Description
The Hermès H08 Squelette is the first openworked version of the brand's cushion-shaped sports watch line, and the single most important mechanical statement Hermès has made in years. Unveiled at Watches & Wonders Geneva 2026, it ships a completely new in-house automatic calibre — the H1978 S — developed in tandem with Vaucher Manufacture Fleurier and, critically, crafted in black PVD-treated titanium throughout the mainplate and bridges. This is the first time-only H08 movement Hermès has produced, removing the date window for a cleaner, more architectural skeleton view.
In a market saturated with retrofit skeletons (existing dials drilled out, existing calibres finished openworked), the H08 Squelette is something different: a skeleton designed from the ground up for this specific watch, with a calibre whose structural geometry exists to be seen. Three years of development went into it — and it shows.
Two dial colourways are available at launch: a cool-toned blue and a graphite grey, each paired with a black DLC-coated titanium case, a matte black ceramic bezel and multiple strap options for everyday wear or sportier use.
Design
Case: 39mm cushion form in titanium with black DLC coating, 11.69mm thick, satin-brushed surfaces with mirror-polished chamfers. The bezel is in satin-brushed black ceramic with mirror-polished edges — the same cool industrial contrast Hermès introduced with the original H08 but sharper thanks to the openworked view beneath. The dial is fully skeletonised, revealing the H1978 S calibre's angular bridges, semi-square tungsten oscillating weight, and the escape wheel and balance working in open air. Accents — hour markers, hands, transfer print — come in either bright blue or graphite grey, matched to the rubber or textile strap selected from Hermès's extensive catalogue.
Specifications
- Case: 39mm × 11.69mm, cushion-shaped titanium with black DLC coating
- Bezel: Satin-brushed black ceramic with mirror-polished chamfers
- Dial: Fully openworked; blue or grey accents
- Crystal: Sapphire with anti-reflective coating, sapphire caseback
- Water resistance: 100 metres
- Strap: Multiple options (rubber, textile) in complementary colourways
- Movement: Calibre Manufacture Hermès H1978 S, in-house automatic
- Movement material: Black PVD-treated titanium
- Components: 168 parts, 26 jewels
- Oscillating weight: Semi-square tungsten
- Frequency: 28,800 vph (4 Hz)
- Power reserve: 60 hours
- Functions: Hours and minutes (time-only; first H08 calibre without date)
- Price: approx. CHF 35,000 / USD ~39,000 (regional variations apply)
What's Exciting
Two things stand out. First, the black PVD-treated titanium movement is rare at this level — most openworked calibres stay in rhodium, gold or ruthenium. A fully titanium movement (black-coated, no less) is lighter, more thermally stable, and visually coherent with the H08's industrial-modern identity. Second, the H1978 S is a genuinely new calibre, not a modified existing one. Hermès has now built out a serious family of manufacture movements (H1912, H1837, H1927, and now H1978 in both standard and skeleton forms), and the gap between it and the older "Hermès with a watch department" reputation has effectively closed.
For value-conscious buyers of haute horlogerie, this matters: around CHF 35,000 for a titanium-DLC-cased in-house automatic skeleton from a house with real atelier infrastructure is very competitive against similar pieces from Piaget, Panerai Luminor Due skeletons or Chopard L.U.C. The H08's cushion-modern aesthetic also means the Squelette reads as a design object as much as a horological one.
History
The H08 line was launched in 2021 as Hermès's most overtly sport-oriented men's watch — a cushion-shaped titanium and ceramic design that departed deliberately from the Arceau, Slim d'Hermès and Heure H lineages the brand had cultivated for decades. It was Hermès's answer to the integrated sports-watch boom, but in the brand's own, slightly left-field language: no Gerald-Genta silhouette, no steel bracelet, no homage-vibe. The Squelette is the logical progression — now that the H08 has settled as a recognisable shape, Hermès is free to explore its interior. That the brand commissioned an entirely new skeleton calibre for it (rather than simply openworking the existing H1837) tells you how seriously Hermès is taking this collection going forward. The calibre number "H1978" refers to the year Hermès entered serious watchmaking with its acquisition of La Montre Hermès shares — a quiet wink to heritage.
Sources
- Monochrome Watches — "First Look: Design Meets Horology With The New Hermès H08 Skeleton"
- Fratello — "Hands-On Introduction To The First Skeletonized Hermès H08"
- Oracle of Time — "Hermès Introduce H08 Squelette with First Skeleton Display"
- Worn & Wound — "Hermes Doubles Down on the H08 with the Addition of a Skeletonized 'Squelette' Version"
- Swisswatches Magazine — "Hermès H08 Squelette: A Look Inside the Movement"
