Hermès Clipper Chronograph 44mm Titanium Watch

by Ariel Adams (RSS feed)
Feb 10th 2010 at 12:01PM

More watches are being added to the "armada" of Hermes Clipper watches. The popular line of sporty diving watches from the leather brand (don't ask why) continue to look good, but I think are starting to "cool" themselves out of the high price ranges. For a few years if you wanted a watch such as this from a French fashion brand Hermes was the place to go. But to today with competition from places such as Ralph Lauren, Chanel, and others (yes, not all French), Hermes will need to really segment themselves for success. The new Clipper ranges comes with oodles of models in a bunch of sizes for men and women. Quartz and mechanical movements can be found in sizes as small as 24mm wide and up to 44mm wide - as pictured here.

Movements are still from Swiss ETA, and the quality and style are still good. But take this pictured model and consider the price - and to me it looks more $2,000 sporty than considerably above that. Maybe it is the orange strap (it also comes in back or brown rubber, or a steel and titanium bracelet). Dial design borrows heavily from the IWC Aquatimer Chronograph watch range, mixed with the standard Clipper design that we have been accustomed to. It is a very "right now" look that I fear won't look that awesome in a few years. I am really interested in fashion brands like these offering timeless looks that will look fresh (and unique) in a decade or two from now. Having said all that the Clipper sport watch series is still a damn wearable watch line with a cool look and decent features. Case here is 44mm wide in its complex constructed look and readable dial. The watch is water resistant to 200 meters and has inside a decorated automatic Valjoux 7750 mechanical movement. More on the rest of the line once I am able to check them out. Look for these new Hermes Clipper watch models soon.

Ariel Adams publishes the luxury watch review site aBlogtoRead.com.

Tags: 2010, chronograph, clipper, Hermes, titanium, watch