Faubourg watch, elegant with dainty line, presented in a variety of interpretations. In 2015, it evolved into the Faubourg Manchette, which added an exquisite leather cuff—manchette means “cuff” in French—as a nod to the maison’s equestrian roots. And this year, Hermès took the manchette concept further by associating it with gemsetting to become the Faubourg Manchette Joaillerie.
Faubourg Manchette Joaillerie comes in four colored iterations that pair gemstones with similarly hued alligator cuffs: green (malachite and emerald), blue (lapis lazuli and blue sapphires), brown (tiger’s eye and brown sapphires), and black (onyx and diamonds).
As the Joaillerie name implies, both precious and semi-precious stones make these pieces showstoppers. And it’s still in keeping with the manchette theme. But this time, instead of calfskin, all four bracelets are made in alligator—using Hermès’ famed saddle-stitching technique, with three double stitches at the end of each seam Each Faubourg Manchette Joaillerie piece is adorned with 36 baguette-cut gemstones that are set in a 19.5mm rose gold case. (The black version version, which costs between $23,300 to $35,600, features a white gold case.) The dials—all of which have four pavé diamond hour markers—are also made with gemstones.